I believe the most important practice for an organization’s capital
plan to be successful is for the contractor to understand the
importance of infection control and risk assessment requirements.
Infection control is extremely important in hospitals, and something
that everyone is responsible for. Preventable conditions that a
patient develops costs U.S. hospitals around $28.4 billion annually. A
large part of this is that hospitals do not receive reimbursement on
hospital acquired conditions. If we do not educate our contractors on
proper hygiene, appropriate filtration, personal protective equipment
(PPE), appropriate cleaning procedures (Touchstone, 2011), and
much more, we could see a rise in hospital acquired infections (HAIs).
This, obviously, negatively impacts our patients, but also adds
unforeseen additional costs (AHRQ, 2022).
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). (2022). AHRQ
tools to reduce hospital-acquired conditions.
https://www.ahrq.gov/hai/hac/tools.html#:~:text=Hospital%2DAcqu
ired%20Conditions%20(HACs),conditions%20cause%20harm%20to
%20patients.
Touchstone, R. (2011). 5 Healthcare construction best practices for
occupied healthcare facilities. Becker’s Hospital Review.
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-management-
administration/5-healthcare-construction-best-practices-for-
occupied-healthcare-facilities.html
