The ero Mentality: Is It Good For Infection Control?
“Getting to zero” – the emerging drive to eliminate infections acquired in hospitals – is provoking much discussion in the healthcare community, ranging from concern that the approach is overly simplistic and potentially dangerous to praise that it is a motivating and worthy goal. Healthcare experts will discuss the hot-button issue at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) in Orlando, April 5-8. “Like it or not, the concept of ‘getting to zero’ is here,” said Patrick J. Brennan, M.D., president of SHEA and chief medical officer for the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Philadelphia. “As infection control specialists, our job is to recognize the policy implications as well as the unintended consequences.” Michael Edmond, M.D., hospital epidemiologist for the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, Richmond, asks “Getting to Zero: Is it Safe?” and examines the genesis of the concept as well as the forces that are driving it. He d
