close up of hands being washed with soap in bathroom sink

Infections in the home care setting are not uncommon, yet there are few tools and resources specifically designed for the home care professional. To help address this need and make care safer, the Great Plains Quality Innovation Network Home Health Infection Prevention and Control Initiative was established.

The initiative team, led by Great Plains QIN, has developed an Infection Prevention Toolkit, which contains tools, resources and best practices to help reduce Acute Care Hospitalization (ACH) or Emergency Department (ED) visits related to wound, urinary tract and respiratory infections. The Toolkit contains many tools and resources for wound, urinary tract and respiratory infections, immunizations, antibiotic stewardship, patient and family education, risk assessment and surveillance, sepsis and others.

The Home Health Infection Prevention Toolkit has been extremely helpful. We have utilized the documents under Risk Assessment and Surveillance, specifically the Risk Assessment template. During our last Joint Commission Survey, we were told that we need to be using a template very similar to the tool included in the tool kit. Honestly, the Risk Assessment template from the Home Health Infection Prevention Toolkit is more comprehensive than the example provided to us by the JC surveyor,” stated Karisa Pawlowski, Altru’s Home Health and Hospice Compliance Coordinator.

Access the Home Health Infection Prevention Toolkit

The Great Plains team wants to sincerely thank the Home Health Advisory Council and participating home health agencies for their assistance in developing, trialing and evaluating the Toolkit. A special thanks to the national HHQI Campaign team for their support and guidance in development and review of the toolkit.