The most frequently cited F-Tag in standard nursing facility health
inspection surveys under the new survey process is F880 – Infection Prevention
& Control. Since November 2017 when the new survey process began,
more than one-third of surveys conducted across the nation have included a F880
Infection Prevention & Control citation.
AHCA’s Infection Preventionist Specialized
Training (IPCO) program is
specially designed to prepare individuals to effectively implement and manage an
Infection Prevention & Control program in skilled nursing centers. It
addresses both clinical and organizational systems, processes and cultural
aspects of infection prevention and control which are fundamental to
effectively leading and administering a center’s Infection Prevention &
Control program.
AHCA’s course is an online,
self-study program with 23 hours of training that meets the educational
requirements outlined by CMS. It includes online lectures, case studies and
interactive components taught by subject matter experts who have real life
experience working in long term/post-acute care. The AHCA program gets
rave reviews with 97 percent of health care professionals who have completed
the course recommending IPCO to their colleagues.
The course addresses
both clinical and organizational systems, processes and cultural aspects of
infection prevention and control that are fundamental to effectively leading
and administering successful infection prevention and control programs and
antibiotic stewardship programs. Upon
successful completion of this program, participants will receive certificates
including 23 ANCC contact hours.
The training course registration fee is $450 for AHCA/NCAL
members and $650 for non-members. There
are no refunds and no transfers. Payment and registration must be
made online in ahcancalED.
The IPCO course can be
accessed here or at: https://educate.ahcancal.org/p/ipco.
Discounted group
purchase rates are available for groups of 25 or more. Those interested in making a group purchase
should email AHCA at educate@ahca.org.
While CMS has
announced plans to offer a free infection prevention training course some time
in Spring 2019, AHCA/NCAL recommends investing in staff training now rather
than waiting at least another year to train staff on the requirements that
already are in effect.
Despite the
recent CMS training announcement, facilities will continue to be surveyed on
all the new infection prevention and control requirements and the antibiotic
stewardship requirements – the same requirements leading to the most commonly
cited F-Tag since November 2017 under Phase I and Phase II of the CMS
Requirements of Participation and the implementation of the new survey process.
To access ahcancalED
and the IPCO course, members
will need to login with their AHCA/NCAL usernames and passwords. For assistance obtaining AHCA/NCAL usernames
and passwords, please e-mail update@ahca.org
with your name and facility contact information.
Avoid the F880 tag. Prepare
your center and staff now for success in infection prevention and control under
the new survey process: Register for IPCO!
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