Nursing Home Infection Control Program Characteristics, CMS Citations, and Implementation of Antibiotic Stewardship Policies

Recently, the Centers for Medicare 922 had complete data. One-third of NHs in this sample received an infection control deficiency citation. The NHs that received deficiency citations were more likely to have committees that met weekly/monthly versus quarterly (P < .01). The IPs in 39% of facilities had received specialized training. Less than 3% of trained IPs were certified in infection control. The NHs with trained IPs were more likely to have 5 of the 7 components of antibiotic stewardship in place (all P < .05). The IP training, although infrequent, was associated with the presence of antibiotic stewardship policies. Receiving an infection control citation was associated with more frequent infection control committee meetings. Training and support of IPs is needed to ensure infection control and antibiotic stewardship in NHs. As the CMS rule becomes implemented, more research is warranted. There is a need for increase in trained IPs in US NHs. These data can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the CMS final rule on infection management processes in US NHs.