Profession
New name for infection control stresses prevention
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Aug. 18, 2008
The Assn. for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology announced in July that it wants its nearly 12,000 members to now be known as "infection preventionists."
The new name is meant to raise awareness of what infection-control professionals do to "uniquely contribute to patient safety, improved outcomes and bottom-line savings to health care institutions," said APIC CEO Kathy Warye. The name change came from months of branding research, which also resulted in a new logo and tagline: "Spreading knowledge. Preventing infection."
The profile of infection-control professionals is higher than ever because of state mandates on hospital infection reporting and a growing trend of not paying for preventable hospital-acquired conditions such as infections.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/08/18/prbf0818.htm.