Sharing a common infection prevention mission

The Association for the Health Care Environment (AHE) and the American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE), both professional membership groups of the American Hospital Association, serve distinct memberships: environmental services (EVS) and health care facilities professionals, respectively. Yet AHE and ASHE frequently consult with each other — and encourage their members to do the same.

Optimizing the health care environment takes a team of departments and services in addition to facilities management, and we all have a common mission: safe patient care. 

With constant advances in technology and a push for more flexible and adaptable environments, environmental changes will continue to be under consideration on an ongoing basis. To be successful, we must collaborate and consult with departments like infection prevention, nursing, finance, information systems, health care technology management and EVS. 

AHE members are attending the AHE Exchange Conference Oct. 3-5 in Orlando, Fla. Please share this opportunity with your EVS team.

Of course, we have other partners in maintaining the safety of the health care environments, including our authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs) and surveyors. Undergoing a survey can be extremely stressful, and it’s easy to forget that, ultimately, many of the surveyors and AHJs who evaluate our facilities have the same mission we do. Forming strong collegial relationships with your local AHJs and surveyors can go a long way in ensuring we all successfully accomplish that shared mission. 

ASHE provides education to prepare you for these events. This month, ASHE is offering the Physical Environment Survey Readiness Program as live online training, which includes modules for life safety, emergency management and care environment surveys. If you are not able to join us for this month’s training, there will be many other opportunities to engage with this program. For more information, visit ashe.org/surveyready. 

There are innumerable individuals outside of the facilities management department with whom we interact every day. Remembering that we share a common mission in our commitment to patient care and safety can help us work together to solve problems, innovate and cultivate a working community for coming generations.