Get Your Audiology Practice Under Control

If you are an audiologist, hearing aid instrument specialist, or AuD student involved in the provision of patient care services, do me a favor and access the current written infection control plan at your work or clinical externship site. Can’t find it?  It should be stored in a common area accessible to the clinical staff. For those clinics located within a larger healthcare institution, a written infection control plan will most likely be filed with the specific regulatory department responsible for overseeing infection control although that filed plan will most likely not address audiology-specific procedures. Still can’t find it? Consider getting your practice under control.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires facilities that provide patient care services to have a written infection control plan.  While the written infection control plan is based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Standard Precautions, OSHA specifically identifies six required elements of a written infection control plan. While there are several resources available to assist audiologists on how to create a written infection control plan, the quickest way to understanding and starting the process  is to access two free-to-view webinars addressing infection control in the Audiology practice via AudiologyOnline. The first live webinar Infection Control: Why Audiologists Need to Care (Course #23808) will air Friday, May 2 at 12 pm EST and outline a clear rationale as to why infection control must be integrated into an audiology of hearing aid practice. This presentation will also focus on the initial preparation for creating a written infection control plan.  Tune in for the follow-up webinar Infection Control: What to Do and How to Do It (Course #23809) on Friday, May 9 at 12 pm EST. This presentation will focus on specific required components of a written infection control plan, product considerations (without endorsements), and offer free resources to help you get your practice under infection control! As with all AudiologyOnline audio courses, the live webinars are free-to-view and can be accessed as recorded courses 24-hours after the live presentation date. For more information, contact AudiologyOnline.