title: Who is steering the ship? External influences on infection control programs.
abstract: Over the past decade, hospital infection control programs have begun to face new external influences that affect day-to-day practice. The mainstream media's interest in hospital-acquired infection sparked consumer interest, which resulted in more legislative activity and government regulation. Industry's influence is also increasing. To meet the increased demands of external agencies, infection control programs will need additional resources, and the infection control community will need to be more proactive in educating the public and defining the priorities for practice and research.
authors.affiliation: Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond 23298-0019, USA. medmond@vcu.edu
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Edmond
authors.forename: Theodore C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Eickhoff
mesh_terms: D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006302:Health Services Research; D006761:Hospitals; D017053:Infection Control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016357:Infection Control Practitioners; D011315:Preventive Medicine; D011634:Public Health