title: [Role of medium-sized independent laboratories in control of healthcare-associated infection].
abstract: In 2006, the Ministry of Health and Welfare revised the regulations regarding the Medical Service Law. The amendments stipulate that all healthcare institutions are required to implement infection control programs. However, small hospitals and clinics have no clinical microbiology laboratories, whereas medium-sized hospitals have few medical technologists and the outsourcing of microbiology tests to independent laboratories is common. The decreasing number of laboratories and recent outsourcing tendency reflect the increasing commercialization, and, with it, the escalating number of commercially operating chains. Each independent laboratory is responsible for supporting activities related to the surveillance, control, and prevention of healthcare-associated infections in the associated small and medium-sized hospitals. The people responsible for infection control in these hospitals usually do not have a background in microbiology. The evaluation of communication between independent laboratory staff and hospital personnel, and rapid turnaround time of microbiology laboratory test reports are important elements ensuring the quality of independent laboratory work. With the pressures of financial constraints in the Japanese medical insurance system, the development of a cost-effective and practical protocol for quality assurance is a real dilemma.
authors.affiliation: Byotai-seiri Laboratory, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173-0025, Japan. eiko.anzai@byotai.or.jp
authors.forename: Eiko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Anzai
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fukui
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006742:Hospital Bed Capacity; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods; D007255:Information Services; D007564:Japan; D007753:Laboratories; D008829:Microbiology; D020416:Outsourced Services; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000191:economics