In a joint statement published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology and the Society for Health Epidemiology of America explored how the organizations can collaborate to address infection control issues in 2016.
Already, APIC and SHEA have begun working together. The organizations have participated in a joint leadership summit to appoint executive committee members to serve on a task force developing shared criteria for infection prevention and control programs.
In 2016, APIC and SHEA plan to:
1. Hold at least two APIC-SHEA task force meetings
2. Write a joint editorial on the strategic importance of boosting resource allocation to infection control professionals and healthcare epidemiologists for healthcare management journals
3. Strengthen the relationship between the two organizations by improving the communication between the respective boards and committees
4. Launch more joint education opportunities to train APIC and SHEA teams
"We believe that the [two] organizations have made important strides toward more successful joint collaboration, particularly with our engagement during the past year," according to the statement. "We look forward to strengthening our relationship and leveraging joint opportunities for the benefit of both memberships, and to better position [infection control professionals] and healthcare epidemiologists for expanded leadership roles."
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