Harnessing the power of infection prevention and public health data systems to support health care in Washington State during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

State health departments' (SHD) role in infection prevention and control (IPC) includes robust educational and consultative services for various health care settings. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Washington-SHD (W-SHD) IPC staff conducted remote and on-site Infection Control Assessment and Response (ICAR) consultations for long-term care (LTC) and non-LTC health care facilities. ICAR consultations were classified as "reactive" in response to a COVID-19 outbreak or "proactive" to help facilities improve IPC protocols. Facility addresses were geocoded to census tracks, classifying urban or rural areas. Facility types and characteristics were analyzed, assessing theimpacts of repeat visits. All descriptive statistics, Pearson's χ2 tests, and odds ratios were calculated. Between March 2020 and December 2022, W-SHD conducted 3,093 ICARs at 1,703 health care facilities in 94.9% (37/39) of Washington counties. Of the total visits, most were in LTC (90.5%) and 48.9% were reactive. Facilities with initial on-site ICARs had 1.5 times the odds of having a repeat visit than facilities with initial remote visit (95%CI: 1.21, 1.87). Maintaining strong connections with health care facilities can help bolster infection prevention practices and minimize loss of information at the facility level. Evidence-based findings on the sustainability of the W-SHD's ICAR services during the COVID-19 pandemic illustrated the value of public health IPC programs.