Kelly M. Pyrek, Infection Control Today
Just how efficacious are the cleaning and disinfection interventions performed in health care institutions? And what standard are hospitals using to evaluate cleaning efforts? While it has been suggested that the food industry cleanliness standard (surface bioburden level of <2.5 cfu/cm²) be adopted in health care as an indication of relative cleanliness, there is still a lack of conclusive evidence that these levels of contamination relate to the prevention of health care associated infections (HAIs).

Bob Kehoe, Health Facilities Management
There’s an old adage that if a lie is repeated often enough, it starts to sound like the truth. I was reflecting on this point recently in relation to environmental services (ES) departments and whether they are—as so often referred to—"non-revenue-generating" staff.

Heather Caspi, HealthcareDIVE
The trend toward improving facilities may not only improve patient satisfaction, but that of health care providers and facility workers as well.

Will Tolliver, Becker’s Infection Control & Clinical Quality
Antimicrobial products are not only a perfect complement to a facility's existing daily cleaning protocols, they are poised to alter the landscape of disinfection in acute care facilities.

Zack Budryk, FierceHealthcare
A study in the Journal of American Medicine challenges the conventional wisdom about the benefits of costly hospital renovation and expansion.

PCT Magazine
When it comes to commercial kitchens and food-handling facilities, cockroaches are the most prolific, adaptable and determined pest. They reproduce rapidly, eat almost any organic substance, and thrive in hard-to-reach cracks and crevices that offer warmth and humidity.

WHO via Infection Control Today
Between Jan. 1, 2015 and Feb. 8, 2015, the IHR National Focal Points of Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and the United States notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of a total of 147 cases of measles, most of which are related to a large multi-state outbreak in the United States.

Lauren Silverman, NPR
Across the country, the health care industry is pouring billions of dollars into new hospitals and medical centers. And the new hospitals of today are very different than the ones they're replacing.

Zack Budryk, FierceHealthcare
The top hospitals in America have in common a combination of collaboration, evidence-based decisions and vision, according to the latest rankings released by Healthgrades.

Wayne Havrelly, KGW.com
The quality of care for our nation's veterans has been under fire for long wait times, but now there's good news about the VA.

WHO via Infection Control Today
Use of the same syringe or needle to give injections to more than one person is driving the spread of a number of deadly infectious diseases worldwide. Millions of people could be protected from infections acquired through unsafe injections if all health care programs switched to syringes that cannot be used more than once. For these reasons, the World Health Organization (WHO) is launching a new policy on injection safety and a global campaign with support from the IKEA Foundation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to help all countries tackle the pervasive issue of unsafe injections.

Lindsey Bever and Brady Dennis, Washington Post
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday warned doctors and hospitals around the country that a commonly used medical scope could be difficult to clean and "may facilitate the spread of deadly bacteria."

Leslie Small, FierceHealthcare
The superbug Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) recently made headlines in the wake of a deadly, multi-state outbreak among hospitalized patients, but a new study reminds health leaders that improvements in antibiotic stewardship are sorely needed to mitigate the threat posed by not just CRE, but all varieties of these powerful pathogens.

Bradley MacDonald, MLive
Leadership qualities are something we all desire to attain throughout myriad aspects in our lives. Whether a boss, an educator, a mother, a friend, and among other titles, having good leadership qualities leads to being a good person. It allows us to thrive as an individual, and that ultimately leads us to thriving as a company, a household, or on a much larger scale, a society.

Amy Cosper, Entrepreneur
Like many roles in life and business, being a true leader is a calling. Either you’re a great one, or you’re not. Think of those who have changed the expected, like Picasso, Plato, Thelma and Louise, Socrates, and Tom Brady.

Ben Walker, Chartered Management Institute
One of the best pieces of leadership advice I ever had was that you should never assume that people know why they are doing something. Ask them the purpose of tasks you suspect are a waste of time—and if they can’t tell you, stop them doing them.

Release Date: Thursday, February 26
This program examines the process of performing an effective RFI/RFP, developing a review team, charting comparison analyses, and identifying best products and practices.

Release Date: Thursday, March 19
Effectively managing change involves evaluating, planning and implementing processes, tactics, and strategies.

MyAHE is the area for you to collaborate and interact with your peers to discuss and compare solutions to common issues. We welcome you to provide feedback, network, and share your knowledge with others. MyAHE allows you to network in real-time with peers and experts around the country. We want to make sure you are making the most of this robust members-only benefit since research has shown that networking is a top rated benefit of AHE members.

Environmental Services Technician Certification will not only signify technical accomplishment, but also commitment to performance excellence. Begin differentiating your team of environmental services technicians... and start making significant contributions to the patient experience of care, the facility, the profession, and the community!

The AHE Innovation Award presents a tremendous opportunity for companies and organizations to be recognized for innovative and improved products, processes, and technology advancements. AHE’s goal with the Innovation Award is to increase awareness of innovations that empower individuals and organizations to improve measured outcomes in the health care environment. The award is open to AHE members and non-members and requires a nominal application fee of $300 at the time of application. Apply now!

Do you know someone in environmental services who you want to recognize for their hard work? Honor someone that you believe is doing an outstanding job in environmental services by nominating them today. Let them know that their work doesn’t go unnoticed. AHE’s awards and recognition program acknowledges and elevates those who have demonstrated the highest level of effort and leadership in the field. Award recipients are those who work towards advocating and educating themselves on best practices and standards, developing leaders within the health care environment, and recognizing the profession in the health care community. Apply today!

Sylvia M. Burwell , USA Today
Over the past three months, millions of Americans sent a powerful message: The Affordable Care Act is working, and the quality health coverage offered on its Health Insurance Marketplace is a product that consumers need, want, and like.

California Healthline
The U.S. uninsured rate in 2014 fell to its lowest level in seven years, driven in large part by states that have fully implemented the Affordable Care Act, according to a Gallup survey released Tuesday, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports (Alonso-Zaldivar, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 2/24).