It is essential to understand your administrator’s point of view before you sit down with him/her. He/she is tasked with balancing a facility’s need to function properly, with the need for the facility to meet financial expectations. In an era of shrinking budgets, your administrator is trying to do more with less, just as you are within your infection control department. In fact, in 2005, the "Top Issues Confronting Hospital CEOs" survey conducted by the American College of Healthcare Executives ranked financial challenges as the No. 1 concern of hospital CEOs. Even within this cost-cutting environment, you should be able to make a strong case for your professional development, which is the core of your effective infection control program, and you must present the business case for reducing healthcare-associated infections from the perspective of the healthcare executive.

It is crucial for you to be aware of the true cost of HAIs, as it will reinforce the points you are about to make. The APIC white paper, "Dispelling the Myths: The True Cost of Healthcare-Associated Infections," states, "Hospital leaders are aware that healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) impact patients but many have no idea of the extent of the situation and the degree to which HAIs impact cost and operating margin. For example, some hospital executives believe the number of inpatients that acquire an HAI is far smaller than the actual rate. Case studies of significant cost savings are presented along with a methodology for determining the cost of various categories of HAIs. The large impact these cases have on costs and operating margins is even more significant. A recent study of 1.69 million admissions from 77 hospitals found that patients with a healthcare-acquired infection reduced overall net inpatient margins by $286 million or $5,018 per infected patient. The study found that the average additional incremental direct cost for patients with an HAI was $8,832."

As an ICP, you can help your administrator establish a zero-tolerance position on infections as well as create HAI-reduction strategies that represent a substantial opportunity for hospital leaders to improve safety, quality and significantly reduce costs.

The following is a suggested step-by-step process to initiate conversation with your facility’s administrator for conference attendance.

• Articulate to your administrator that you play a pivotal role in your facility’s infection prevention and risk management endeavors, and enumerate the many ways that you contribute to the safeguarding of patients and healthcare workers.
• Explain to him/her that you face numerous new challenges within the infection prevention field, including mandatory public reporting, and outbreaks of multi drug-resistant organisms, and need up-to-date information on infectious disease trends and other professional tools and skills.
• Point out that the ICT Conference on Professional Development will provide instruction on these pertinent topics as well as assist you in improving your performance as an employee. Emphasize that the knowledge you gain at the ICT Conference will help the facility’s bottom line because you can be more effective in protecting against infections and additional patient days and the associated costs. Be specific in ways that your attendance will be an invaluable investment in your career, will pay dividends in the future, and how it will add value to your organization. You must make the strong equation between the prevention of infections and the prevention of profit erosion for the facility.
• Reassure your administrator that when you return from the conference you will provide him/her with concrete examples of what you have learned and how it will be directly applicable to your career and to your facility’s infection control program. Establish clear objectives and expectations so that your administrator knows how you will have spent your time. Provide several examples of best practices learned, and strategize on how to implement them.