[MCOH-EH] Is keeping a log of positive TB screens still necessary?

[Elizabeth.Moline at capellahealth.com]

I contacted the Oregon state TB guru nurse , here is what she sent:

Hi Elizabeth,
I've attached the relevant pages from the CDC Guidelines for Preventing the Transmission of MTB in Health Care Settings, 2005
http://www.cdc.gov/tb/publications/guidelines/infectioncontrol.htm

Our OARs require facilities follow the guideline: http://public.health.oregon.gov/DiseasesConditions/CommunicableDisease/Tuberculosis/Pages/oars.aspx

Given this:

1-      If you are a medium risk facility still conducting annual HCW TB testing you should keep data on the number of conversions you have per year (that is employees who were baseline negative and later positive at annual testing).  If it is above the expected, you would then need to conduct an investigation to determine why.

2-      If you are a low risk facility and do not conduct annual HCW TB testing you would not have to keep aggregate data on the number of positive tests because you will not be tracking conversions.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Also, would you like to be added to our email list?  It's for ICPs and employee health nurses.

Heidi Behm, RN, MPH
TB Controller, Oregon Health Authority
Phone: 971-673-0169
Fax: 971-673-0178


Beth


Beth Colbert Moline, MSN, FNP-BC
Nurse Practitioner, Occupational Medicine
National Certified Medical Examiner
WIllamette Valley Medical Center
(503) 435 6586     FAX  (503) 435-6555
Please consider the envirnoment before printing this email.

This email and any files transmitted with it may contain PRIVILEGED or CONFIDENTIAL information and may be read or used only by the intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient of the email or any of its attachments, please be advised that you have received this email in error and that any use, dissemination, distribution, forwarding, printing, or copying of this email or any attached files is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please immediately purge it and all attachments and notify the sender by reply email or contact the sender at the number listed

From: MCOH-EH [mailto:mcoh-eh-bounces at mylist.net] On Behalf Of Diane Shaw
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2014 8:26 AM
To: mcoh-eh at mylist.net
Subject: [MCOH-EH] Is keeping a log of positive TB screens still necessary?

Our TB incidence is very low and we now only do TB screening upon hire and post-exposure. Is it necessary  still keep a log of the positive TB screens? Is there a regulation for this? I can't see the purpose of the log, which could easily track yearly conversions, if we don't do annual screenings anymore.

Thoughts?

Diane M. Shaw, RN, CIC
Tuality Healthcare
Employee Health Services
335 S.E. 8th Ave
Hillsboro, OR 97123
Phone: 503.681.1444
Fax: 503.681.4170
Tues.-Fri. 0730-1700 hours

The contents of this transmission may be confidential in nature and should be directed only to the addressee. Do not read, copy, or disseminate this material unless you are the intended recipient. If this transmission has reached you in error, please forward this e-mail to the sender to advise, then destroy the message.


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mylist.net/archives/mcoh-eh/attachments/20140724/ef3193ec/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: TB test in HCW.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 111245 bytes
Desc: TB test in HCW.pdf
URL: <http://mylist.net/archives/mcoh-eh/attachments/20140724/ef3193ec/attachment-0001.pdf>