Included in the list of what constitutes surgical error in a medical facility might reasonably be any act or omission that leads to a breach of infection control in a patient, and that is precisely what is happening with disturbing frequency according to officials for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ("CDC"), especially in outpatient care settings.

That is problematic in any case, but especially so because outpatient facilities are the care providers of choice for most patients and regarding virtually all medical procedures and treatments, including surgeries. In fact, about one billion visits are made by patients each year to physician offices and clinics, and more than 75 percent of all surgeries are performed outside hospitals in such venues.

The CDC worries about that, based on its view that commonplace infection prevention protocols and practices are not routinely or evenly followed in outpatient facilities. To change that, the CDC has just issued a new guide and checklist focused on safe care, infection control and educational dissemination in outpatient settings.

It is essential that risk is minimized for what the medical community refers to as healthcare-associated infections, states the CDC, especially because a large percentage of outpatients are considered vulnerable.

The CDC guideline focused on preventing infections and their transmission is entitled Standard Precautions. It includes a medical education video course that addresses how unsafe injection practices lead to infectious outbreaks and how to avoid them.

A major recommendation by the CDC is that every outpatient facility in the United States train at least one person in infection control, designate him or her the site's "infection control leader," and have that person on the clinical staff or regularly available.

Related Resource: Medscape, "CDC Guidelines for Infection Prevention in Outpatients" July 20, 2011