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Evaluation of policies regarding physicians infected with blood-borne pathogens
1School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA. ngcherie@u.washington.edu
Objective:
Formulating an effective approach to preventing surgeon-to-patient transmission of blood-borne pathogens has been controversial. The objective of our study was to evaluate current community hospital policies, if any, regarding restrictions on surgeons (general surgeons and obstetricians and gynecologists) infected with blood-borne pathogens operating on patients.
Design:
A survey on hospital policies regarding surgeons infected with blood-borne pathogens was sent to infection control officers at Northern California community hospitals (n = 113).
Results:
Forty-five hospitals responded to the survey. Of these, only 6 (13.3%) had a policy. Of the 39 (86.7%) that did not have a policy, only 3 hospitals were planning on implementing one.
Conclusions:
Many community hospitals are uninterested in instituting a policy regarding the practice of surgeons infected with blood-borne pathogens. Possible reasons include the lack of concern on the individual level, difficulty in defining exposure-prone procedures, and the nature of the relationship between medical staff and community hospitals.
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