In honor of its 30th anniversary, OSAP, the Organization for Safety, Asepsis and Prevention, has developed a new campaign that will run throughout 2014 promoting The SafestDentalVisit™. The campaign is an educational program that addresses patient safety, the practice environment and behavior change. The goal of the best practices program is to ultimately help reduce infections, prevent disease transmission and save lives.
The SafestDentalVisit starts with OSAP's strong foundation of educational resources including courseware, educational conferences, publications and website. It will feature new innovations in each category, and the next generation of educational tools.
Some of the initial components of The SafestDentalVisit campaign are as follows:
(1) Successful 2014 Boot Camp
Kicking off The SafestDentalVisit campaign in January, the OSAP CORE Infection Control Boot Camp had an outstanding turnout of attendees comprising academia, consulting, the Air Force, Veterans Administration and other Federal Services, and companies who convened in Tampa, FL for the 3-day conference.
The CORE infection control curriculum is essential training for dental professionals. This rigorous course offered 24 hours of continuing education credits, a comprehensive resource binder and checklists. Attendees received instruction from national experts. Training also included optional exams so attendees could demonstrate their competency in this critical function to ensure the safe and infection-free delivery of oral healthcare.
The 2015 CORE Infection Control Boot Camp will return to Atlanta, GA in January 2015.
(2) NIOSH Survey
The next component of The SafestDentalVisit campaign is a national survey of private dental practices. OSAP is partnering with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct an online survey of private dental practices from January 28 - March 31. The survey was developed to gather information on the use of exposure control plans for reducing the risk of exposure to blood and other potentially infectious materials in private dental practices.
Survey invitees were selected from a distribution list from AEGIS Communications. AEGIS teamed with OSAP to help distribute the online survey to private dental practices with a link to the short but important survey.
Additionally, NIOSH just announced that they are expanding the distribution to select membership organizations, including OSAP. OSAP members who work in private dental practices are encouraged to complete the brief online survey by clicking on this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/58DPXXG_OSAP (note: please complete only one survey per practice)
The survey is anonymous - but the aggregated data will help to identify available exposure control resources and potential barriers so that better strategies can be developed to improve the safety of dental healthcare workers.
(3) New Infection Control In Practice Team Huddle™ Launches in March
Following the Boot Camp and national survey, OSAP will be launching Infection Control in Practice TEAM HUDDLE™ in March. The ICIP Team Huddle combines all the best elements of previous ICIP newsletters and has been redesigned. Dental teams and educational institutions alike can use ICIP Team Huddle as turn-key instruction for infection control staff meetings and trainings. The interactive guide features a real-life scenario, discussion and implementation guides, checklists, references, an infection control tip, the opportunity to earn continuing education credits and, of course, the popular "what's wrong with this picture".
Additionally, OSAP is reaching out to the entire dental community to offer this publication as an on-line subscription for a special 30th anniversary price. Dental practices that may not have been familiar with OSAP can now connect via the new on-line subscription in 2014 for just $30. Of course, current OSAP members will still receive the print version of ICIP Team Huddle, weekly InfoBites, the quarterly newsletter, full access to the website and all previous issues of its publications, free access to its technical advisory service, discounts on courseware and educational courses and much more. The 30th anniversary online subscription is a new strategy designed to connect OSAP more extensively with the broader dental community.
(4) OSAP Annual Symposium June 5-8
The program committee for the June OSAP Symposium has developed a robust line-up of plenaries, breakouts, hands-on training, networking events, new product insights, a strong vendor fair and more. OSAP is serious about its strategic goals to increase compliance, foster and develop OSAP leaders and create sustainability and is offering powerful educational sessions in June to address each goal. Members are encouraged to visit the Symposium website frequently to learn about programs that are being added daily. Additionally, OSAP members are encouraged to:
- Submit a proposal for the new "Ignite" session of 5-minute compliance briefings (there will be a total of 10 presenters selected who will share a quick overview of an innovative compliance lesson they have learned or implemented - deadline April 30)
- Submit a scientific abstract (deadline April 4)
- Nominate a candidate for OSAP's two leadership awards (deadline April 15)
- Register now to secure a seat at the table and a room at the hotel (deadline May 12)
