Dental professionals would have to be living under a rock to be unaware of the attention surrounding the Oklahoma oral surgeon in the news for poor infection control procedures. These events have led Hu-Friedy to turn to its network of key opinion leaders to create content for dental professionals that highlight optimal infection control protocols and best practices.
“Performing at your best is dependent upon having the best information, which is why during situations like this, Hu-Friedy puts a strong focus on our educational resources and looks to leverage our extensive network of key opinion leaders, as well as our relationships with organizations such as OSAP," Ken Serota, president of Hu-Friedy, said of the infection control breach.
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The company is using its social media platforms, as well as webinars, to deliver the infection control information. Since introducing the Instrument Management System nearly 30 years ago, Hu-Friedy has shown an ongoing commitment to innovate and transform infection prevention protocols through products that improve patient and staff safety, maximize office efficiency, and protect instruments from breakage.
The resources recently released by the company consist of:
> A landing page on Hu-Friedy.com containing links to various infection prevention resources.
> Hu- Friedy worked with Dr. John Molinari on a new educational piece, “Infection Control Procedures – Addressing Patient Concerns.” The article touches on how practices can prepare for the questions likely to be asked by patients.
> Hu-Friedy is leading a “Guidelines and Recommendations for Instrument Processing and Infection Prevention” course at the Oklahoma Dental Foundation Meeting held on April 27 from 2 p.m. to 5 pm. This 3 CE credit course will focus on infection control procedures and best practices in the dental setting in accordance with CDC guidelines. Participants will learn strategies to assist with maximizing safety and efficiency from instrument processing to chairside. For more information visit hu-friedy.com/content/infection-prevention-practice.
> On April 12, Hu-Friedy produced webinars with Mary Govoni, CDA, RDA, RDH, MBA, on infection prevention. These webinars addressed the recent breaches and reviewed a checklist of protocols that every dental practice needs to follow in order to be in compliance with CDC guidelines. Course participants were able to learn the difference between OSHA regulations and CDC guidelines, identified procedures and protocols that may need updating, and answered patient questions regarding infection prevention.
> Mary Govoni also offers two additional infection control tools for the dental practice including, “Assessment of Infection Control Protocols in Dental Practices for Patient Safety” and “How to Know if You are Protected From Infectious Disease Transmission During Dental Treatment.” Both can be found at the Hu-Friedy Infection Prevention Resource page.
For more information call 800-HU-FRIEDY or visit www.hu-friedy.com.
