Infection Control Oversight 101
Training the ASC Infection Preventionist and Infection Control Coordinator to build, direct, document and defend an infection prevention program.
8:00 a.m. – 5:15 p.m. EDT
8.0 education contact hours
Live virtual + on-demand access
Purpose of the Conference
Every ambulatory surgery center is required to name someone to direct its infection prevention program. Very few of those people were ever formally trained for the job. They are experienced nurses, clinical directors, and administrators who inherited the title, and then discovered that it carries federal regulatory weight, an annual risk assessment, a surveillance obligation, a training curriculum for the entire workforce, and a body of national standards that changes every year.
Infection Control Oversight 101 exists to close that gap. It is the foundational program in the ASC Central infection control curriculum, refreshed for 2026, and it is built to take a newly designated Infection Preventionist or Infection Control Coordinator from appointment to competence in a single program day.
The course is deliberately practical. It is organized the way the job is actually built — first the role and where its authority comes from, then the training program you owe your workforce, then the national guidelines you are required to select and document, and finally the three areas where surveyors spend most of their time: reprocessing standards, the environment of care, and the products used to clean and disinfect it. Every session is anchored to the CMS Conditions for Coverage at 42 CFR Part 416, the CMS Infection Control Surveyor Worksheet (Exhibit 351), and the current editions of the recognized national standards.
The 2026 edition runs a full eight education hours. Each module pairs instruction with an applied segment in which the attendee builds an actual piece of the program — the delegation packet, the attestation form, the guideline selection worksheet, the reference set, the high-touch surface map, the product-to-pathogen match — so the day ends with documentation in hand rather than notes to act on later. The content also reflects the current landscape: the newly revised AAMI ST58:2024, the enforceable ST108:2023 water quality standard that most centers have not yet addressed, CDC’s core practices for ambulatory settings, emerging threats including measles and Candida auris, and DNV’s December 2025 approval as the fifth CMS-recognized ASC accrediting organization.
Who Should Attend
- Newly appointed and current Infection Preventionists and Infection Control Coordinators
- Clinical and nursing directors
- ASC administrators and Governing Body members
- QAPI and quality leads
- Sterile processing and environmental services leadership
- Any center preparing for an initial survey, a resurvey, or a change of accrediting organization
Conference Agenda
Tuesday, September 22, 2026 · 8:00 a.m. – 5:15 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time · Delivered live and virtually, with on-demand access to every recorded session afterward.
| Time | Session | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 8:00 – 8:1515 min | Welcome, Housekeeping & Program Overview | How the day is structured, how to submit questions, and what you should walk away able to do. Not counted toward education hours. |
| 8:15 – 9:3580 min | Module 1The Role & Responsibilities of the Infection Preventionist | CMS’s required program components under 42 CFR §416.51, the IP definition, Governing Body delegation, and the full scope of the job. Closes with a walk-through of the appointment and delegation documentation packet. |
| 9:35 – 9:5015 min | Morning Break | 15 minutes. |
| 9:50 – 11:1080 min | Module 2Creating an Infection Prevention Training Program | Audience, frequency, method, and content — then a working segment to draft knowledge-check items and the signed attestation form. |
| 11:10 – 12:2070 min | Module 3Identifying Nationally Recognized Infection Prevention Guidelines | The five CMS-approved ASC accreditors and the guideline-issuing bodies, followed by a guided selection worksheet and the Governing Body approval language. |
| 12:20 – 12:5030 min | Lunch Break | 30 minutes. |
| 12:50 – 2:1585 min | Module 4Standards & Guidelines for Cleaning, Disinfection & Sterilization | Current AAMI editions — ST79, ST91, ST58:2024, and the enforceable ST108:2023 water standard — plus an extended segment on the ST108 gap most centers have not yet closed. |
| 2:15 – 2:3015 min | Afternoon Break | 15 minutes. |
| 2:30 – 3:4575 min | Module 5Environment of Care Strategies | The six core components of an environmental cleaning program, routine vs. enhanced vs. terminal cleaning, and a high-touch surface mapping exercise walked area by area. |
| 3:45 – 5:0075 min | Module 6Product Selection in Relation to Cleaning & Disinfection Practices | Spaulding classification, the hierarchy of resistance, EPA pathogen-specific lists, contact time, and IFU compatibility — applied against your own product inventory. |
| 5:00 – 5:1515 min | Open Q&A and Program Wrap-Up | Live questions with the presenter, key takeaways, and next steps for building your program. |
Total program time: 9 hours 15 minutes elapsed · 8.0 education contact hours, exclusive of the 60 minutes of scheduled breaks and the 15-minute opening housekeeping block. Every module reserves its final 10 to 15 minutes for applied work and questions.
Session Learning Objectives
Each session carries its own stated objectives. Taken in sequence, they form the complete foundation for directing an ASC infection prevention program.
The Role & Responsibilities of the Infection Preventionist
- Explain CMS’s required key components of an infection prevention program.
- Define the Infection Preventionist (IP) role under both the CMS and APIC definitions.
- Review the role of the Governing Body in appointing, supporting, and documenting the IP’s authority.
- List the core roles and responsibilities of the IP across program structure, surveillance, education, stewardship, and collaboration.
Applied segment (final 15 minutes): assemble the appointment and delegation packet — job description, Governing Body minute language, org chart placement, and the annual reappointment entry.
Creating an Infection Prevention Training Program
- Discuss what infection prevention and control (IPC) really means and why every healthcare worker needs a working command of it.
- List the goals of infection control and prevention training and the regulatory drivers behind them.
- Classify the topics worth training on — standard precautions, transmission-based precautions, environmental hygiene, and emerging threats.
- Develop a validation tool — knowledge check plus attestation — to document participation and competency.
Applied segment (final 15 minutes): draft knowledge-check items for the high-risk basics and build the signed attestation form for staff and for credentialed providers.
Identifying Nationally Recognized Infection Prevention Guidelines
- Review where CMS stands on nationally recognized infection prevention guidelines and how CfCs, CoPs, and deeming reach your center.
- List concrete examples of recognized guidelines and the bodies behind them — CDC/HICPAC, APIC, AORN, AAMI, USP, EPA, and others.
- Discuss the rationale behind each and where it applies in your operation.
- Propose ways to incorporate selected guidelines into your infection control practices — and document the selection for survey.
Applied segment (final 20 minutes): work the guideline selection worksheet — map issuing bodies to your practice areas and draft the Governing Body approval language.
Standards & Guidelines for Cleaning, Disinfection & Sterilization
- Examine the rationale for using published standards and guidelines in reprocessing.
- Identify the common standards for cleaning, disinfection, and sterilization, including current AAMI editions and what changed for 2026.
- Create a method for keeping references available and usable for the staff who actually perform the work.
- Evaluate which resources will realistically work for your facility and build a starting set.
Applied segment (final 20 minutes): build your center’s reference set and access plan, and run the ST108 water quality gap check most centers have not yet completed.
Environment of Care Strategies
- Define environmental cleaning and explain why contaminated surfaces matter to transmission.
- Discuss the six core components of an environmental cleaning program — integrate, educate, select, standardize, monitor, and feed back.
- Classify high-touch surfaces across every area of the center, from reception through PACU.
- Distinguish between the key cleaning terms and apply routine, enhanced, and terminal protocols correctly.
Applied segment (final 15 minutes): map high-touch surfaces area by area, from reception through PACU, and test your existing cleaning checklist against the result.
Product Selection in Relation to Cleaning & Disinfection Practices
- Understand the importance behind environmental cleaning as the baseline standard of care.
- Identify standardized protocols for cleaning and disinfection and assign them clearly by area and situation.
- Discuss how to select the right products — Spaulding classification, hierarchy of resistance, EPA pathogen-specific lists, contact time, and IFU compatibility.
Applied segment (final 15 minutes): match your current product inventory to the pathogens you need to kill, and reconcile contact times against the device IFUs.
What the Attendee Will Learn
By the close of the program, the attendee will be able to build, direct, document, and defend an infection prevention program in an ambulatory surgery center. Specifically, the attendee will be able to:
- State what CMS requires of an ASC infection control program under 42 CFR §416.51 and locate the related requirements throughout the Conditions for Coverage.
- Describe the Infection Preventionist role, the qualifications it demands, and the documentation that establishes the Governing Body’s delegation of authority.
- Carry out the recurring duties of the role — the annual infection control risk assessment, goal setting, policy ownership, surveillance and reporting, SSI investigation, and the infection control log.
- Design an infection prevention training program that reaches every required audience — employees, credentialed providers, vendors, contracted cleaning staff, and patients — at the right frequency and in a format that changes practice.
- Build the validation tools — knowledge check and signed attestation — that demonstrate to a surveyor that training produced competency, not just attendance.
- Identify the nationally recognized guideline-issuing bodies, select the guidelines appropriate to their center, secure Governing Body approval, and document the selection — the single most frequently cited gap under §416.51.
- Recognize the current AAMI reprocessing standards and the 2026 changes, and make those references genuinely accessible to sterile processing staff.
- Construct an environmental cleaning program around its six core components, map the high-touch surfaces specific to their center, and apply routine, enhanced, and terminal cleaning protocols precisely.
- Select cleaning and disinfection products using the Spaulding classification, the hierarchy of pathogen resistance, EPA pathogen-specific lists, required contact time, and device manufacturer instructions for use.
- Anticipate what the CMS Infection Control Surveyor Worksheet asks and assemble the evidence before the surveyor arrives.
- Leave the program holding the working documents built during the applied segments — the delegation packet language, the attestation form, the guideline selection worksheet, the reprocessing reference set, the high-touch surface map, and the product-to-pathogen match.
Training Requirement for the ASC Infection Control Coordinator
This program meets the training requirement for the designated Infection Control Coordinator in an ambulatory surgery center.
The CMS Conditions for Coverage at 42 CFR §416.51(b)(1) require that an ASC’s infection control program be directed by a designated, qualified professional who has training in infection control. CMS does not prescribe a single course or credential; it requires that the designated individual hold documented, current training appropriate to the role, and that the center be able to produce that documentation on survey.
Infection Control Oversight 101 is designed to satisfy that requirement. Its curriculum covers the full scope of the designated professional’s duties — program direction, the annual risk assessment, surveillance and reporting, workforce education, selection and documentation of nationally recognized guidelines, reprocessing standards, environment of care, and product selection — and maps directly to the elements CMS surveyors evaluate using the Infection Control Surveyor Worksheet (Exhibit 351).
Each attendee receives a certificate of completion documenting 8.0 contact hours of infection prevention and control training, suitable for filing in the Infection Preventionist’s personnel record alongside the Governing Body’s appointment and delegation of authority. The program also supports the ongoing education expectations of the CMS-approved ASC accrediting organizations — AAAHC, QUAD A, The Joint Commission, ACHC, and DNV — and is appropriate preparation for those pursuing formal ambulatory infection prevention certification.
Your Presenter
Laurie Roderiques supports surgery centers through accreditation, survey readiness, and day-to-day clinical operations. She holds dual specialty credentials as a Certified Administrator Surgery Center (CASC®) and a Certified Ambulatory Infection Preventionist (CAIP®), and brings the perspective of someone who has stood in the OR, sat through the survey, and rebuilt prevention programs that did not hold up — so the training stays grounded in what actually works in a real ASC.
Reserve your seat for September 22, 2026
Register your Infection Preventionist — or your whole clinical leadership team. Attend live, ask questions in real time, and keep on-demand access to every session afterward for ongoing training and onboarding.
Questions? Email info@asc-central.com.