The ICHE Podcast

Episode 70: Artificial Intelligence for Surgical Site Infection Surveillance

In this episode of The ICHE Podcast, host Dr. David Calfee speaks with Dr. Daniel Morgan of the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Dr. Jorge Salinas of Stanford University School of Medicine about the use of artificial intelligence for surgical site infection surveillance. The conversation highlights findings from their recent studies evaluating AI-assisted approaches to surgical site infection detection, including considerations related to performance, limitations, and the safe use of protected health information.   * “Generative artificial intelligence for surgical site infection surveillance”: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/article/abs/generative-artificial-intelligence-for-surgical-site-infection-surveillance/7094A07CD043BD630DE3591AB2F01707 [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/article/abs/generative-artificial-intelligence-for-surgical-site-infection-surveillance/7094A07CD043BD630DE3591AB2F01707]   * “Use of a large language model integrated within the electronic medical record for the evaluation of surgical site infections – Northern California, 2025”: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/article/use-of-a-large-language-model-integrated-within-the-electronic-medical-record-for-the-evaluation-of-surgical-site-infections-northern-california-2025/F2AF14E965608BC25367474685DA3949#article [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/article/use-of-a-large-language-model-integrated-within-the-electronic-medical-record-for-the-evaluation-of-surgical-site-infections-northern-california-2025/F2AF14E965608BC25367474685DA3949#article]   * ICHE’s Artificial Intelligence Special Collection: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/announcements/call-for-papers/special-joint-collection-the-role-of-artificial-intelligence-in-infection-prevention-antimicrobial-stewardship-and-healthcare-epidemiology [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/announcements/call-for-papers/special-joint-collection-the-role-of-artificial-intelligence-in-infection-prevention-antimicrobial-stewardship-and-healthcare-epidemiology]

Episode 69: Reducing Bloodstream Infections in Home Infusion Settings

In this episode of The ICHE Podcast, host Dr. Dave Calfee sits down with Kavita Bhavan, MD, Sara Keller, MD, MPH, MSHP, Deborah Lockard, BSN, MPH, and Sara Szathmary, BSN, RN, CNRI to discuss their recent publications in ICHE. The authors discuss what current evidence tells us about CLABSI incidence in outpatient infusion populations, why surveillance data remain limited, and the unique challenges healthcare organizations face when trying to monitor and prevent infections outside the acute care setting.     Featured ICHE papers  * Hannum S, Marsteller J, Gurses AP, … Keller SC. Reducing home infusion CLABSI through a dashboard and toolkit implementation. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2026;47(5): 433-440.   * Johnson K, Alvarez KS, Jaybanks A, …Bhavan K. Rates of line associated bloodstream infections in self-administered outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy compared to standard of care: 11 years of data at a safety net hospital. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2026;47(5): 533-535     Other relevant resources: * Keller SC, Hannum SM, Weems K, et al. Implementing and validating a home-infusion central-line-associated bloodstream infection surveillance definition. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2023;44:1748–1759.   * https://nhicpc.org/ [https://nhicpc.org/]

Episode 68: Multidrug-resistant organisms and Candidozyma auris insights from the SHEA Research Network

In this episode of THE ICHE Podcast, host Dr. David Calfee is joined by two authors from the April 2026 issue of ICHE to discuss current infection control practices and ongoing challenges in preventing multidrug-resistant organisms and Candidozyma auris in U.S. acute care hospitals.   During the conversation, Dr. KC Coffey and Dr. Sarah Sansom explain the rationale behind their studies, share key findings on current practices, and highlight the challenges hospitals face in their efforts to control transmission of these pathogens.   Articles discussed: * https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/article/current-infection-control-practices-for-multidrugresistant-organisms-mdro-a-survey-of-the-society-for-healthcare-epidemiology-of-america-shea-research-network-and-affiliated-usbased-hospitals/F6250FE7353AB4B56C4323CDC7EB7843 [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/article/current-infection-control-practices-for-multidrugresistant-organisms-mdro-a-survey-of-the-society-for-healthcare-epidemiology-of-america-shea-research-network-and-affiliated-usbased-hospitals/F6250FE7353AB4B56C4323CDC7EB7843]   * https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/article/candidozyma-auris-prevention-practices-in-the-united-states-insights-from-the-shea-research-network/681623BFF050669F472BB80F4DCB073F [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/article/candidozyma-auris-prevention-practices-in-the-united-states-insights-from-the-shea-research-network/681623BFF050669F472BB80F4DCB073F]

Episode 67: Reducing Infection Risk in Hemodialysis Patients

In this episode of The ICHE Podcast, host Dr. David Calfee speaks with Jose Navarrete, MD. of Emory University School of Medicine and Marin Schweizer, PhD. of the University of Wisconsin about infection risks among patients receiving hemodialysis, including common pathogens and factors that increase vulnerability. They discuss their recent research and share key findings, along with practical insights on how to improve infection prevention in hemodialysis settings.   https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/article/trends-of-bloodstream-infection-incidence-rates-among-patients-on-outpatient-hemodialysis-national-healthcare-safety-network-20122021/3DC9CCED04161F16F274F12919DC3F7C [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/article/trends-of-bloodstream-infection-incidence-rates-among-patients-on-outpatient-hemodialysis-national-healthcare-safety-network-20122021/3DC9CCED04161F16F274F12919DC3F7C]   https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/article/abs/survey-of-hemodialysis-patients-knowledge-of-their-infection-risk-and-acceptability-of-an-intranasal-decolonization-intervention/EA68F7DAB1D54174D633E1DE5EE38136 [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/article/abs/survey-of-hemodialysis-patients-knowledge-of-their-infection-risk-and-acceptability-of-an-intranasal-decolonization-intervention/EA68F7DAB1D54174D633E1DE5EE38136]

Episode 66: Bacterial Contamination of Sink Drains in Healthcare Facilities

In this episode of The ICHE Podcast, host Dr. David Calfee speaks with Bobby Warren of Duke University Medical Center and Ibrahim Ahmed El-Imam of the University of Maryland School of Medicine about their recent publications examining sink drain contamination as a reservoir for gram-negative bacteria and other healthcare-associated pathogens.   "Evaluation of hydrogen peroxide-based foam disinfection for reducing gram-negative bacterial contamination in hospital sinks": https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/article/evaluation-of-hydrogen-peroxidebased-foam-disinfection-for-reducing-gramnegative-bacterial-contamination-in-hospital-sinks/83B2F0FFD71D28FEE9C25311F2F6D82B [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/article/evaluation-of-hydrogen-peroxidebased-foam-disinfection-for-reducing-gramnegative-bacterial-contamination-in-hospital-sinks/83B2F0FFD71D28FEE9C25311F2F6D82B]    "Efficacy of a foamed disinfectant in reducing pathogen contamination in renovated inpatient in-room sinks: a randomized controlled trial": https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/article/efficacy-of-a-foamed-disinfectant-in-reducing-pathogen-contamination-in-renovated-inpatient-inroom-sinks-a-randomized-controlled-trial/8BF1DC52E1B37AA2D186C41EF0EAA86C [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/article/efficacy-of-a-foamed-disinfectant-in-reducing-pathogen-contamination-in-renovated-inpatient-inroom-sinks-a-randomized-controlled-trial/8BF1DC52E1B37AA2D186C41EF0EAA86C]