Health Information Portal (HIP)

The Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance (HAI/AR) program is dedicated to the prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance. Our program serves as a resource to the Philadelphia healthcare community and public with the goal of improving healthcare safety and quality in the City of Philadelphia.

Surveillance and coordination of control efforts are needed to address the increasing threat of antimicrobial resistant organisms. The Philadelphia Board of Health mandates the reporting of all cases of the following drug resistant organisms for the purpose of identification and limiting transmission: Candida auris, Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), and Pandrug-resistant Organisms (PDROs).

The HAI/AR Program conducts year-round surveillance for multiple drug-resistant organisms of public health concern by collecting clinical and laboratory information from healthcare facilities. The HAI/AR Program also monitors and tracks numerous healthcare-associated infections and metrics that are reported into the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), the nation’s most widely used healthcare-associated infections tracking system.

The HAI/AR program supports infection prevention and control efforts in healthcare settings in the Philadelphia area. These resources provide up-to-date guidance to support individuals working to reduce healthcare-associated infections. Guidance and support is also provided through individualized, onsite consultations on infection prevention and control practices.

Antimicrobial stewardship refers to coordinated efforts to reduce and limit the threat of antimicrobial resistance and preserve the effectiveness of existing antimicrobials. Antimicrobial stewardship improves patient outcomes and safety by promoting appropriate antimicrobial prescribing, leading to more effective treatments and fewer side effects related to antimicrobial use.

One Health is a collaborative, coordinated, and connected movement focusing on the interwoven aspects of environmental health, animal health, and human health. Now more than ever, collaborative health is essential to the health of our communities. Three out of four new or emerging infectious diseases come from animals.* These infectious diseases can be easily spread through the overlapping environments between animals and humans. One Health issues include zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance, food safety and food security, vector-borne diseases, and environmental contamination.

The HAI/AR program provides services to assist healthcare facilities in their infection prevention and control and antimicrobial stewardship efforts. To request or ask questions about any of the services listed, contact the HAI/AR program at HAI.PDPH@phila.gov or 215-685-4501.  

The HAI/AR Program maintains a number of resources, including COVID-19 toolkits, infection prevention education resources, sample policies and procedures, and audit tools that providers can reference to inform their practice.

The HAI/AR Archive contains quarterly Surveillance Reports and past events held by the HAI/AR Program. These events cover information on drug-resistant organisms, infection prevention, and more.

The HAI/AR Collaborative is a regional group comprised of healthcare providers and experts dedicated to preventing healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance. Participation in the Collaborative is open to all healthcare providers and other stakeholders involved or interested in infection prevention and control, antimicrobial stewardship, and HAI/AR epidemiology in the Philadelphia metropolitan area.