During outpatient visits

What does your healthcare team do to prevent and control infection during outpatient visits?

• During your appointment, you will be escorted directly into an exam room. We want to avoid having our patients in the same area to reduce the risk of spreading germs between patients.
• We clean and disinfect the exam room surfaces and the medical equipment — such as the pulse oximeter, the stethoscope and the pulmonary function devices — between patients.
• We wash our hands or use alcohol-based hand sanitizers before and after contact with each patient.

What can you do to prevent and control infection during your visits?

• Wash your hands with soap and water or use alcohol-based hand sanitizers (hand gel) when you arrive for your appointment and when you leave. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are very effective in killing germs on hands only when the hands are not visibly soiled. If hands look or feel dirty, then hand washing with soap and water is best.
• If there is a wait and/or you happen to be near another patient, please keep at least three feet away. The “three-foot rule” is a safe distance from someone who may be sick. Secretions from a cough or a sneeze generally do not travel further than three feet.
• If you are coughing or sneezing, please use a tissue and throw it away in the trash. Afterwards, wash your hands again.

Remember: Washing your hands is the number one protective measure against acquiring an infection.