Top Infection Prevention Challenges Healthcare Facilities Faced in 2025

Key Takeaways

• Emerging pathogens and antimicrobial resistance demanded constant updates to infection prevention protocols and stewardship practices.

• Staffing, reporting, and budget pressures strained healthcare facilities, creating gaps in compliance, surveillance, and readiness.

• Practical training and expert guidance can help facilities strengthen accountability, improve daily practices, and sustain a culture of safety.

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Infection prevention has remained a critical focus for healthcare facilities, but 2025 highlighted just how difficult it can be to keep pace with emerging threats, regulatory expectations, and resource constraints. As facilities reflect on the past year, several key challenges stand out. Understanding these risks and learning from them will help organizations position themselves for stronger outcomes in the year ahead.

1. Emerging Pathogens and Antimicrobial Resistance

The challenge: In 2025, healthcare facilities faced an increasingly complex microbial landscape. Beyond familiar multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs), high-concern variants of common pathogens demanded rapid adjustments in infection control protocols. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) forced facilities to reassess disinfection strategies, sterilization procedures, and prescribing practices, often in real time as new CDC and WHO recommendations were issued. The pace of change meant that protocols could become outdated quickly if not continuously reviewed.

The risks: Failing to respond in a timely and coordinated way heightened the likelihood of outbreaks within hospitals and long-term care facilities. Inadequate or outdated cleaning practices contributed to transmission, while lagging antimicrobial stewardship programs created openings for resistant organisms to spread unchecked. Beyond patient safety, facilities faced regulatory citations, reputational harm, and potential financial penalties tied to preventable infections.

Our perspective: At Infection Control Consulting Services (ICCS), we closely monitor evolving guidance and support facilities in updating infection prevention plans. Our consultants also help organizations test readiness through outbreak drills and targeted risk assessments.

2. Infection Prevention Staffing Shortages

The challenge: Staffing shortages continued to strain infection prevention programs in 2025. Facilities often reassigned infection control responsibilities to nurses, clinicians, or administrators already carrying heavy workloads. The lack of dedicated infection preventionists led to gaps in oversight. Burnout and turnover remained high, making it difficult to build consistency in infection control practices.

The risks: Without adequate staffing, surveillance programs were disrupted, allowing infections to spread undetected. Documentation required for surveys and regulatory compliance was sometimes incomplete or inaccurate, exposing facilities to penalties. Facilities without strong infection prevention leadership risked falling behind on best practices, leaving patients and staff vulnerable during outbreaks.

Our perspective: The ICCS team supports facilities by offering fractional infection prevention expertise and mentoring for new infection preventionists, providing stability without requiring a full-time hire.

3. Surveillance, Reporting, and Data Burden

The challenge: In 2025, reporting requirements to NHSN, CMS, and accrediting organizations became more demanding. Facilities struggled to balance manual processes, siloed data systems, and rising expectations for real-time reporting. Staff often juggled multiple dashboards and reporting platforms, increasing workload and the chance for human error.

The risks: Missed or incorrect submissions jeopardized compliance and survey readiness. Inaccurate or delayed data limited leadership’s ability to identify infection trends early, measure the impact of interventions, and demonstrate compliance to regulators. The result: higher operational risk, lost credibility, and potentially preventable infections.

Our perspective: ICCS helps facilities streamline reporting by reviewing current surveillance processes, validating data accuracy, and building systems that meet compliance requirements while providing leadership with actionable insights.

4. Budget Pressures and Financial Expectations

The challenge: Despite evidence that infection prevention programs reduce costs, many healthcare organizations deferred investments in 2025 due to budget constraints. Requests for staffing, new disinfection technology, or training often stalled unless leaders could clearly demonstrate return on investment. Infection prevention was sometimes viewed as a cost center rather than a strategic driver of safety and efficiency.

The risks: Delaying investments created vulnerabilities. Facilities risked increased healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), regulatory fines, and reputational harm that far outweighed the cost of proactive measures. Some organizations also saw operational disruptions from preventable outbreaks, resulting in longer patient stays and decreased trust among patients and families.

Our perspective: We help facilities demonstrate the financial value of infection prevention through cost avoidance analysis and phased implementation strategies. This allows organizations to strengthen safety without overspending.

5. Compliance, Culture, and Human Factors

The challenge: Even when policies were well written, execution remained uneven. In 2025, lapses in hand hygiene, environmental cleaning, and sterile processing often stemmed from human factors such as fatigue, unclear accountability, or lack of consistent reinforcement. Building and maintaining a strong culture of infection prevention proved as difficult as designing the policies themselves.

The risks: Organizations that struggled to establish a culture of accountability faced recurring deficiencies during surveys and audits. Small, daily lapses in adherence added up to major risks, including preventable infections and reputational damage. Without a culture of safety, infection prevention efforts often failed to sustain momentum over time.

Our perspective: ICCS consultants provide staff training and culture assessments to build accountability and buy-in. We emphasize practical steps that embed infection prevention into daily operations.

Building Stronger Infection Prevention Programs Beyond 2025

The challenges faced in 2025 underscored how vital infection prevention remains to the resilience of healthcare organizations. As facilities look ahead, learning from the past year will help build stronger programs, better compliance, and safer environments. Partnering with an experienced consulting team ensures that infection prevention remains a top priority rather than an afterthought.

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FAQs on Top 2025 Infection Control Challenges

Q: What were the top infection control challenges in 2025?

The most significant challenges included emerging pathogens and antimicrobial resistance, staffing shortages, data and reporting burdens, budget pressures, and compliance issues tied to human behavior.

Q: Why is antimicrobial resistance such a concern?

Antimicrobial resistance makes infections harder to treat and increases the risk of outbreaks. Facilities need to adapt cleaning and prescribing practices quickly to stay ahead.

Q: How can healthcare facilities improve reporting and data accuracy?

By validating processes, using technology integrations where possible, and ensuring data is reconciled before submission to regulatory bodies.

Q: How can ICCS help healthcare facilities address these challenges?

ICCS provides tailored infection control and prevention consulting services, including plan development, staff mentoring, survey preparation, and outbreak support to help facilities stay compliant and safe.

AAAHC Releases 2025 Quality Roadmap: Infection Prevention and Control Remains a Top Challenge

The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) has released its 2025 Quality Roadmap, an annual report summarizing survey results from May 2024 through May 2025 across ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), office-based surgery centers, primary care practices, and Medicare deemed status facilities. The findings are drawn directly from onsite accreditation surveys conducted under AAAHC's current standards (v43), which are set to be replaced on Dec. 16, 2025.

While most organizations achieve accreditation, the report underscores a familiar reality: infection prevention and control (IPC) remains one of the most challenging areas for compliance.

IPC in Surgical and Procedural Organizations

Nearly 90% of all surveys were conducted in ASCs and office-based surgery centers, where surveyors frequently cited IPC deficiencies. The three most common breakdowns were:

• unsafe sterilization and high-level disinfection practices (IPC.170, cited in 13.3% of facilities);

• inadequate program descriptions that failed to show how infections are prevented, identified, and managed (IPC.130, cited in 12.1%); and

• lack of a governing body-approved written IPC program (IPC.100, cited in 9.3% of facilities).

These findings point to both governance and frontline practice gaps. Policies may exist on paper, but they often lack the oversight and follow-through required to ensure staff are consistently protecting patients from infection risks.

IPC in Primary Care Organizations

In primary care settings, IPC was the single-most cited area of noncompliance. Surveyors most often noted:

• the absence of a formal, documented IPC program (IPC.100, cited in 15.2% of facilities);

• programs that lacked sufficient detail on surveillance and prevention practices (IPC.130, cited in 14.7%);

• and weaknesses in sterilization and disinfection processes (IPC.170, cited in 14.2%).

These results reflect a recurring challenge in outpatient clinics, where lean staffing and limited resources often leave infection control as an "add-on" responsibility rather than a fully supported program led by a qualified professional.

IPC and Immediate Jeopardy

According to the Quality Roadmap, infection control accounted for 22% of all immediate jeopardy (IJ) incidents over the past year. Many of these were tied to IPC.110 and IPC.170, where surveyors observed unsafe injection practices, failure to follow manufacturer instructions for cleaning scopes, reuse of disposable gowns, and cross-contamination caused by flawed workflows.

These lapses aren't minor. They represent immediate threats to patient safety and can jeopardize both accreditation and Medicare certification.

Why the Findings Matter: Infection Prevention and Control Standards in the Spotlight

Accreditation isn't just about passing a survey. It's about building systems that protect patients every day. IPC deficiencies persist because governing bodies often don't provide sufficient oversight, staff training isn't reinforced over time, and cultural gaps allow unsafe shortcuts. The 2025 Quality Roadmap makes clear that organizations must treat IPC not as a compliance checkbox but as a core component of safe, high-quality care.

IPC Compliance Readiness: Don't Risk Waiting

Infection prevention and control remains a key differentiator between organizations that excel during surveys and those that stumble — sometimes with serious consequences, including failed surveys, patient harm, and even the loss of insurance contracts or the ability to operate.

And with new AAAHC standards taking effect in December, the clock is already ticking. Organizations that wait until their next survey window to address IPC gaps may find themselves scrambling to catch up or worse, falling short when the stakes are highest.

If your last survey raised red flags in IPC, or if you're unsure whether your current program meets the latest expectations, now is the time to act.

Let's talk. Infection Control Consulting Services (ICCS) helps organizations get ahead of new standards, strengthen IPC policies and practices, and prepare staff to demonstrate compliance every day of the accreditation cycle. Don't wait until surveyors are at your door. Make sure your IPC program is airtight now.

What Does an Infection Control Consultant Do for Ambulatory Surgery Centers?

By Phenelle Segal, RN, CIC, FAPIC

Regulatory agencies and accrediting organizations place heavy emphasis on infection prevention and control in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). These bodies expect ASCs to treat patient safety, survey readiness, and compliance as constant priorities, and the margin for error is slim.

For many surgery centers, partnering with an experienced infection control consultant is the most effective and efficient way to stay on top of and meet infection control and prevention requirements, reduce risks, and create a safer environment for patients and staff alike.

Common ASC Infection Control Challenges

Despite ASCs operating differently than hospitals, their infection prevention requirements are no less rigorous. ASCs are expected to pay close attention to every step of the patient journey, from preop through surgery through discharge, to prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). However, doing so can be difficult. Common infection control challenges facing today's ASCs include:

• Survey preparation and compliance: CMS, AAAHC, Joint Commission, QUAD A, ACHC, and state health departments all maintain strict infection control standards. Keeping up with the breadth of requirements and their ongoing challenges can be a full-time job in itself.

• Resource limitations: Given that most ASCs operate with lean staffing models, infection prevention and control responsibilities are often added to clinical or administrative roles. This can makes it difficult for those tasked with these responsibilities to devote the necessary time, focus, and expertise to ensuring their ASCs are meeting requirements and staying survey ready.

• Sterile processing: Proper cleaning, disinfection, and sterilization of surgical instruments is one of the highest-risk areas for ASC survey deficiencies.

• Antimicrobial stewardship: Prescribing and usage practices are increasingly scrutinized, requiring ASCs to establish programs that align with national standards.

• Written plans and risk assessments: Facilities must not only have comprehensive infection prevention plans in place, but they must also demonstrate that those plans are tailored to their unique environment and consistently followed and updated, when necessary.

When any of these areas fall short, ASCs face consequences ranging from costly citations to reputational damage. In some instances, shortcomings can even lead to operations being suspended.

How an Infection Control Consultant Supports ASCs

A certified infection control (CIC) consultant brings specialized expertise to help ASCs meet regulatory expectations and improve patient outcomes. At Infection Control Consulting Services (ICCS), for example, our team tailors solutions to the needs of each surgery center. Services typically delivered to our ASC clients include one or more of:

• Survey preparation: On-site assessments that identify potential deficiencies before a surveyor does, complete with actionable recommendations.

• Risk assessments: Facility-wide reviews of practices, policies, and environments to pinpoint vulnerabilities.

• Plan development and updates: Customized infection prevention and control programs, OSHA bloodborne pathogen and TB exposure control plans, and antimicrobial stewardship programs designed to meet ASC-specific requirements.

• Education and training: Targeted education and training sessions for staff at all levels, better ensuring infection prevention protocols are understood and consistently applied.

• Onboarding and mentoring: Guidance for new infection preventionists or staff tasked with ASC infection control responsibilities.

• Plan of correction support: Assistance with developing and implementing corrective action plans following survey deficiencies.

• Sterile processing guidance: Direct observation and feedback to ensure best practices are consistently maintained.

• Outbreak investigations: Expertise in root cause analysis and corrective measures for surgical site infections (SSIs) or other infection-related events.

Each of these services is designed not only to address compliance but also to foster a stronger culture of safety and accountability within the ASC.

Why Partner With ICCS

The ICCS team has over 40 years of experience in infection prevention and control, serving healthcare facilities, including ambulatory surgery centers, nationwide. Several members of our consulting team hold the FAPIC credential, a recognition awarded by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology to leaders in the field.

Working with ICCS gives ASCs more than an individual consultant. It provides access to a team-based approach supported by peer collaboration, ongoing education, and a depth of experience across multiple ASC and other facility types. This means your surgery center benefits from proven strategies and insights refined over decades of practice.

The Value and ROI of Partnering With Infection Prevention Consultants

Engaging an ASC infection control consulting firm may feel like an added expense, but in reality, it is a cost-saving strategy. Consider the alternatives:

• A full-time infection preventionist may be cost-prohibitive, and turnover can disrupt continuity.

• A survey citation or regulatory fine can far exceed the investment in infection prevention consulting services.

• Outbreaks, SSIs, or lapses in sterile processing not only affect patient safety but can also damage the ASC’s reputation and financial viability.

By contrast, a consulting partnership offers flexibility and consistency. Whether through a one-time assessment, ongoing support, or hybrid arrangement, ASCs gain immediate access to seasoned professionals who strengthen compliance, reduce risk, and ultimately improve patient outcomes.

ASC Infection Control Is Too Important to Leave to Chance

Surgery centers exist to provide patients with safe, efficient surgical care outside of the hospital setting. To do that successfully, infection prevention cannot be a secondary responsibility. It must be treated as a priority. A partnership with an ASC infection control consulting firm like ICCS ensures your ASC has the people, expertise, and resources necessary to meet requirements and maintain ongoing compliance, protect patients and personnel, and instill confidence in both staff and surveyors.

Let ICCS Help Strengthen Your ASC’s Infection Prevention Program

ICCS has supported ambulatory surgery centers across the United States with infection prevention services tailored to their unique needs. From survey readiness to sterile processing guidance and antimicrobial stewardship, our consultants bring the expertise and stability today's ASCs require.

If your surgery center is looking to strengthen its infection control program, relieve the burden on staff, and better ensure short- and long-term compliance, ICCS is here to help. I invite you to contact us today for a complimentary consultation to discuss how our team can support your ASC’s infection prevention and control goals.