(a) General. The facility must establish and maintain an infection prevention and control program designed to provide a safe, sanitary, and comfortable environment and to help prevent the development and transmission of communicable diseases and infections.(b) Infection prevention and control program (IPCP). The facility must establish an IPCP and conduct an annual review, effective November 28, 2019, of the IPCP and update the program, as necessary. The Quality Assessment and Assurance Committee, as described in §554.1917 of this chapter (relating to Quality Assessment and Assurance) monitors the IPCP. The IPCP must include:(1) a system for preventing, identifying, reporting, investigating, and controlling infections and communicable diseases for all residents, staff, volunteers, visitors, and other individuals providing services under a contractual arrangement based upon the facility assessment conducted according to §554.1931 of this chapter (relating to Facility Assessment), and following accepted national standards;(2) written standards, policies, and procedures for the program, which must include:(A) a system of surveillance designed to identify possible communicable diseases or infections, including multidrug-resistant organisms, before they can spread to other persons in the facility;(B) when and to whom possible incidents of communicable diseases or infections should be reported;(C) standard and transmission-based precautions to be followed to prevent spread of infections;(D) when and how isolation should be used for a resident; including:(i) the type and duration of the isolation, depending upon the infectious agent or organism involved; and(ii) a requirement that the isolation should be the least restrictive possible for the resident under the circumstances;(E) the circumstances under which the facility must prohibit employees with a communicable disease or infected skin lesions from direct contact with a resident or a resident's food, if direct contact will transmit the disease; and(F) the hand hygiene procedures to be followed by staff involved in direct resident contact;(3) an antibiotic stewardship program that includes antibiotic use protocols and a system to monitor antibiotic use;(4) procedures for making rapid influenza diagnostic tests available to facility residents;(5) a system for recording incidents identified under the facility's IPCP and the corrective actions taken by the facility; and(6) acceptable accommodations for a resident with a communicable disease according to current practices and policies for infection control.(c) Infection preventionist. Effective November 28, 2019, the facility must designate one or more individuals as the infection preventionist (IP) who is responsible for the facility's IPCP. The individual designated as the IP, or at least one of the individuals if there is more than one IP, must be a member of the facility's Quality Assessment and Assurance Committee and report to the committee on the IPCP on a regular basis. The IP must:(1) have primary professional training in nursing, medical technology, microbiology, epidemiology, or other related field;(2) be qualified by education, training, experience or certification;(3) work at least part-time at the facility; and(4) have completed specialized training in infection prevention and control.(d) Communicable Diseases.(1) Policies. The facility must have and implement written policies for the control of communicable diseases in employees and residents and must maintain evidence of compliance with local and state health codes and ordinances regarding employee and resident health status.(2) Reporting. The name of any resident with a reportable disease as specified in