Computer equipment used in patient care within a multihospital system: recommendations for cleaning and disinfection.

Computer hardware has been implicated as a potential reservoir for infectious agents. Leaders of a 22-hospital system, which spans North America and serves pediatric patients with orthopedic or severe burns, sought to develop recommendations for the cleaning and disinfection of computer hardware within its myriad patient care venues. A task force comprising representatives from infection control, medical affairs, information services, and outcomes management departments was formed. Following a review of the literature and of procedures within the 22 hospitals, criteria for cleaning and disinfection were established and recommendations made. The recommendations are consistent with general environmental infection control cleaning and disinfection guidelines, yet flexible enough to be applicable to the different locales, different computer and cleaning products available, and different patient populations served within this large hospital system.