Infection Prevention and Management Associates

What Infection Prevention and Management Associates does

Infection Prevention and Management Associates (IP&MA) is a privately held healthcare consulting firm founded in 1996 by Virginia Kennedy and Bonnie Barnard, headquartered in Houston, Texas. The firm provides infection prevention and control consulting, program management, crisis response, gap assessment, surveillance support, and survey readiness services to acute care hospitals, multi-facility healthcare systems, long-term acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, and behavioral health facilities, as well as non-healthcare organizations such as schools, manufacturing, and hospitality. Its core differentiator is highly certified talent—every team member holds CIC certification, several hold FAPIC (Fellow of APIC) credentials—and validated clinical methodologies that have produced documented outcomes including 30-40% CDI reduction, 20-30% SSI reduction, 4.7x Year-1 ROI on HACRP penalty mitigation engagements, and a >95% first-time pass rate on the CIC certification exam among its students. Over 200 Infection Preventionists have been trained through the firm's curriculum over three decades.

IP&MA generates revenue through five primary streams: (1) CMS HACRP Financial Penalty Reduction engagements structured as multi-year outcome-based contracts with all-inclusive fees varying by hospital and travel scope; (2) consulting services for short-term problem-solving and performance improvement billed as professional services; (3) contract-based program management that places certified infection preventionists into healthcare facilities on onsite, remote, or hybrid staffing arrangements; (4) self-paced online training courses including CIC Certification Preparation ($399), NHSN Surveillance Bootcamp ($149), and Influencing Without Authority ($20); and (5) individual skill assessments including the Infection Surveillance Interrater Reliability Assessment ($99) and CIC Readiness Assessment. Distribution is via direct enterprise sales with a discovery call as primary qualification entry point, supplemented by self-serve online registration for training and assessment products.

The firm's technology stack centers on validated NHSN surveillance methodology, a proprietary library of case scenarios for inter-rater reliability testing, and a structured training curriculum with 12+ hours of video content. Thought leadership is a core marketing pillar, with publications in the American Journal of Infection Control, presentations at APIC, SHEA, NAHQ, and IDWeek, and Kelly Holmes co-hosting APIC's 5 Second Rule podcast. The firm was bootstrapped with no external funding and remains privately held under founder and principal Virginia Kennedy, with four Senior Associates (Kelley Boston, Kelly Holmes, Jennifer McCarty, Sandi Steinfeld) and several regional leads and junior associates.

Name

Infection Prevention and Management Associates

Legal name

Infection Prevention & Management Associates

Website

https://infectionprevention.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Infection Prevention and Management Associates is a Houston-based infection prevention consulting firm serving U.S. healthcare facilities through HACRP penalty mitigation, contract IP staffing, surveillance support, and CIC certification training programs for the infection preventionist workforce.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Houston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: Short-term problem-solving and performance improvement consulting for infection prevention programs. Offered on-site and remotely, on short or long-term basis.
2. Program Management: Contract-based staffing to fill the infection preventionist role in healthcare facilities. Includes onsite program management, remote/hybrid support, and interim IP coverage.
3. CMS Penalty Risk Mitigation Engagement: All-inclusive structured engagement to reduce HACRP penalties with phased approach (assessment, intervention, monitoring). Program fees vary by hospital and travel requirements.
4. Training Courses: Self-paced online courses for infection preventionist training including CIC certification prep ($399), NHSN Surveillance Bootcamp ($149), and Influencing Without Authority ($20).
5. Skill Assessments: Individual assessments including Infection Surveillance Interrater Reliability Assessment ($99) and CIC Readiness Assessment.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

IP&MA is a professional services firm that provides infection prevention and control consulting, contract-based program management, HACRP penalty mitigation, regulatory survey support, and competency-based training for healthcare facilities across the continuum of care. Its portfolio combines onsite and remote consulting services with self-paced online certification prep courses and validated surveillance skill assessments for infection preventionists.

Product overview

IP&MA is a consulting and services company offering a comprehensive suite of infection prevention and control solutions for healthcare facilities and non-healthcare industries. The core portfolio centers on seven interconnected service pillars: (1) CMS Financial Penalty Reduction through HACRP Risk Reduction to help hospitals exit penalty zones and recover CMS dollars; (2) Consulting for short-term problem-solving and performance improvement; (3) Program Management providing contract-based infection preventionist staffing; (4) Crisis Response for urgent critical safety issues; (5) Gap Assessment and Survey Support for regulatory compliance; (6) Surveillance Support offering remote HAI surveillance with quality validation; and (7) Education & Training including CIC Certification Preparation, NHSN Surveillance Bootcamp, and the Influencing Without Authority leadership course. Supporting these services are two assessment tools (Infection Surveillance Interrater Reliability Assessment and CIC Readiness Assessment) that validate competency and readiness. The company also extends infection prevention services Outside Healthcare to non-clinical settings including schools, manufacturing, and hospitality industries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CMS Financial Penalty Reduction (HACRP Risk Reduction) Targeted intervention service for acute-care hospitals to reduce healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and recover CMS Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP) penalty dollars through a structured, evidence-based engagement with phased assessment, intervention, and monitoring.
• Consulting Short-term problem solving and performance improvement service for focused infection prevention issue resolution or special projects, including program assessment, high-risk area identification, plan development, and sustainment through education and training.
• Program Management Contract-based staffing service that fills the infection preventionist role in healthcare facilities, including onsite program management with accreditation and regulatory compliance assistance, surveillance activities, environment evaluation, policy review, clinical issue management, and education, plus remote, hybrid, and interim IP coverage.
• Crisis Response Rapid response service for urgent or time-critical infection prevention and control issues such as sterilizer malfunction, CMS immediate jeopardy situations, natural disaster damage, and other critical safety issues.
• Gap Assessment Review and evaluation of existing infection prevention programs and activities to identify compliance gaps and alignment with organizational goals, including program evaluation, regulatory compliance assessment, surveillance system assessment, cleaning and sterilization practices review, and actionable recommendations.
• Surveillance Support Remote healthcare-associated infection (HAI) surveillance service delivered by highly trained, certified infection preventionists, including remote HAI surveillance, HAI surveillance quality control, interrater reliability testing, environmental and process surveillance support, and hand hygiene and direct observations.
• Survey Support Accreditation and regulatory compliance support across the survey cycle for hospitals, long-term acute care, home care, hospice, ambulatory care, and behavioral health organizations, including pre-survey evaluation, gap assessment, policy review, staff interviews, and survey response and remediation.
• Outside Healthcare Infection prevention and control consulting, process evaluation, risk identification, and education programs for non-healthcare industries including schools, camps, restaurants, hotels, performing arts venues, community groups, sales organizations, manufacturing, warehousing, ports of entry, and energy facilities.
• CIC Certification Preparation Course Self-paced online certification exam preparation program for the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology (CBIC) CIC certification, including nine asynchronous training modules, study guides, practice questions, and a CIC Readiness Assessment exam, achieving greater than 95% first-time pass rate among students and designating 12 nursing contact hours.
• NHSN Infection Surveillance Bootcamp Self-paced online training covering NHSN surveillance protocols and definitions for key reportable and common healthcare infections, including 7 hours of asynchronous video modules, case studies, practice questions, and access to the Surveillance Interrater Reliability Assessment, designating 7 nursing contact hours.
• Influencing Without Authority (Web Course) Self-paced web course exploring practical strategies for influencing healthcare outcomes through leadership, effective communication, and relationship-building approaches for infection preventionists who must drive change without formal authority. Awards 1 nursing contact hour and CBIC IPU Categories: Management, Communication.
• Infection Preventionist Fundamentals Self-paced web course covering topic-specific infection prevention classes, combining asynchronous webinars, reading assignments with knowledge verification, individualized coaching, and opportunities to apply and practice knowledge and skills, available for in-person and live remote options for individual and group training.
• Healthcare and Corporate Staff Training Customized staff training programs for healthcare organizations including new employee orientation, annual education, survey response education, competency development, self-paced study guides, and infection prevention skill workshops, available virtually or in-person with continuing education credits.
• Infection Surveillance Interrater Reliability Assessment Validated assessment using case scenarios to evaluate infection preventionists' mastery of NHSN surveillance definitions, assessing accuracy and consistency in applying surveillance definitions to clinical cases with rationale provided upon completion; multi-person assessment available.
• CIC Readiness Assessment Practice exam with 150 questions testing knowledge across all CIC exam content categories, taken in one sitting or saved and resumed, providing scores for each category to guide study activities, with performance predicting CIC exam performance.

Quantifiable outcome

• 4.7x average Year-1 ROI on program fee
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Vizient: Healthcare performance improvement company offering consulting, analytics, and advisory services to acute care providers. Comparable as a broad incumbent targeting the same hospital buyer with quality, safety, and regulatory advisory, though IP&MA is far more specialized in infection prevention.
• Sotera Health: Provider of sterilization, lab testing, and advisory services for healthcare and life sciences. Comparable as a broad incumbent in sterilization and infection-control adjacent services, serving hospitals with a more capital-intensive delivery model than IP&MA's consulting-only approach.
• Stericycle: Healthcare and regulated-waste management company with expanded compliance and reusable-textile infection-prevention services. Comparable as a broad incumbent that bundles regulated-services delivery with compliance advisory for hospitals and non-healthcare verticals, competing on adjacent infection-control priorities.
• Ecolab: Global leader in water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions for healthcare, hospitality, and food service. Comparable as a broad incumbent offering infection-prevention products and on-site advisory services across healthcare and adjacent verticals like schools and food service, mirroring IP&MA's outside-healthcare offering.
• Medline Industries: Large medical supply manufacturer and distributor with an infection prevention product line and clinical education programs. Comparable as a broad incumbent that pairs infection-prevention supplies with training content for hospital customers, competing for the same IP training wallet.
• Premier Inc. Large healthcare performance improvement and consulting firm serving hospitals and health systems. Comparable as an incumbent that bundles operational consulting, supply chain, and quality/safety advisory services, overlapping with IP&MA's hospital performance-improvement and HACRP-mitigation work but at a much larger scale.
• BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company): Global medical technology company with a dedicated infection prevention portfolio (disinfection, surveillance, and CHG products) plus clinical advisory services. Comparable as a broad incumbent that pairs infection-prevention products with consulting-style clinical services, competing for the same hospital IP budget.

Emerging players

• Xenex Disinfection Services: Pioneer in pulsed-xenon UV disinfection robots for healthcare facilities, paired with implementation and outcome-tracking services. Comparable as an emerging player offering infection-prevention technology and consulting support to the same hospital buyer IP&MA serves through HACRP-mitigation programs.
• GOJO Industries: Hand hygiene and skin care company (Purell brand) with healthcare and non-healthcare presence. Comparable as an emerging player extending infection-prevention expertise beyond hospitals into schools, manufacturing, and food service - paralleling IP&MA's outside-healthcare consulting line.
• PDI Healthcare: Specialty infection prevention products company (disinfectants, antiseptics, hand hygiene) serving acute and long-term care. Comparable as an emerging player focused exclusively on infection prevention, offering products plus clinical education where IP&MA offers services and training.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Infection Prevention and Management Associates