Article preview from Medtech Insight -October 01, 2010
Pressure to adopt the latest infection control solutions will continue to grow as payor reimbursement becomes more closely tied to how hospitals perform in the area of health care associated infections. Automated patient surveillance systems offer health care facilities the ability to identify pathogen patterns and identify when control limits have been reached. This may help health care professionals slow or even completely prevent outbreaks, representing a significant improvement over conventional methods of tracking infections.
Article preview from Medtech Insight -October 01, 2010
The constant battle to prevent hospitalized patients from contracting expensive and at times life-threatening hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) has become a more transparent endeavor in recent years. What used to be hospitals' dirty little secret is now a well-known fact in the industry, which even hospital administrators admit is a good thing, because it has forced all involved parties to focus on solutions.
Pressure to adopt the latest infection control solutions will continue to grow as payor reimbursement becomes more closely tied to how hospitals perform in the area of HAIs. As was announced earlier this year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will begin requiring all hospitals that accept Medicare patients to report central line–associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) to CMS via the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), operated by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). Starting in January, facilities that do not meet the requirements and do not submit data to CDC/NHSN will be subject to a 2% point reduction in the Medicare inpatient annual payment update for fiscal 2013.
The move is the latest in a series of developments that limit or deny payments from CMS for certain events in an effort to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs. The strategy was initiated in 2009, with the implementation of the "never events" policy, which outlines 28 events in six categories determined by the National Quality Forum. The never events on the list cover a variety of potential problems, from surgery performed on the wrong body part to using the wrong medication or dosage. ( See Exhibit 1.) Many private insurers have adopted similar policies, and the focus on containing infections is now a top priority, evidenced by the fact that more than half (27) of US states now require health care facilities to publicly report HAIs. ( See Exhibit 2.)
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