Hospital Peer Review – January 1, 2008
January 1, 2008
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87% of hospitals aren't following all practices to stop avoidable infections
Patients, the press, and payers all eyes are on the topic of hospital-acquired infections. Recently, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that the Medicare program will no longer provide reimbursement for the additional costs incurred for these conditions. -
Set a goal of zero central line and VAP infections
A movement toward "zero tolerance" for hospital-acquired infections is gathering steam. "I am a true supporter of that goal, but we have to figure out if that is a realistic goal," says Thomas Talbot, MD, MPH, chief hospital epidemiologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN. -
CDC: Hospitals "need to do more" to control MRSA
Five percent of patients treated in U.S. hospitals for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) die from the infection, says a new report from the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality. -
Discharge Planning Advisor: Program targets uninsured, underinsured patients
Self-pay emergency department patients who have no primary care provider are being referred to a nearby primary care and specialty center under a program in place at St. Mary's Hospital in Tucson, AZ, part of the Carondelet Health Network. -
Discharge Planning Advisor: CMS keeps emphasizing patients' right to choose
Federal regulators continue to make it clear that they are serious about patients' right to freedom of choice of providers, says Elizabeth E. Hogue, Esq., a Burtonsville, MD-based attorney specializing in health care issues. -
Core measures: Are needed changes getting made?
At Gautier, MS-based Singing River Hospital System, quality professionals were struggling with a lack of timely feedback on core measure compliance due to a retrospective data collection process. -
The Quality - Cost Connection: Keep digging to uncover root causes
It can happen in any hospital. A cardiac surgery patient develops sepsis following a peripheral IV device-related infection. This infection ultimately contributes to the patient's death. Per Joint Commission standards, this event should undergo a root cause analysis (RCA). -
Patient Safety Alert supplement