Tag: Excelsior Medical

New CMS Rule on Infection Reporting

Posted on by Greg Dennis

If hospitals see more revenue from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) next year, they may owe a thank-you to the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) – and their own infection prevention pros.

SHEA is urging infection control professionals to get up to speed on new CMS requirements for reporting central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs). Starting in 2011, CLABSIs and certain other healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs) will have to be reported on the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) for hospitals participating in the CMS Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program. Participation in the programs is voluntary but here’s the catch: Hospitals can’t get full CMS payment without taking part.

How does the process work? Hospitals report their CLABSI data from their adult and pediatric intensive care units and neonatal intensive care units to NHSN, which then shares it with CMS.

Each facility’s data will be also be uploaded to CMS’s Hospital Compare tool, which is designed to publicly report hospital performance so it can be usefully compared.

The focus on CLABSI data will benefit patients will also live in the value of industry’s contributions to preventing infections. Included in the latter, among companies with which we work, are Excelsior Medical and RyMed.

The partnership between CMS and NHSN is intended to create greater transparency of HAI data, make hospitals more accountable for quality care, and boost facility’s support for infection prevention programs and professionals. Read more about NHSN here: http://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/cms-welcome.html/ .

Medical Errors and Reducing Bloodstream Infections

Posted on by Greg Dennis

If anyone doubted that medical errors carry a hefty price tag — beyond the obvious suffering of patients and their families – that doubt has been removed by a new study.

The Wall Street Journal Health Blog notes that medical errors and associated problems cost the US economy $19.5 billion in 2008, according to a study released today. The study, commissioned by the Society of Actuaries and carried out by the actuarial and consulting firm Milliman, is based on insurance claims data. The report estimates the errors caused more than 2,500 avoidable deaths and over 10 million lost days of work.

The number of avoidable deaths seems awfully low, considering that catheter-related bloodstream infections alone account for an estimated 30,000 deaths among U.S. patients each year. Presumably methodology differences account for the underestimate of CRBSI. Medical errors covered by the study included bed sores, post-op infections and implant or device complications.

Increasingly in our PR practice, we see the need for technology to address medical errors. Sometimes these errors are simple and avoidable – such as the failure to properly clean needleless IV connectors, which can be overcome by the use of Excelsior Medical’s SwabCap device. SwabCap replaces alcohol swabs for cleaning connectors (also known as luer access devices) — making it much easier for nurses to comply with cleaning protocols demanded by the Joint Commission. The device adds the extra safety measure of protecting IV connectors for up to 96 hours, in the pathogen-laden atmosphere of hospital rooms.