Infections

Have you ever heard the phrase: "I'm going in the hospital and hope to make it out alive?"

In "The Social Transformation of American Medicine," author Paul Starr extensively writes on the history of American hospitals and how at one point in US history, the hospital was the last place a person would want to go to receive care. The reasons for this were rather obvious: at the time, hospitals and almshouses usually were for the poor who could not afford specialized care, most Americans preferred to have a physician who could travel to see them, and lastly, hospitals equated death due to the increased rates of infection.

Fortunately, hospitals have drastically progressed but the concern about hospital acquired diseases and nosocomical infections is very prevalent. (FYI: nosocomical infections are those diseases which occur due to care or treatment in a healthcare setting. They are not the primary reasons for admission and often present within 48 hours of admission. Examples include: acquiring pneumonia due prolonged usage of a respirator or developing a staph infection such as MRSA from a neighboring roommate in a nursing home. )

In an effort to curtail the prevalence of hospital acquired infections (HAI), Medicare has pledged to stop reimbursing clinical providers for certain (HAI) that occur under their care.

According to the Infectious Disease Society of America, on Oct. 1, 2008, Medicare will stop paying hospitals for treating the following conditions if they are not present on admission:

Catheter-associated urinary tract infections, Pressure ulcers, Vascular catheter-associated infections, Mediastinitis after coronary artery bypass graft surgery, Fractures, dislocations, or other hospital-acquired injuries, Objects left in during surgery, Air embolisms, and other Blood incompatibilities."


Hmm..good start but in all reality, hospital acquired infections are unavoidable. It will be interesting to see the financial ramifications that come from this policy and if other third-party insurance companies will jump on board.