Blog

Medicare To Stop Paying When Hospitals Cause Injury
Posted by: William Cirignani
July 07, 2007

Medicare wants to stop paying for avoidable injuries in hospitals and several major private insurance companies are expected to follow the lead.  Denying payment for such injuries (listed below) will raise a red flag for patients, letting them know that at least some of the hospitalization came from hospital error.  The avoidable injuries being targeted include:

1.     Catheter-associated urinary tract infections.

2.     Bed sores.

3.     Objects left in after surgery.

4.     Air embolism, or bubbles, in bloodstream from injection.

5.     Patients given incompatible blood type.

6.     Bloodstream staph infection.

7.     Ventilator-associated pneumonia.

8.     Vascular-catheter-associated infection.

9.     Gastrointestinal infections.

10.     Drug-resistant staph infection.

11.     Surgical site infections.

12.     Wrong surgery.

13.     Falls

The proposed regulations are open for comment and are planned to take effect in October 2008. (www.medlaw.com, May 30, 2007)

Permalink

Staph Superbug Infests Hospitals
Posted by: William Cirignani
July 07, 2007

A dangerous, drug-resistant staph germ may be infecting as many as 5 percent of hospital and nursing home patients.  According to a survey by Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, at least 300,000 U.S. hospital patients may have the superbug at any given time.  The bug is called: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, which is not susceptible to common antibiotics.  This infection can lead to skin infections (“flesh-eating”) and other illnesses and is potentially fatal.  The most alarming aspect is that it can be spread by touch and has been known broken out in communities like prisoners, children and athletes (called, “community-associated spread”).  The settings with the highest risk are those where people have open wounds. (AP – June 25, 2007)

Permalink