4 Good News Stories on HAI, and a Bonus

Using the site, health executives, payers, employers, physicians, recruiters, and yes, lots of consumers will be able to view and compare data on 3,500 hospitals. Will companies that buy healthcare go to that site to make purchasing decisions?  Some of my colleagues think they will not.  But I think they will, in time.

Mike Bell, MD,deputy director of the division of Healthcare Quality Promotion for the CDC wrote on his blog:

"For healthcare facilities,it connects financial incentives to HAI reporting. In other words, facilities that report will be recognized and rewarded for their efforts. We expect that this change will fuel existing momentum toward HAI prevention and elimination programs already happening within healthcare facilities across the country."

Down the line, many health leaders say they fully expect CMS to take additional steps to more severely penalize hospitals with higher than normal preventable mishaps. 

In releasing its July 30 final rule, CMS made a point of explaining that to date, with 12 months of claims data recorded, CMS has adjusted—which is to say lowered—payments by $18.8 million for 3,416 patient discharges in which any of 10 current hospital-acquired conditions had occurred.