U.S. health officials are giving nearly $3 million to the American Hospital Association to help reduce central line-associated bloodstream infections in hospital intensive care units. The grant from the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality will be used over three years to roll out a program designed to reduce these infections nationwide. When the safety program was tested in more than 100 Michigan intensive care units, infection rates dropped dramatically. Over three months, more than 50% of the participating hospitals saw their ICU infection rates drop to zero.
Elderly Americans who live in low-income ZIP codes are more likely to die after surgery than those who live in higher-income ZIP codes, according to a study analyzing death rates among more than one million older adults who had one of six common high-risk heart or cancer surgeries. The risk of death was between 17% and 39% higher for patients in low-income ZIP codes, mainly because the quality of care is lower at hospitals in lower socioeconomic areas, according to the study authors.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced today the approval of DNV Healthcare, Inc. as a deeming authority for U.S. hospitals. DNV is the first new organization to receive deeming authority for hospitals in more than 30 years.
According to the pre-Federal Register announcement, DNV was recognized "as a national accreditation program for hospitals seeking to participate in the Medicare or Medicaid programs" effective September 26, 2008 through September 26, 2012.
"We're coming into this business not just as another option," says Yehuda Dror, president of DNV Healthcare. "We want to take a leadership position."
"I think a lot of people will explore the possibility," says Bud Pate, REHS, vice president for Content and Development for The Greeley Company (a division of HCPro, Inc.). "There are some hurdles that people will need to walk through--since DNV is new they're going to need to work through some residency issues, contract issues, that may exist and may mention The Joint Commission but none of these are insurmountable."
DNV has crafted a system intended to combine CMS Conditions of Participation with ISO 9001 quality management. This program, called the National Integrated Accreditation for Healthcare Organizations, or NIAHO(SM), was created to make the accreditation process more streamlined as well as identify means for improving current standards and promoting continual improvement.
"The ISO-9001 certification seems to be a logical progression to the focus on quality assurance and quality improvement that has occurred in healthcare, primarily in hospitals," says Larry Poniatowski, RN, BSN, CSHA, principal consultant for Accreditation Compliance Services with The University HealthSystem Consortium. "The issue here now will be to see how well it's embraced by hospitals."
Twenty seven U.S. hospitals in 22 states have been accredited by DNV Healthcare using the NIAHO(SM) program in addition to other accreditation services.
In mid-2007, DNV Healthcare acquired Cincinnati-based TUV Healthcare Specialists with the belief that the acquisition would help cement DNV's application to CMS. In 2006, TUV had unsuccessfully applied for deeming authority.
DNV Healthcare is a division of Houston-based DNV USA, a subsidiary of the Norwegian company Det Norske Veritas. DNV focuses on risk management and training in several industries, including healthcare.
New Brunswick, NJ-based St. Peter's University Hospital has reported that an eighth patient has tested positive for the bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease. Hospital officials said in a statement that the latest patient was released from St. Peter's on Aug. 30. Hospital officials say a drop in the level of chlorine in the water system likely caused the outbreak. Eight patients have now tested positive, and two have died, in the Legionnaires' disease outbreak.
The process of transferring the care of a hospitalized patient from one resident to another tends to cause some amount of harm to the patient, a new study suggests. The study strengthens several previous studies that found "handoffs" can contribute to preventable injuries not resulting from a patient's underlying medical condition. Worries about the potential for handoff-related problems have grown since increased restrictions on the amount of time that residents can work result in even more frequent handoffs.
At least two people have died undergoing an experimental and controversial treatment, chelation, used for those with heart problems, although doctors say there is no known direct link between the deaths and the treatment. Officials are now investigating whether those participating in the treatment were properly informed of the risks associated with it. More than 1,500 heart attack survivors are involved in the research.