Though it may seem there has been an upswing in hospital-related activity by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this year, a spokesperson for the EPA said there is not a formal boost in hospital enforcement. But she agreed various aspects the agency is pursuing have direct effects on healthcare.
"We are not aware of any overall increased focus on hospitals within the agency," said Deb Berlin, a press officer for the EPA. "For example, hospitals are not currently specifically identified as one of the agency's national enforcement priorities."
However, "the healthcare industry is a very important and fast-growing sector of the nation's activities" that the EPA has devoted resources too in recent years," Berlin adds. She points to the following developments, all of which have influenced how the EPA views hospital environmental compliance:
The EPA's proposal to reclassify hazardous pharmaceutical wastes could ensure larger quantities of these wastes are disposed of properly (i.e. not flushed down the drain or disposed of in municipal waste streams). "This rule is an example of EPA's ongoing work to revise environmental regulations to appropriately address changing circumstances over time," Berlin says.
In 1998, the EPA and the American Hospital Association signed an agreement that launched the Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) partnership program. "This program's goals were to eliminate mercury containing wastes from the healthcare system, reduce the overall volume of wastes generated, and to identify pollution prevention and waste reduction opportunities," Berlin says. H2E became well-known within hospital environmental circles, and in 2006, H2E evolved into a fully independent, nonprofit organization that is now part of Practice Greenhealth.
Meanwhile, HealthLeaders Media previously reported on the following other actions the EPA took within the last 12 months:
Mandated that hospitals run full loads in ethylene oxide sterilizers and log them, with some exceptions
Began increased oversight of hospital disinfectants after one-third of 325 registered substances failed EPA verification of labeled claims by manufacturers
Updated rules for hospitals that still house medical waste incinerators
Nearly half of hospital patients thought they were receiving a medication they were not, and 96% were unable to recall the name of at least one medication that they had been prescribed during their hospitalization, according to a study released today in the Journal of Hospital Medicine.
Researchers from the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine assessed patient awareness of their in-hospital medications and surveyed attitudes toward increased patient knowledge of hospital medications.
"Overall, patients in the study were able to name fewer than half of their hospital medications," said lead researcher Ethan Cumbler, MD, in a media release. "Our findings are particularly striking in that we found significant deficits in patient understanding of their hospital medications even among patients who believed they knew, or desired to know, what is being prescribed to them in the hospital."
Inpatient medication errors represent an important patient safety issue—with one review finding errors in almost one in five medication doses. Cumbler said it is becoming more important for patients—as the last link in the administration chain —to be informed about the medications they’re receiving.
The study involved 50 participants, aged between 21 and 89, who all self-identified as knowing their outpatient medications, spoke English, and were from the community around the University of Colorado Hospital. Nursing home residents and patients with a history of dementia were excluded.
Patients younger than 65 were unable to name 60% of medications that they could take as needed, whereas patients older than 65 were unable to name 88% of these medications. This difference remained even after adjustment for number of medications. For scheduled medications, which need to be taken at specific times, there was no difference in recall according to age.
Antibiotics were the most commonly omitted scheduled medication with 17% of all omitted drugs being from this medication group, followed by cardiovascular medications (16%) and antithrombotics (15%). Among medications that could be taken as needed, analgesics (33%) and gastrointestinal medications (29%) were commonly omitted by patient recall.
"Our study suggests that adult medicine inpatients believe learning about their hospital medications would increase their satisfaction and has potential to promote medication safety," Cumbler said. "The findings of this research raise very interesting questions about the role and responsibilities of patients in the hospital with respect to their medication safety."
Eight Massachusetts community health centers, which deliver care in some of the poorest neighborhoods in the state, are receiving $80 million in federal stimulus cash to help replace cramped buildings and upgrade technology. Interviews with the presidents of Boston community health centers suggest the projects will generate hundreds of construction jobs as well as hundreds of new permanent clinic jobs for doctors, nurses, and other medical workers, the Boston Globe reports.
Millions more Americans could get access to Medicare under the latest health proposal by Senate Democrats, but the program may not be cheap enough to entice some of them to sign up, the Wall Street Journal reports. The proposal is part of a compromise that jettisons a broader public health-insurance plan from the Senate's overhaul. Under the Medicare plan, consumers ages 55 to 64 would for the first time be allowed to buy into the federal program for the elderly. The new Medicare program would attract a more expensive pool of enrollees since it is designed for people whose health status makes private coverage unaffordable, and who don't have access to employer-sponsored insurance, reports the Journal.
Northwestern's medical school has become the latest large healthcare institution to start reporting financial ties between doctors and the drug and device industries. Northwestern's online faculty profiles now include doctors' service on boards of directors, consulting gigs, investment interests, royalties, lectures and participation in scientific advisory boards, the school announced.
The "broad agreement" that Senator Harry Reid announced on the proposed overhaul of the healthcare system was less a comprehensive accord among Democrats than an effort by the party's leaders to keep the process moving ahead as Republicans attempt to prolong the fight, the New York Times reports. The deal also did not entirely resolve the dispute over whether the legislation should include a public option, a government-run health plan to compete with private insurers, the Times reports.
Senate Democrats said that they were not sure exactly what was in a deal that the majority leader said would surmount a disagreement over a proposed government-run health plan, but they voiced guarded optimism that it would ultimately help them pass major healthcare legislation, the New York Times reports. Democrats said the preliminary agreement suggested that they would be able to resolve some differences over the public plan, insurance coverage for abortions, and other disputes, including how to pay for the nearly $1 trillion bill. President Obama, however, hailed the tentative deal as a breakthrough and said he would support it, the Times reports.
A Senate deal to replace a government-run insurance plan with other measures would mean those without employer-provided insurance would have more options for buying coverage, the Washington Post reports. But if they are younger than 55, their money would go to a private insurer. Rates would be more competitive than what they are offered now, but possibly less so than under a public option. And if they are between 55 and 64, they might be able to buy into Medicare early, the Post reports.
SSM Health Care-St. Louis, and Select Medical Corp., have entered into a joint venture partnership to expand rehabilitation services in the St. Louis area, the two companies announced.
The partnership involves 80 inpatient rehabilitation beds, 33 outpatient physical therapy centers, three occupational medicine clinics, contract therapy locations, and staffing services. The partnership will also build a freestanding rehabilitation hospital, and will integrate both organizations' outpatient rehabilitation, occupational medicine, and contract therapy services in St. Louis.
"This joint venture will create a regionally distributed and branded rehabilitation network that offers the specialized expertise of a freestanding rehabilitation hospital with convenient access to a wide range of high-quality outpatient services," said Robert Ortenzio, CEO of Select Medical, in a media release.
Select Medical will serve as managing partner, and will feature the SSM brand, with businesses that include: SSM Rehab, SSM Day Institute, SSM Homeward Bound, SSM WorkHealth, and Select Physical Therapy. It also includes acute hospital therapy services, such as physical, occupational, and speech therapies, provided to patients in the six SSM Health Care - St. Louis adult acute care hospitals. More than 730 local employees are part of the joint venture.
SSM Rehabilitation Hospital provides inpatient rehabilitation services at SSM St. Mary's Health Center in Richmond Heights, MO, and the joint venture manages the same services at SSM St. Joseph Health Center in St. Charles, MO. Construction of a new SSM Rehabilitation Hospital will begin soon on the campus of SSM DePaul Health Center in Bridgeton, MO, to be completed in late 2011. The certificate of need for the rehabilitation hospital was approved this year.
SSM Rehabilitation Hospital will provide specialized care for brain/spinal cord injury and stroke patients. Select Medical's Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation is one of only six federally designated model systems in the country for the treatment and research of both spinal cord and brain injuries.
The joint venture's outpatient operations will unite 18 SSM Rehab centers and 15 Select Physical Therapy centers under the SSM Physical Therapy name. The SSM Day Institutes will be located within specific SSM Physical Therapy centers, and the three SSM WorkHealth locations will provide occupational medicine. Contract therapy operations will continue at SSM Homeward Bound and SSM Home Care therapy services. The outpatient and contract therapy services are provided by SSM Rehabilitation Hospital.
SSM Health Care includes seven hospitals, nearly 12,000 employees and 2,500 staff physicians. Mechanicsburg, PA-based Select Medical has 21,000 employees and operates hospitals and outpatient clinics in 42 states and Washington, DC.
If you ever happen to be watching the local news on a Wednesday evening in the Atlanta suburbs, keep an eye out for Southern Regional Health System's "Healthbreak." The 90-second spot isn't a commercial—it's a sponsored educational health news piece featuring physicians from the Riverdale, GA, health system that blends seamlessly with the newscast.
"The genesis of the campaign was to really figure out a way to feature our physicians in a prominent way—not only to their peers but to the community," says Marcus Gordon, strategic marketing manager at SRHS. "About 95% of our physicians are affiliate physicians to the hospital, so we wanted to cover a wide variety of topical areas that have relevance to the services that we provide and what the physicians provide in the specialty areas."
The "Healthbreak" spots are supported by a Facebook page, which has 97 fans, and a YouTube channel, which has more than 1,400 channel views. The two-facility health system launched the campaign in May and plans to run it for one year. SRHS uses MBC & Associates to produce the spots.
Each "Healthbreak" has a call to action that drives callers to the organization's new Web site for more information and to a call center for physician referrals. Since the campaign launched, call center traffic is up 55% from last year, and site visitors and unique visitors for the Web site have each increased about 50%.
"The response from physicians and community members has been extremely positive and viewed as a real enhancement to the overall marketing objectives of the hospital," Gordon says.
