hospital-acquired conditions
lborkowski | June 20, 2016Hospital-acquired infections are a persistent problem that has become even more worrisome as as antimicrobial resistance has increased. Researchers have been exporing the best ways to reduce hospital-acquired infections, and HHS's Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has provided tools and resources for hospitals. Under the Affordable Care Act, hospitals with the worst scores for hospital-acquired conditions can face a reduction in Medicare payments (this provision took effect in fiscal year 2015). In late 2015, AHRQ announced that hosptial-acquired conditions dropped 17% between…
lborkowski | January 4, 2016As 2015 drew to a close, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality announced some good news: Fewer US patients are dying from hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) like pressure ulcers and catheter-associated infections. Between 2011 and 2014, patients had 2.1 million fewer HACs than they would have if the 2010 baseline rate had continued. The drop translated to an estimated $20 billion in healthcare-cost savings and 87,000 fewer deaths.
Of the HACs averted over the four-year period, 40% were adverse drug events, 28% were pressure ulcers, and 16% were catheter-associated urinary tract…