Hospital readmissions and Hais are serious business these days. Research shows 14% of readmissions are caused by healthcare related infections. In order to keep costs low and payments flowing, these 2 issues need to be reduced or eliminated. It is so important that hospitals have complete support from the referring LTC facilities and home care agencies. The CMS proposed rule called ”value-based purchasing program” will reward hospitals for making care safer by reducing medical mistakes. Is this something that can be done by the hospital alone or will the hospitals seek healthcare partners to help assure they meet their goals? I believe this will be a community goal. Readmissions are caused by many issues but the 14% that are infections are what I am interested in.
How do we all work to reduce this to 5% or less?
1) Provide hand sanitizers that work without alcohol. Research shows, if it doesn’t burn when used or dry the skin, people are more incline to make it a habit.
2) Have germ police. Someone needs to watch out for the team. I don’t mean an ICP. I am talking about a nurse on each floor that makes it his/her mission to call people out for lack of attention to infection prevention.
3) Know what you are working with. Did the patient come in with an infection? If so, where did you admit the patient from? Was it a facility or home? Do you do your own test or are you depending on the admission info? This info is critical in value- based purchasing.
Lower readmissions and HAIs will mean more money in the future. Pay for performance is here to stay. In my opinion, tweaking a few things will get better results.
