Re: Combating Antibiotic Resistance

[Guest guest]

the reason for the new measures is that there is a new law that is going into effect I believe in October for hospitals that if you acquire and new problem in the hospital that the medicare and patients will not have to pay, but the hospitals will be responsible!!!!

so now they have to put these protective measures in place!!!! I can ask my husband for the the information on this if anyone wants it.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/19/making-hospitals-pay-for-their-mistakes/

In an effort to hold hospitals accountable for the costs associated with eight largely preventable injuries, Medicare changed its rules this fall. Now, the agency will not pay additional amounts to hospitals when doctors leave an object in a patient during surgery, use incompatible blood or introduce an air embolism while treating a patient.

Medicare also will no longer reimburse hospitals for infections that develop due to the use of vascular catheters, or for pressure ulcers, surgical site infections after coronary bypass surgery and other hospital-acquired injuries, such as fractures or burns that occur due to lax care. Some private insurers are considering adopting similar rules

Combating Antibiotic Resistancecarwol@...Combating Antibiotic Resistance [ http://www.fda. gov/consumer/ updates/antibiot ics050108. html ]"Thu, 1 May 2008 13:04:00 -0500"Misuse and overuse of antibiotics have contributed to antibiotic resistance, a phenomenon that reduces or eliminates the effectiveness of antibiotics.____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ ______Update your subscriptions, modify your e-mail address, or stop subscriptions at any time on your Subscriber Preferences Page [ https://service. govdelivery. com/service/ user.html? code=USFDA ]. You will need to use your e-mail address to log in. If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please contact support@govdelivery .com. Look for the "Printer-friendly PDF" link in the upper right corner of select articles; this feature makes it easy to distribute copies. Text of articles published on FDA's Consumer page may be republished without permission. Credit to "FDA Consumer Health Information" as the source is appreciated. Visit FDA's Consumer page: http://www.fda. gov/consumer/ Send story ideas to: fdaconsumerlist@ oc.fda.gov This service is provided to you at no charge by U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) [ http://www.fda. gov/ ]. [ http://www.fda.

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[Guest guest]

In one way, this could be considered good news . . . Make the hospital reponsible for any complications caused by faulty care. I've always thought it was terrible that one must pay the bill for carelessness on the part of the medical profession. . . When one is already had their life put a risk. However, a health news radio program (Reach MD) has a good point . . . How is this law going to affect the hospital's willingness to accept very sick patients, for whom complications frequently happen - by no fault of the hospital's?Surely there could be a way to except critically ill patients who are already at risk so their care isn't deemed too risky for hospitals to accept.

Rogene

[Guest guest]

HA! It's funny you guys would be talking about this! I work in

Colorado Medicaid, and one of the projects I am responsible for is

implementing this into the Colorado Medicaid system. They are

actually called " never events. " Events that should have never

happened, and Medicare & Medicaid will not pay for them.

Hospitals will not be held accountable for an already critically ill

patient. We are focusing more on " carelessness " of the hospital...ie

operating on the wrong body part, contaminated drugs, discharging a

newborn to the wrong person, criminal events, etc.

Here is a media release you might find interesting:

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/apps/media/press/release.asp?Counter=1863

~Krista

>

> In one way, this could be considered good news . . . Make the

hospital reponsible for any complications caused by faulty care. I've

always thought it was terrible that one must pay the bill for

carelessness on the part of the medical profession. . . When one is

already had their life put a risk.

>

> However, a health news radio program (Reach MD) has a good

point . . . How is this law going to affect the hospital's

willingness to accept very sick patients, for whom complications

frequently happen - by no fault of the hospital's?

>

> Surely there could be a way to except critically ill patients who

are already at risk so their care isn't deemed too risky for

hospitals to accept.

>

> Rogene

>

[Guest guest]

Krista,Thanks for the info!I'm happy to hear that hospitals aren't going to be held responsible for events involving critically ill people. I can't imagine the mess things would be in if they were! . .. Makes me wonder who ReachMD was trying to influence. Supposedly it's a "medical professional only" program (satellite radio).Rogene

[Guest guest]

Rogene- I've not heard of that radio station before, but I'm sure

that the hospitals can't be happy with this new rule taking place.

So, I'm sure they are trying to " push back " some and bring about

unwarranted concerns just to get everyone hyped up. The truth is that

hospitals will not be held accountable for something that happens to

a very ill patient, if what happened is inevitable and could not have

been avoided. The hospitals WILL be held accountable for events that

should never happen, and are obvious hospital mistakes. Currently,

Medicare and Medicaid programs are paying for hospital accidents and

then paying to fix those accident. That is tax payers money going to

very poor use. You would be shocked to see the reports I see everyday…

hospitals and physicians making mistakes like operating on the wrong

body part, and even making errors that lead to the death of a

patient. It is shocking!

~Krista

>

> Krista,

>

> Thanks for the info!

>

> I'm happy to hear that hospitals aren't going to be held

responsible for events involving critically ill people. I can't

imagine the mess things would be in if they were! . ..

>

> Makes me wonder who ReachMD was trying to influence. Supposedly

it's a " medical professional only " program (satellite radio).

>

> Rogene

>