The Leapfrog Group is expressing concern that CMS may decrease public reporting on hospital infection rates while there is still much work to be done in reducing infections.
In a new report, Leapfrog notes that, since 2015, there has been a significant decline in the percent of hospitals with zero infections.
The infections that were analyzed are central line-associated blood stream infections (CLABSIs), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections (MRSA), Clostridium difficile infections, and surgical site infections (SSIs) following colon surgery.
A press release from Leapfrog and Castlight Health, which analyzed the report, points out that CMS’ recently proposed rule for the Fiscal Year 2019 Inpatient Prospective Payment System “removes healthcare-associated infections from the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting program.”
Leah Binder, president and CEO of Leapfrog, said in the press release that this is the wrong time for CMS to lessen its focus on infections.
“Given this disturbing trend in performance showing hospitals making less progress on the spread of healthcare-associated infections, it’s concerning CMS is proposing to decrease public reporting and transparency around infection rates,” Binder said.
In an April press release, CMS said that the measures it wants to remove are duplicative of measures in its Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program. “CMS is focusing on measures that provide opportunities to reduce both paperwork and reporting burden on providers and patient-centered outcome measures, rather than process measures,” the agency said.
Financial Disclosure: Author Greg Freeman, Editor Jesse Saffron, Editor Jill Drachenberg, Nurse Planner Jill Winkler, Editorial Group Manager Terrey L. Hatcher, and Consulting Editor Patrice Spath report no consultant, stockholder, speakers bureau, research, or other financial relationships with companies having ties to this field of study.
