Earlier this month I stated my prediction that hospitals will be held accountable for their actions, and suffer consequences that will affect their bottom line if they do not perform up to specific sets of standards.
So, how will hospitals be held accountable for outcomes? In 2013 and beyond, hospitals will have their feet to the fire through a process and outcome measurements (Hospital Safety Score), which is now and will continue to be published in the news as well as on the internet, including letter grades for each hospital. I believe this will affect not only the bottom line for hospitals and their medical staff, but the hospital pharmacy and staff as well.
Briefly, the Hospital Safety Score grades general acute care hospitals on how safe they are for patients. The grades are determined from publicly available data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), The Leapfrog Hospital Survey (published by The Leapfrog Group, a national not-for-profit organization founded by the nation's leading employers, including behemoths such as General Motors and FedEx, and private healthcare purchasers). The Leapfrog Group's aim is to enhance the safety, quality, and affordability of healthcare in the U.S. by promoting transparency and value-based hospital incentives. The Leapfrog Survey is considered to be a trusted, transparent, and evidence-based national tool that more than 1100 hospitals voluntarily participate in free of charge.
The Hospital Safety Score is based on 26 measures*, including Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE). However, scanning meds at bedside is not listed among the 25 measures, although, in my opinion, scanning meds at bedside is more effective than CPOE in reducing med errors.
Leapfrog is serious about its grading. The grades are calculated under the guidance of a 9-member panel of patient safety experts. Among the 25 hospitals receiving an F for Safety in Fall 2012 include the University of California Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, as well as three additional hospitals in California, 5 hospitals in Illinois (including three in Chicago), and 5 in Texas.
MEDICARE PAYMENTS ALSO TIED TO ACCOUNTABILITYIn 2013 Medicare funding will also be tied to how well hospitals perform. A recent article in The Columbus Dispatch (December 22, 2012), stated that the federal government released new data that base nearly $1 billion in Medicare payments to U.S. hospitals next year on their performance. The data show how much hospitals stand to gain or lose -- as much as 1 percent in Medicare reimbursement -- based how well they follow 12 clinical standards of care and score on certain patient-satisfaction criteria.
It's reasonable to conclude that, if hospitals lose funding based on poor grades, we all will suffer, including patients, physicians and medical staff -- and pharmacists who serve at these hospitals.
Fortunately, we have it in our power to ensure good grades by delivering the utmost in care to all patients at all level of service. And as always, you can be assured that Shamrock Medical is at your side, ready to help the hospital community with drug repackaging to ensure the safety of your patients' medication needs, which will certainly help raise the safety standards of every healthcare institution we serve.
*All 26 measures include 15 process and structural measures and 11 outcome measures, including foreign object retained; air embolism, pressure ulcer-stages 3 and 4; falls and trauma; death among surgical inpatients; post-op respiratory failure, to name a few.
Here's to better solutions,
Dave Bystrom
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