The National Institutes Of Health at 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda Maryland 20892 is the world's most respected medical research center. Country wide medical policy flows from this facility. This organization rigorously attends to medical regulations which have been authorized to keep patients safe.
In late August 2012 the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center explained their existing medical policies were not sufficient to keep the patient population safe. The worlds most respected medical research facility discovered that despite staff following proper procedure patients continued to get hospital acquired infection.
A big part of this is that germs (bacteria), are living things that evolve and change. Germs can change in a way that makes the drugs we use to stop them , no longer effective. This multi drug resistant germ is called Klebsiella Pneumoniae. Klebsiella Pneumoniae effectively spread through the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center patient population causing undesired outcomes.
The National Human Genome Research Center used DNA screening and genetic sequencing which revealed a minute difference in the DNA of the germ (bacteria) over a week. The infection outbreak was related to the single patient infected with Klebsiella Pneumoniae.
Infection control recognizing a crisis established a closely monitored secure model of practice. The diseinfectant and cleaning of equipment was not stopping the germ. Patients testing positive for the germ Klebsiella Pneumoniae were temporarily housed in a seperate part of the hospital. Little or no outside access. Each patient had their own set of equipment staff would use. No equipment was used on 2 separate patients. No communication (cell phone carry germ patient to patient) devices were carried on staff on this special wing. Thankfully the infection was brought under control.
The larger question is how does the worlds best medical hospital being unable to effectively control hospital acquired infection fit in to the medicare mandate of no reimubursement for conditions and infections resulting from a hospital stay. This is a medical facility that lives and breathes regulations designed to completely prevent hospital acquired infections. Simply, what happened in this setting could occur in any hospital in the United States.
Medicare is no longer a valid pay source for the medical expenses that cover the labor and supplies hospitals have needed to treat these patients who acquired an infection in the hospital. Typically private health plans mirror Medicare regulations and will refuse to reimburse hospitals.
When you remove the pay source, the propensity for litigation increases. How is today's health care system looking at this specific hospital outbreak to define policy that will help all involved share the risk.
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