Nov 19, 2018 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations
New bioinformatic tool finds gut microbiota may be ‘potential reservoir of bloodstream pathogens’ suggesting patients’ own bodies can be source of infections Clinical laboratories in hospitals and health networks throughout the nation are collaborating in the priority effort to reduce deaths from sepsis and related blood infections. Now comes news that researchers at Stanford have identified an unexpected source of bloodstream infections. This finding may help medical laboratories contribute...
Jul 26, 2017 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Decline in hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) overall since 2010 attributed to increased attention to safety protocols and practices by hospital staff in cooperation with clinical laboratory services It’s now been almost nine years since the Medicare Program stopped paying hospitals and other providers for certain hospital-acquired conditions (HACs). Included in this list are hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). The goal is to substantially reduce the number of HACs and HAIs, thus improving...
Aug 1, 2011 | Laboratory Pathology, News From Dark Daily
Medicaid policy takes effect on July 1, 2012, and mirrors existing Medicare policy Medicare was the first government program to announce that it would not reimburse hospitals for certain hospital-acquired conditions. Pathologists will be interested to learn that the Medicaid program is now prepared to institute a similar non-reimbursement policy. This fulfills a Dark Daily prediction that other government and private health programs would copy this Medicare policy. As of July 1, 2012, Medicaid...
May 13, 2011 | Laboratory Pathology, News From Dark Daily
American Hospital Association claims accuracy of posted HAC data not established In further step to create transparency in patient outcomes delivered by individual hospitals, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) has posted on its website information on eight hospital-acquired conditions (HAC). However, many hospital industry leaders were not happy with this action. The CMS data is specific to individual healthcare facilities that treat Medicare patients. It includes info on two...
Apr 1, 2011 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
That’s not news to pathologists, who often see how physicians mis-order or mis-interpret clinical laboratory tests Each month, one out of seven Medicare patients is injured or killed by their healthcare providers. These medical errors cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars each year. And, that doesn’t even include the cost of follow-up care for the injured patients who survive. Those and other conclusions are part of a recently released study by the Department of Health and Human...