Many healthcare concerns will follow us into the new year, some we have carried for decades and some that have become more threatening thanks to the COVID pandemic. Among all the many lists of top concerns, three remain consistent: Staffing shortages, capacity, and healthcare-associated infections. In today's post, we will reveal how reducing healthcare associated infections (HAIs) directly improves patient outcomes, but can can positively impact staffing and capacity as well.
In our previous posts about the Case-Mix Index (CMI), we explored what it conveys and how it is calculated. Today we will discuss who looks at that the CMI and how they use it, including both clinical and financial entities.
Last week, we looked at Diagnosis-Related Groups and how they receive codes based on cost and complexity. These numbers play a key role in the Case-Mix Index, and today we will look at how those MS-DRGs form the basis of the CMI.
Did everyone notice the uptick in respiratory illnesses (including COVID) that started about a week and a half after Thanksgiving? Many of us might have heard about the flu or a cold or even COVID making its way through a classroom, an office, or an apartment complex. This uptick is predictable, as holidays bring people, and their infections, together. How can we minimize the spread of infection in our homes this upcoming holiday season and go into the new year without sniffles, sneezes, and sore throats? In today's post, we will help you host your friends and family in a hygienic home for the holidays.
The Case-Mix Index (CMI) has been defined in many ways. One definition might read "a relative value assigned to a diagnostic-related group." Another may be "a rough estimate of how sick a hospital's patients are." Yet another could be "an indicator of how much reimbursement is expected by the hospital." All these definitions point to one fact: The CMI is a measure used by a variety of healthcare personnel in a variety of ways. This week we will begin our exploration of this multi-faceted number.
Ambulatory health care facilities, such as outpatient surgery and diagnostic centers, face new regulations requiring the active presence of an infection preventionist. These ambulatory infection preventionists often are responsible for more than one location, large number of staff, as well as reporting duties to both their corporate headquarters as well as state and federal agencies. With this unique and challenging career come added benefits of regular hours, diverse cases, and a favorable job market. In today's post, we will look closely at the roles and responsibilities of this fast-growing infection prevention profession.
No profession knows more about disease transmission than those working in infection control and prevention. And yet, due to a complex network of issues, professionals in IC have rates of presenteeism - working while sick - that track right alongside every other profession. On average, 80% of professionals in IC report having gone to work while sick. What pressures lead a healthcare professional familiar with the risks involved in disease transmission to go to work while sick?
Among all tracked hospital-associated infections, the one that seems to have the lowest rates are surgical site infections. While this relative strength varies by region, the overall low rate of surgical site infections is due in part to so many of the opportunities for infection being eliminated by interventions. However, surgical site infections still occur and data seems to point at the contamination of the patient environment, including surfaces, playing a significant role. In today's post, we will look at all the opportunities for infection after a surgical procedure, and highlight which vulnerabilities still remain.
