Trump Administration Opposes Public Reporting of Hospital Infection Rates

A recent news article highlighted the news that CMS is proposing a new rule whereby hospitals are not longer required to publicly report their infection rates (see:Trump administration rule could stop public reporting of hospital infections despite death toll). Below is an excerpt from the article:Federal health regulators will have to stop releasing data on hospital infections — which affect one in 25 hospital patients every day — under a proposal set to take effect in November, according to an analysis by patient safety advocates. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) plan, part of acomplex 500-page proposed rule, could halt the public disclosure of the"super bug" MRSA, post-operative sepsis and surgical site infections, as well as accidents and injuries ranging from bedsores to respiratory failure after surgery.If the proposed rule is finalized, CMS' Hospital Compare website won't show the infections or safety measures as to do so, the data would have to be in a program the Trump administration said hospitals should no longer have to report infections and other safety problems to. More than 600,000 hospital patients a year contract an infection and sepsis alone kills about 270,000 people a year.Leapfrog Group, a hospital rating organization, urged patient safety advocates to contact regulators or sign Leapfrog's letter to CMS protesting the plan. Anew hospital infection report out from Leapfrog Wednesday found the percent...
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