15 Hospitals Penalized For High Infection Rates, Injuries

About half of Connecticut hospitals—15 out of 31—will lose part of their Medicare payments in 2018 as a penalty for having relatively high rates of patients who acquired preventable injuries and infections while hospitalized. The hospitals are among 751 nationwide that will lose 1 percent of their Medicare reimbursements in this fiscal year. The penalties are part of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program, which is part of the Affordable Care Act. The program penalizes hospitals with the highest rates of patients who got infections from hysterectomies, colon surgeries, urinary tract catheters and central line tubes. It also tallies those who suffered from blood clots, bed sores or falls while hospitalized.

New State Hospital Inspection Reports Available On C-HIT

Various violations that jeopardized patient safety, including several before and after a newborn died, have taken place in Connecticut hospitals, according to the most recent hospital inspection reports from the Department of Public Health (DPH). The reports, which can be found in C-HIT’s Data Mine section, cover inspections that took place at hospitals between 2016 and first few months of 2017. Some of the violations resulted in injuries to patients, while others showed lapses in infection control standards and other protocols. The Hospital of Central Connecticut in New Britain was cited for several violations that preceded a newborn’s death in 2016. DPH found several errors were made during and after the baby’s birth.

Female Surgeons Making Inroads In Male-Dominated Operating Rooms

When the lights power on in the operating room at Bridgeport Hospital, more than a half of the acute care team of surgeons peering from behind the masks are women. That’s unusual, given that only 28 percent of all surgeons in Connecticut are female, according to the latest figures from the American Medical Association (AMA). Flexible work schedules and hiring more surgeons to ease the on-call burden has helped to lure more women to the trauma surgical team, said Bridgeport Hospital’s chief medical officer, Dr. Michael Ivy, a trauma surgeon. Hospitals statewide have launched initiatives to help boost the ranks of women surgeons. There’s been progress, but gaps persist.

14 Hospitals Penalized For Infection Rates, Injuries

Nearly half of Connecticut hospitals – 14 out of 31 – will lose a portion of their Medicare payments in 2017 as a penalty for having too many patients who acquired preventable infections and injuries while hospitalized. The hospitals are among 769 nationwide that will lose one percent of their Medicare reimbursements this year as part of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program. The CMS program, now in its third year, penalizes the lowest-performing hospitals where a relatively high number of patients got infections from hysterectomies, colon surgeries, urinary tract catheters and central line tubes. It also takes into account patients who suffered from blood clots, bed sores or falls while hospitalized. New this year, CMS also factored in the incidents where antibiotic-resistant bacteria – namely, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile (C.

Working Long Hours Is Bad For Women’s Health

Women who spend many years working long hours have significantly higher chances of developing heart disease, cancer and other chronic diseases, according to new research. The study found that women who worked more than 60 hours per week were nearly three times more likely to develop heart disease, non-skin cancers, arthritis and diabetes than those who worked less. Researchers at the Center for HOPES at Ohio State University’s College of Public Health and the Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery at Mayo Clinic conducted the research. Even among women who worked fewer than 60 hours per week, the odds of developing the chronic ailments grew as women’s work hours increased, according to the study—a trend that did not hold true for men. Men who worked longer hours had an increased risk only of developing arthritis, and actually had a decreased risk of heart disease when they worked “moderately long hours” of 41 to 50 hours per week.

Hospitals Wake Up To The Need For Sleep

Clattering carts, overly bright lights and frequent disruptions make hospitals a tough place to get a good night’s sleep. But now, hospitals across Connecticut are launching efforts to help patients sleep longer and better. At Yale-New Haven Hospital, researchers are expanding a pilot program that successfully reduced noise in the medical ICU and kept staff out of patient rooms overnight. At Hartford Hospital, where noise levels sometimes resembled airport runways, they’ve eliminated overhead paging on patient floors except in true emergencies. And Stamford Health’s new hospital building, slated to open in September, is designed with sleep in mind.

Hormones, Genetics Make Women More Susceptible To Arthritis

A growing number of adults—about 52 million—suffer from arthritis, and data show women are more likely than men to develop it. In 2014, 26.5 percent of women reported having doctor-diagnosed arthritis, compared with 20.5 percent of men, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention behavioral risk survey. Many women don’t realize they are at a higher risk than their male peers, said Dr. Abhijeet Danve, a rheumatologist and faculty member in Yale School of Medicine’s rheumatology division. “Of all the patients with arthritis, almost 60 percent of them are women,” he said. Several factors likely make women more susceptible than men: biological traits, genetics and hormones, Danve said.