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CMS issues final rule, tables some IC measures

Infection Control Monitor, August 8, 2008

In a move that should take some pressure off ICPs, on July 31 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final rule on its 2009 inpatient prospective payment system and dropped some of the more controversial proposed IC measures that will affect a hospital’s reimbursement.

CMS added surgical site infections following certain elective procedures—including certain orthopedic procedures and bariatric surgery for obesity—to the list of conditions for non-payment. Beginning October 1, 2008, CMS will no longer reimburse hospitals for additional costs related to these and three other previously-approved infections acquired during a hospital stay.

CMS said that, following public comment, it scaled back its original proposal to add nine new conditions to the non-reimbursement list. Dropped— at least for now—are infections related to Legionnaires’ disease, ventilator-associated pneumonia, Staphylococcus aureus septicemia, and C. diff-associated disease.

CMS will publish the final rule in the August 18 Federal Register and it will take effect on  October 1. Click here to read the final rule. 

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