Due to the recent concerns about healthcare associated infections (HAI), the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to report on state hospitals with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)-reduction initiatives. The results are available on the GAO Web site.

October 1 has arrived: Beginning this month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) no longer reimburses for specific preventable conditions and medical errors, the Washington Post reports.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) awarded a contract of nearly $3 million to continue the work started by the John Hopkins University in Baltimore and the Michigan Health and Association in regards to infections related to the use of central line catheters.

With Medicare ceasing to reimburse 10 specific hospital acquired conditions, or “never events,” Aon released its 2008 Hospital Professional Liability and Physician Liability Benchmark. The report found one out of every six claims can be accredited to hospital acquired infections, injuries, objects left in after surgery, and pressure ulcers, the Associated Press reports.

The Joint Commission in August announced a new scoring system for its hospital accreditation surveys. The new system goes into effect January 1, 2009, and brings with it several concerns in the field.