The Department of Health and Human Services is making available up to $9 million for state survey agencies in 43 states to help reduce healthcare-associated infections in stand-alone or same-day ambulatory surgical centers.
“Because of the (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act), millions of patients who go to stand-alone surgical centers will have greater assurance that they won’t come home with a new infection,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who announced the availability of ARRA funding on Tuesday. “Residents in these 43 states will continue to see the benefits from the recovery act not only by addressing healthcare-associated infections, but by putting people to work to solve an important issue and improve the quality of life for Americans.”
Also known as HAIs, the infections, contracted by patients in a healthcare setting, kill nearly 100,000 people and add an extra $30 billion in healthcare costs every year.
According to Congressman Dave Obey (D-Wis.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, HAIs can be prevented through proper surveillance and safety measures
“I’m glad to see these funds going to help put people to work combating this tragedy around the country,” he said.
As part of the initiative, surveyors in the 43 states will poll about a third of the more than 3,800 non-accredited ASCs during the next 12 months. They'll be using using a program for ASCs designed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that uses an infection control tool developed in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The number of ASCs participating in Medicare has grown from about 3,600 in 2002 to 5,200 today, a 44 percent increase, and they account for more than 43 percent of all same-day (ambulatory) surgeries in the United States, or about 15 million procedures every year. Those procedures include endoscopies and colonoscopies, orthopedic procedures, plastic/reconstructive surgeries and eye, foot, and ear/nose/throat surgeries.
In the last fiscal year, 12 states volunteered to get a head start on the nationwide effort to reduce HAIs in ASCs by beginning a surve, with nearly $1 million in funding provided from ARRA. In addition, the CDC has also made $40 million available to state public health departments to create or expand state-based HAI prevention and surveillance efforts and strengthen the public health workforce trained to prevent HAIs.