CMS Proposed Rule Prohibits Discrimination, Reduces Hospital- Acquired Conditions and Promotes Antibiotic Stewardship in Hospitals
On June 13, 2016 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it is proposing to revise the conditions of participation (CoPs) for hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs). CMS believes that these changes would modernize both hospital’s and CAH’s requirements and improve the quality of care by reducing readmissions, incidences of hospital-acquired conditions, and improve the use of antibiotics.
Under the proposed rule, hospitals and CAHs would be required to have: (1) hospital-wide infection prevention controls such as antibiotic stewardship programs for the surveillance, prevention, and control of healthcare-associated infections and other infectious diseases, and for the appropriate use of antibiotics; (2) Designated leaders of the infection prevention and control program and the antibiotic stewardship program respectively, who are qualified through education and training. This requirement allows for flexibility in staffing in order to suit the need of each hospital; and to (3) implement a policy prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including gender identity), sexual orientation, age, or disability.
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