Viewpoints: Burgess, Clancy and others on hospital infections; state health exchanges causing controversy

Sep 13 2011

Modern Healthcare: Hospital Leaders Must Join Fight Against Antibiotic Resistance
Hospital CEOs can do more than just prevent an outbreak of influenza in their facility this flu season: They can and must take action against antibiotic resistance, an urgent public health problem that affects us all. What does the flu have to do with antibiotic resistance and what can a hospital CEO do about it? Plenty, as it turns out (Rep. Michael Burgess, M.D., Ramanan Laxminarayan and Dr. Philip Polgreen, 9/12).

Modern Healthcare: Protocol For All
Years of research have yielded solid proof that these deadly and costly infections can be sharply reduced, and even eliminated, by adhering to a set of evidence-based practices. Findings from a national program to replicate these results in U.S. hospitals is encouraging, with HAIs dropping by an average of one-third. But more participation by small and midsized hospitals is needed. ...  through aggressive monitoring and intervention, hospitals can significantly lower, and even eliminate, infections once thought inevitable (Dr. Carolyn Clancy, 9/12).

Modern Healthcare: Quality Control
[A]re cost and quality correlated? Of course they are, with study after study pointing to subpar care-;and all its attendant extra services and expense-;as helping to drive the cost curve ever higher. Think of hospital-acquired infections and needless readmissions as just two examples (David May, 9/12).

Des Moines Register: Wellmark's Concerns Are Premature And Misplaced
Key provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are designed to assure competition, affordability and health access for all Americans. When the dominant insurer in Iowa makes noises that could blunt these efforts, Iowans should take note. ... the exchange and the Medicaid expansion demand the most involvement by state government (Andrew Cannon, 9/10).

Idaho Press-Tribune: Flaw Gives Reason To Reject Health Care Exchanges
Congress hopelessly mangled a tax incentive designed to get people enrolled in Obamacare health insurance exchanges -; and that fatal flaw should be more than enough to convince Gov. Butch Otter and state lawmakers to reject this government-orchestrated mess (Wayne Hoffman, 9/12).

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ban On Fetal Tissue Research Would Be A Mistake
A report last week in PLoS Biology, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, offers a ready example of why Wisconsin lawmakers should tread carefully around a proposal to ban research using fetal tissue. … A bill introduced in the Wisconsin Legislature would make it a crime for Wisconsin researchers to continue using those cells, even though they have done so legally, ethically and effectively for 50 years or more (Tom Still, 9/10).