NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE PRESSURE ULCER PREVENTION AND TREATMENT

This article was published in Wounds.  Issue 9, September 2008.

A Consensus Paper From the International Expert Wound Care Advisory Panel

As part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) initially identified eight preventable adverse events on August 1, 2007, with nine more conditions proposed on April 14, 2008. ^1,2 They have introduced a plan to help contain costs by rejecting payment of the higher diagnostic category when such events occur as a secondary diagnosis in acute care facilities. This policy, which began a phased rollout in the acute-care setting in October 2007 (culminating in October 2008), has created some logistical and implementation concerns in the clinical community. The financial implications for pressure ulcers will be determined by the Present on Admission Indicator (POA). The POA Indicator identifies if a patient has a pressure ulcer at the time the order for admission occurs.  Read more...