Trends You Need to Know About
In light of stories in the media making light of how poor sterile compounding practice has caused patient harm and years of data indicating that facility-acquired infections are on the rise, the government and certain payers (like Medicare) are beginning to take notice of the need to enforce good sterile compounding practices. Because USP <797> is poorly enforced, many facilities have put off constructing proper clean rooms and taking other measures to make sterile compounding safer. The government and USP are aware of this. It may be only a matter of time before the federal government, professional state boards and payers require compliance with USP<797>. In fact, we are already starting to see the early stages of this trend take place.
The first example of the early stages of this trend is the enforcement of infection rate reporting. In several states law makers have passed laws requiring facility infection rate reporting. This is in an effort to curb facility-acquired infections. Hospital-acquired infections alone are linked to as many as 1.7 million infections and 48,000 deaths between 1998 and 2006 according to a recent study in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The hope is that making infection rates public knowledge so that patients can use that information to make an informed decision about which facilities to visit when they are sick will provide incentives to facilities to decrease their infection rates. Facilities who choose to adopt USP<797> as a means of helping to ensure good sterile compounding practices within their facility may benefit from improved infection rates as well as increased revenue from a higher census.
Another trend leading to compliance with USP<797> is the fact that payers (like Medicare) may indirectly be requiring USP<797> compliance. For example, in 2009 Medicare began requiring home infusion providers to get accredited before they would be qualified to receive reimbursement for services provided to Medicare patients. As a result, home infusion providers then sought out accreditation from accrediting bodies like the Joint Commission and The Accreditation Commission for Healthcare (ACHC). These organizations have been requiring USP<797> compliance for accreditation. So as one can see, if a facility does not become USP<797> compliant, it may not be granted accreditation and therefore may not be able to bill Medicare for services.
USP<797> is perhaps the most comprehensive group of sterile compounding practices available. Government agencies, professional state boards and payers are realizing the potential benefit of having a ‘yardstick’ by which to measure facilities by. Payers may want to make sure a facility is using best practices before releasing reimbursement for services. Professional state boards may use the standards to enhance patient care and employee safety. Government agencies are recognizing the potential of USP<797> to help protect public safety and reduce overall health care costs associated with facility-acquired infections and employee injury/harm.
About the author: Christi Larson, Pharm. D. is the owner and Chief Consultant of I.V. Insights. Dr. Larson is committed to helping clients improve patient care through the implementation of best sterile compounding practices within the healthcare system.
