First proposed, then made final, quality reporting is on the horizon and will begin this year for inpatient rehabilitation with an initial two measures, CAUTI and Wound Monitors. The much anticipated directives will be published soon. We hope before the end of this month (January).
Although the phone update on quality outcomes in November was informational, it left more questions than answers for those of us that help guide practice in IRF/IRUs. The ability to provide feedback and ask for clarification following Open Door Forums has been most helpful. After the educational session in November, and after reviewing the various reports and capabilities present within the National Health Safety Network, I emailed a response and wrote a blog. It questioned if the intent of the newly established requirements were met if in fact inpatient rehabilitation units could not specifically compare themselves to other certified facilities and instead were meshed into comparison with specialty care areas or inpatient “rehabilitation predominant” wards within acute care hospitals.
I asked for your feedback to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and received a speedy response for discussion on the topic. Our request was immediately considered, and as a result, the National Health Safety Network website has posted this anticipated response:
Therefore, facilities MUST wait until after January to enroll in NHSN so that certified IRF/IRUs can be identified uniquely within the reporting system. This is excellent news because in retrospect there are a limited number of facilities that have participated in providing data in the past who have blazed the trail for quality outcomes and that data will be migrated and pulled out of acute care reporting fields. Baseline data is already there!
Our leap to enhancing patient outcomes is just around the corner. We anticipate an update and final release of the IRF PAI reporting tool that specifies wound reporting criteria to be uploaded to CMS as well. Stay tuned! It won’t be long now and we can all finalize what needs to be done to be up and running by October.
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