A key component of the Affordable Care Act was the establishment of Value-Based Purchasing, which rewards or penalizes facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid payments based on certain performance metrics like Prevention Quality Indicators and Patient Safety Indicators which examine readmission rates and Healthcare-Acquired Infection rates to determine payment schedules for facilities.
HAIs represent nearly 10 percent of inpatient costs in the United States, and are one of the Affordable Care Act's top priorities. Surgical Site Infections account for nearly 20 percent of all HAIs, and since HAI rates alone can reduce government payments to hospitals for Medicare patients by up to 3 percent, it is imperative that caregivers have access to the products and information needed to keep themselves and patients safe, while saving hospitals and taxpayers money.
