Pressure Ulcers

Recently, the National Quality Forum and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have placed an increased focus on hospital-acquired pressure ulcers. Beginning October 2008, CMS will discontinue the reimbursement of care for hospital-acquired pressure ulcers. This includes cases that lack documentation of a pressure ulcer within 24 hours of admission to the acute care facility.

In nursing homes, the number of healthcare deficiencies for pressure ulcer prevention and treatment is increasing, with approximately one in five nursing homes in Ohio cited for deficient practices between May 2007 and May 2008. Regulatory concerns aside, nursing homes in Ohio also have a financial incentive to reduce the number of pressure ulcers: if a facility has health care deficiencies, they receive less Medicaid funding. F-Tag 314 is the federal regulation for pressure ulcer prevention and healing. This regulation states that nursing homes must ensure that (1) residents who enter the facility without pressure sores do not develop them unless their clinical condition demonstrates that they were unavoidable, and (2) residents who have pressure sores receive necessary treatment and services to promote healing, prevent infection and prevent new sores from developing.

Ohio KePRO facilitates a collaborative project with a small group of Ohio nursing homes and their community hospitals to reduce the rate of pressure ulcers. This project focuses on improving pressure ulcer rates within the local health community -- regardless of where the ulcer was first developed. By focusing on communication and process issues in and between hospitals and nursing homes, we plan to help providers break down the barriers to a safe and efficient local health system.

Read more about pressure ulcers:

• Pressure ulcer – Medline Plus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health
• National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP)
• Pressure Ulcer Fact Sheet – Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes Campaign
• Tools: Pressure Ulcers – QualityNet Medicare Quality Improvement Community (MedQIC)

Reference: CASPER Report 0314S, Most Frequently Cited Tags, Chicago Regional Office, Ohio, 05/16/2008.