Medicare Approves DNV
to Accredit U.S. Hospitals

First new accreditation agency approved in 30 years.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced its approval of DNV Healthcare Inc. to become the first new hospital accreditation organization in more than 30 years.

Today's historic decision allows DNV to immediately begin deeming hospitals in compliance with the Medicare Conditions of Participation.

 As part of the CMS approval process, DNV's accreditation program, called NIAHO^SM, has been successfully implemented in multiple hospitals across the country demonstrating to U.S. health authorities its effectiveness as well as DNV's readiness to deliver its program nationally.

"The entire market has reached a turning point," says Yehuda Dror, president of DNV Healthcare Inc."DNV's NIAHO^SM program represents a new accreditation option based on innovation and accountability. Now hospitals can choose to integrate proven quality systems into an annual accreditation process that is less complicated to administer. Based on its design and feedback from DNV's currently accredited hospitals, we believe NIAHO^SM will have a positive and measurable impact on patient safety, financial performance, and the overall quality of healthcare services."

NIAHO^SM encourages innovation within individual hospitals while helping them take advantage of system-wide best practices. It is the first hospital accreditation program in the United States that integrates the internationally recognized ISO 9001 Quality Management System with the Medicare Conditions of Participation, making it the first and only hospital accreditation program that requires continual quality improvement.

NIAHO^SM is the acronym for National Integrated Accreditation for Healthcare Organizations.

Source: DNV Healthcare

Top Organizations Announce
Strategies to Prevent HAIs

Strategies emphasize practical implementation
in acute healthcare settings.
For the first time, five leading healthcare organizations have come together to publish practical, science-based strategies to help prevent the six most important healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).

Preventing HAIs is one of the nation's highest priority public health and patient safety goals. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 2 million Americans contract an infection while receiving medical treatment and over 90,000 Americans will die as a result of complications from an infection each year. Hospital infections cost Americans between $4.5 billion and $6.5 billion in extra healthcare costs annually.

"People should expect healthcare that is safe and free from additional complications," said P.J. Brennan, M.D., head of the federal Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) and president of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA).

The Compendium of Strategies to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections in Acute Care Hospitals was produced by SHEA and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), in partnership with the American Hospital Association (AHA); the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. (APIC); and The Joint Commission, which accredits and certifies more than 15,000 healthcare organizations and programs in the United States. Infection control experts at SHEA and IDSA will assume responsibility for updating these strategies as science evolves.

With the support or endorsement of an additional 29 healthcare organizations, the Compendium is expected to be a good starting point for addressing this critical public health issue before it worsens.

"A Compendium of Strategies to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections in Acute Care Hospitals" can be viewed at www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/iche/2008/29/s1 and will be published subsequently as a supplement to SHEA's journal Infection Control and Healthcare Epidemiology. Additional information about the compendium can be found at www.preventingHAIs.com.

Endorsing Organizations

• AONE
  
  
• Association for Respiratory Care (AARC)
  
  
• Infusion Nurses Society (INS)
  
  
• Pediatric Infectious Disease Society (PIDS)
  
  
• Society for Critical Care Medicine (SCCM)
  
  
• Society for Hospital Medicine (SHM)
  
  
• Surgical Infection Society (SIS)

Supporting Organizations

• AARP
  
  
• Academy Health
  
  
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
  
  
• American Academy of Emergency Physicians
  
  
• American Association of Critical Care Nurses
  
  
• American College of Physicians
  
  
• American College of Surgeons
  
  
• American Medical Association
  
  
• Cardinal Health
  
  
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
  
  
• Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE)
  
  
• HCA Health System
  
  
• Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC)
  
  
• Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
  
  
• International Society for Microbial Resistance (ISMR)
  
  
• National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID)
  
  
• National Quality Forum (NQF)
  
  
• Premier, Inc.
  
  
• Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP)
  
  
• Trust for America's Health (TFAH)
  
  
• United Healthcare
  
  
• WellPoint Health Network

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