Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1043345
42 QUALITY & ACCREDITATION ESEC Surgery Center correcting CMS violations after losing Medicare payments — 6 insights By Eric Oliver C MS halted its payments to Oklahoma City-based ESEC Surgery Center Aug. 18, but the center is working diligently to correct two deficiencies, NewsOk reports. Here's what you should know: 1. CMS notified ESEC Surgery Center in early August about the deficiencies. CMS took issue with the center's electrical system and the way the center had its sterilization devices setup, NewsOk reported. 2. e center's sterilizers were in hallways where they could be contaminated, and the center's electrical system was allegedly arranged in a way that would not provide enough back-up power in the event of a power outage. 3. ESEC moved its sanitizers to a different area and is in the process of redoing the center's elec- trical work, Elisse Seals, regional vice president of operations at Southlake, Texas-based Solara Surgical Partners, told NewsOk. 4. Once the work is done, an Oklahoma State Department of Health inspector will exam- ine the surgery center, and CMS will decide whether to restart payments. 5. e state first inspected the facility in 2005, finding no faults, Ms. Seals said. She said the state granted the facility a waiver to prevent it from having to make any changes. Tony Sellars, a state health department representative said, "A former General Counsel for OSDH waived some state requirements, however any such waiver would not waive federal requirements. We are working with the facility to assist them in coming into compliance." 6. e state health department reportedly granted several extensions to the deadline for compliance while CMS considered the surgery center's waiver request. CMS denied the waiver request in August, and a federal court didn't prevent CMS from stopping payments to ESEC while it fixed the electrical issue. n Texas Children's Hospital fires nurse over Facebook post By Alia Paavola A nurse at Houston- based Texas Children's Hospital was fired after she posted a patient's condition on an anti-vaccination Facebook page, hospital officials con- firmed to Becker's Hospital Review. The hospital made the deci- sion to fire the nurse after an internal investigation. The post centered on the nurse's experience of treating a 1- to 3-year-old boy who tested positive for measles at the hospital. The pediatric intensive care unit nurse posted about the child on the anti-vaccination group Proud Parents of Un- vaccinated Children-Texas, according to screenshots obtained by The Houston Chronicle. The page has been taken down. "I think it's easy for us non- vaxxers to make assump- tions, but most of us have never and will never see one of these diseases," the Texas Children's nurse wrote, according to The Chron- icle. "By no means have I changed my vax stance, and I never will. But I just wanted to share my experience and how much worse it was than I expected." Parents shared the screen- shots of the nurse's post on the Texas Children's Face- book page, and the hospital immediately said it would investigate. "We were made aware that one of our nurses posted protected health informa- tion regarding a patient on social media. We take these matters very seriously, as the privacy and well-being of our patients is always a top priority," a hospital spokes- person told Becker's. "After an internal investigation, this individual is no longer with the organization." The nurse did not see patients after the post was shared with the hospital. n 5 organizations team up to tackle antibiotic resistance in outpatient space By Angie Stewart T o address the growing threat of antibiotic resistance, several organizations are joining forces to develop best practices for antibiotic stewardship. Here are five things to know: 1. The Urgent Care Association sponsored and attended an industry summit on antibiotic stewardship in the outpatient setting. 2. Meeting attendees will include representatives from the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center at Milken Institute of Pub- lic Health at Washington, D.C.-based George Washington University, the CDC, the College of Urgent Care Medicine and the Urgent Care Foundation. 3. The UCA and CUCM also created an antibiotic steward- ship toolkit highlighting responsible prescribing practices and patient education strategies. 4. The toolkit was developed based on the CDC's four core elements of outpatient antibiotic stewardship: commitment, action, tracking and reporting, and education and expertise. 5. The antibiotic stewardship toolkit can be downloaded at www.ucaoa.org/antibioticsteward. "We take antibiotic stewardship very seriously due to the vol- ume of patients presenting to urgent care centers and other outpatient settings each and every day," said UCA President and CUCM Board Member Sean McNeeley, MD. "This toolkit is designed to provide a foundation for healthcare organiza- tions and providers looking to create or improve an antibi- otic stewardship protocol to combat resistance." n