Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

14 PATIENT SAFETY & OUTCOMES CDC, CMS call for rebuilding healthcare system after patient safety measures drop By Gabrielle Masson A s patient safety declines amid the pandemic, the U.S. must rebuild a healthcare delivery system in which safety is em- bedded in every step of a process, with clear metrics that are aggregated, assessed and acted on, according to an analysis published Feb. 12 by e New England Journal of Medicine. e article was penned by Lee Fleisher, MD, chief medical officer and director at CMS; Michelle Schreiber, MD, deputy director for quality and value at CMS; Denise Cardo, MD, director of the division of healthcare quality promotion for the CDC's Nation- al Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases; and Arjun Srinivasan, MD, associate director for healthcare-associated infection prevention programs in the division of healthcare quality promotion at CDC's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, metrics tracking health- care-associated infections and other complications of care indicate significant deterioration of multiple patient safety measures. "It is abundantly clear that the healthcare ecosystem cannot ask clinicians and staff to work harder," the authors wrote, "but must instead provide them with more tools and an environment built on a strong foundation of wellness and on instilling and rewarding a culture of safety." e authors call for renewed national goals of harm elimination throughout the healthcare system. e federal officials are committed to a renewed focus on patient safety, including the following efforts: 1. Joining healthcare leaders in reviewing safety practices and seek- ing better and more deeply embedded solutions that also help close health disparities. 2. Expand the collection and use of data on safety indicators in CDC and CMS programs, including data in such key areas as maternal health and mental health. Aim to work with other government and nongovernment organizations to further enhance patient safety. 3. Developing safety metrics that draw on clinical data captured digitally in electronic medical records which incorporate informa- tion from all payers. Some electronic clinical quality measures are already being considered for patient-safety monitoring in the CMS Quality Payment Program. 4. CMS must use oversight functions to ensure emergency-pre- paredness and quality-improvement programs are more than just plans. "e healthcare sector owes it to both patients and its own work- force to respond now to the pandemic-induced falloff in safety by redesigning our current processes and developing new approaches that will permit the delivery of safe and equitable care across the healthcare continuum during both normal and extraordinary times," the four leaders conclude. "We cannot afford to wait until the pandemic ends." n Back pain may be omicron symptom By Gabrielle Masson W ith its rapid emergence and wide range of symptoms, omicron appears to be tied to back pain, a symptom that wasn't as frequently reported with past coronavirus variants. Back pain has ranked among some of the most common COVID-19 symptoms in the last few months, CBS News reported Jan. 7. "Back pain, though common in most viral fevers, but com- pared to delta, omicron patients tend to have more back pain and less loss of smell and taste," said Dr. Ann Mary, consultant of general medicine at Amrita Hospital in India, according to Business Standard. A report from South Africa's largest health insurer found that a sore throat, congestion, dry cough and lower back pain ranked among the most common early omicron symptoms. n 3rd person cured of HIV after stem cell transplant, scientists say By Mackenzie Bean A U.S. woman of mixed race has become the third person in the world believed to be cured of HIV, scientists said Feb. 15, according to The New York Times. The woman, who also had myelogenous leukemia, underwent a novel stem cell transplant method in August 2020 that used umbilical cord blood from a partially matched donor who was naturally resistant to HIV because of a genetic mutation. Physicians also gave the woman blood stem cells from a relative as a tempo- rary defense until the cord blood transplant took effect. More than a year later, researchers have found no sign of HIV in the woman's blood tests. The previous two patients believed to be cured of HIV were treated with a bone marrow transplant technique from donors naturally resistant to HIV. Scientists said the cord blood transplant method creates an opportunity to cure more people of diverse racial back- grounds who have both HIV and cancer, as cord blood is more readily available than stem cells and donors do not need to match as closely, according to the Times. Researchers presented their findings at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections held Feb. 13-16 in Denver. n

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