Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

5 INFECTION CONTROL The rise of 'social prescribing' By Erica Carbajal N ature walks. Dance classes. Volunteering. ese are among the social activities being prescribed across at least 30 programs in the U.S. Social prescribing — or the practice of connecting people with nonclinical activities that target underlying concerns such as isolation, stress and access to healthy foods — is a well-known concept in Britain and is increasingly stirring interest in the U.S., experts told e New York Times in an April 17 report. ere isn't one single definition for social prescriptions, though most aim to improve people's overall wellness and quality of life. At Cleveland Clinic, physicians prescribe nature walks, volunteering and ballroom dancing through programs for geriatric patients. New Jersey's largest health insurer, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, is part of a study evaluating whether an arts prescription program is tied to quality of life improvements, reduced disparities and lower emergency department reliance. Early studies on social prescribing in the U.S. have suggested such prescriptions can help reduce hospital admissions and keep patients out of the ED for routine issues, which may incentivize insurers to lean more into such programs in the future. In Britain, where social prescribing was first made popular, the nation's healthcare system aims to make the practice available to 900,000 people this year. In the U.S., experts anticipate the healthcare industry will be more hesitant to fully embrace social prescribing, which may shi gradually over time with more comprehensive research on outcomes and cost savings. "ere's reason to be skeptical about how far this will go," Daniel Eisenberg, PhD, professor of public health policy and management at University of California Los Angeles, told the Times. "Our healthcare system tends to make only very incremental changes, and I think all the biases built into the system favor medical care and more acute intensive care." n How Mercy accelerated rare disease diagnoses in rural areas By Mariah Taylor C hildren's Mercy Kansas City (Mo.) researchers found a way to reduce the time to diagnosis for rare disease by 5.5 months. Local providers are sometimes wary of the benefits of genetic testing for rare disease and have significant constraints in pursuing it themselves, instead relying on referrals to specialists. However, referrals result in long waitlists, delays in clinical assessment, insurance clearance, testing and initiation of diagnosis. Attending multiple visits to urban medical centers can also pose a difficulty for families. The study, published April 17 in ScienceDirect, worked with a primary care provider in rural Kansas to provide direct-to- provider access to unrestrictive genome testing. The pilot study found that the direct-to-provider exome sequencing program shortened time to diagnosis by a minimum of 5.5 months, compared to the standard referral-to-specialist method. "We share our experience to encourage future partnerships beyond our center," the study authors wrote. "Our efforts represent just one step in fostering greater diversity and equity in genomic studies." n Hospitals could be asked to report emissions in 2026 By Mariah Taylor Starting in 2026, CMS could ask hospitals to report emissions. The voluntary Decarbonization and Resilience Initiative is "designed to address threats posed by climate change to the nation's health and health care system by collecting, monitoring, assessing, and addressing hospital carbon emissions and their effects on health outcomes, costs, and quality," according to a CMS release. Participants in the initiative would be asked to report metrics in four priority areas — organizational, building energy, anesthetic gas and transportation. The voluntary program is proposed to start Jan. 1, 2026, and end Dec. 31, 2030. The initiative marks the first time HHS has proposed collecting data on healthcare greenhouse gas emissions. The healthcare industry accounted for an estimated 8.5% of total domestic greenhouse gas emissions in 2018. More efficient healthcare delivery can contribute to saving Medicare and hospital costs. For example, Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City reported $170,000 annual savings from changing the flow rates of anesthetic gasses and Gundersen Lutheran reported at least $500,000 to $1 million in energy savings annually from their energy efficiency measures, according to the release. n

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