Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/931991
24 e agency rolled out the "Meaningful Measures" initiative Oct. 30, which aims to reduce the regulatory hurdles associated with quality reporting. CMS plans to simplify the measures hospitals and physicians must report on, zeroing in on the most important measures to improve care quality and patient outcomes. e agency also launched "Patients Over Paperwork" in October, an initiative aimed at identifying unneces- sary burdens and inefficiencies that prevent healthcare providers from spending time with patients. 6. Resurgent diseases. The U.S. saw several historic outbreaks of vaccine-preventable viruses in 2017 amid waning immunity and low vaccine adherence in certain pockets of the country. Minnesota experienced its largest measles outbreak since 1990. The outbreak lasted April 11 to July 13, resulting in 79 measles cases and 22 hospitalizations. Sixty-four of the cases occurred among the Somali Minnesotan community. Immunization rates among this population declined in recent years due to the spread of misinformation regard- ing vaccine safety. Scarlet fever is also reemerging in certain parts of the world for reasons unknown to researchers and health officials, Vox reported in late November. England and Wales saw three times the amount of scarlet fever cases in 2014 compared to the year before, according to a study published Nov. 27 in Lancet Infectious Diseases. Vietnam, South Korea, Hong Kong and China have also reported significant increases in scarlet fever cases since 2009. 7. Mergers and acquisitions. Twenty-nine hospital and health system transactions were announced in the third quarter of 2017, putting an- nual transactions in 2017 on pace to surpass the 102 deals that occurred in 2016, according to an October 2017 Kaufman Hall report. In some cases, hospital mergers, acquisitions and divestitures cause various changes in an organization's culture, leadership, equipment and operating environment that can pose a threat to patient care. In a 2015 op-ed published in JAMA, researchers from Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine argued hospital consolidation and reduced healthcare competition limits patient choice, hinders innovation that leads to better care and reduces hospitals' incentive to improve quality ratings. On the other hand, transactions that help to increase competition and diversify markets can also improve healthcare quality and services. Research from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation also shows patients living in competitive healthcare markets exhibit better health outcomes and lower mortality rates than those who live in areas with less healthcare competition. 8. Physician burnout. Fiy-one percent of physicians experienced frequent or constant feelings of burnout in 2017, compared to just 40 percent in 2013, according to Medscape's annual survey. A major source of burnout stems from the large amount of data entry and clerical work physicians must complete on a daily basis. On average, physicians spend 50 percent of their work day entering data into EHRs and completing clerical work. Just 27 percent of their day is spent interacting with patients, according to a 2016 study published in Annals of Internal Med- icine. Even when physicians do engage in patient encounters, 37 percent of the visit is spent on EHR documentation or desk work. In March 2017, leaders from some of the country's most prominent health systems authored an article in Health Affairs on physician burn- out. e healthcare executives argued addressing burnout should be a major priority for all healthcare leaders, as it can threaten patient safety, quality of care and increase healthcare costs. 9. Antibiotic resistance. e ongoing evolution of antibiotic resistance is poised to be a major patient safety concern for hospitals around the world in 2018. e issue has become so serious that the United King- dom's Office for National Statistics lowered its estimates for future life expectancy to reflect "less optimistic views" of longevity with regards to increases in antimicrobial resistance, according to e Telegraph. In February 2017, the World Health Organization ranked the world's 12 most-dangerous superbugs. Topping the list were three strains of bacte- ria resistant to the last resort antibiotic carbapenem. U.S. health officials will closely monitor several drug-resistant hospital-acquired infections in 2018, including, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, which can sometimes be resistant to all available antibiotics. CRE infections carry extremely high mortality rates, with some studies suggesting 50 percent of infected individuals die, according to the CDC. CRE causes an estimated 9,300 infections and 600 deaths every year in the U.S. A 2017 study published in PNAS found little evidence of person-to-person transmission of CRE, suggesting the bacteria could be spreading through U.S. hospitals in unknown and unmonitored ways. However, hospitals are not without resources in the fight against antibiotic resistance. Infection control leaders can look to organiza- tions like the CDC, the National Quality Forum and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America for tools to improve antibiotic stewardship and curb resistance. 10. Opioid epidemic. e nation's ongoing opioid addiction and overdose crisis presents numerous challenges for healthcare organi- zations, including drug diversion, rising rates of overdose deaths and secondary exposure to deadly synthetic opioids like fentanyl among frontline providers caring for overdose patients. Curbing rates of adverse outcomes related to post-surgical opioids will likely be an important concern for healthcare leaders in 2018, as more evidence emerges highlighting the serious risk of addiction associated with opioid exposure. A June 2017 study published in JAMA Surgery cited prolonged opioid use as the most common complication among surgery patients who were not previously exposed to opioids. In a Health Affairs blog post published in September of last year, three physician leaders argued hospitals should be penalized for opioid ad- diction if the condition develops as a result of hospital-based care that could have been prevented by adhering to evidence-based practices. Amid this environment, some leading health systems are taking seri- ous efforts to reduce opioid use in their facilities. Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare pledged to cut opioid prescriptions by 40 percent by the end of 2018. e success of such initiatives will be something for healthcare leaders to watch closely this year. n At 3M, we apply science in collaborative ways to improve lives daily. With $30 billion in sales, our 90,000 employees connect with customers all around the world. Learn more about 3M's creative solutions to the world's problems at www.3M.com or on Twitter @3M or @3MNews.