The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized new regulations that require US hospitals to develop and implement antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs). Under the new CMS conditions of participation (CoP) rule, which was initially proposed in June 2016, all US hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs) will be required to have infection prevention and control and stewardship programs in order to receive payments from CMS. CoPs are standards that US health care facilities seeking Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement must meet. The programs must be implemented 6 months from the date the finalized policy is published in the Federal Register (Sep. 30).
“By requiring that hospitals have antibiotic stewardship programs that are not only active and hospital-wide, but also demonstrate adherence to nationally recognized guidelines for the optimization of antibiotic use through stewardship, the changes are aimed at effectively reducing the development and transmission of HAIs [healthcare-associated infections] and antibiotic-resistant organisms that ultimately will greatly improve the care and safety of patients while adding cost benefits for hospitals,” CMS said in a fact sheet. Click here for the full CoP document.
