Under ACA (Obamacare), hospital performance determines how much money hospitals receive for treating Medicare patients. Hospital managers focus on their scores because it affects their bottom line.
Among these performance indicators is “Healthcare Associated Infections.” There are six types of infections hospitals are scored on. If any of these infections occur, it lowers the hospital’s score. Ebola is not on the list.
Hospital-based transmission of ebola infection should be added to this list now, and weighted highly so even one transmission will noticeably affect reimbursement. This will serve to make hospitals more rigorous in their training and outfitting of doctors, caregivers and staff, and more proactive in preventing the further transmission of ebola.