| 5/1/2010

Hospital Infection Rates: Mayo’s Solution

Mayo Clinic follows a five-step procedure to help reduce patient infection rates. It’s aiming to eliminate hospital-bourne infections entirely. [Photo: Mayo Clinic]

Between 1998 and 2006, some 48,000 Americans died from two of the most common hospital-acquired infections, sepsis and pneumonia, according to a study of 69 million patients in 40 states published earlier this year in the Archives of Internal Medicine. One study put the costs of treating preventable cases of sepsis and pneumonia at $8.1 billion in 2006.

At Mayo Clinic Florida in Jacksonville, CEO William Rupp is spearheading a project intended to reduce the clinic’s rate of hospital-borne infections to zero. The initiative comes down to standardizing a process, Rupp says. In cases of pneumonia associated with patients on ventilators, Mayo follows five steps that cut the incidence of infection if performed daily. “We’re making sure that our patients on a respirator get those five items every day,” he says. Similarly, to cut down on the incidence of blood stream infections, Mayo now uses a small team that follows a rigorous set of procedures to insert all IVs. Since implementing its new standards, Mayo has cut its infection rates by about a third to a half, depending on the type of infection. Rupp intends to get to zero eventually. “My feeling is you can’t get to zero unless you at least set that as a goal.”

— Amy Keller

Innovation Through Diversification

CEO Jeffrey Freimark has helped Miami Jewish Health System diversify its operations.

A change in Medicare reimbursement formulas has hammered Miami Jewish Health System’s original nursing home operation since the 1990s — it projects an $8 million loss on the 462-bed facility this year. In the meantime, however, the non-profit has diversified; it now serves 8,000 patients and has pain, rehab and other centers.

“The nursing home model, the way it’s been operating and the way it is today, is broken,” says CEO Jeffrey Freimark. “The point of my discussion is not, ‘Woe is me.’ It is what it is. How do we deal with it?” MJHS projects it will break even in 2012, though Freimark wants tort law changes to lower costs and reduce defensive medicine.

— Mike Vogel

Insurance Market Share

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida’s Jacksonville headquarters [Photo: Kelly LaDuke]

Among the dozens of companies that sell health insurance in Florida, two providers dominate. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, headquartered in Jacksonville, serves approximately 4.2 million members, giving it a 30% share of the Florida market. Aetna serves more than 1.2 million Floridians, controlling about 15% of the market.

Top Florida Health Insurers
Insurer	Florida Business
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida	$4,628,635,539
Aetna Health	2,045,154,213
UnitedHealthcare	720,182,287
AvMed	659,875,132
Humana Medical Plan	628,371,429
Health Options	601,948,242
Vista Healthplan	541,114,525
Neighborhood Health Partnership	423,921,863
Capital Health Plan	407,450,183
Humana Health Ins. Co. of Florida	388,304,927
Source: 2009 annual report, Florida Office of Insurance Regulation

Tags: Healthcare