It’s a word! For real! Refers to an infection acquired in a hospital setting. A post admission complication or problem. The hospital is regarded as at fault.

Permit me to share how I learned about  nosocomial.

Charles Kurault was a famous television commentator and writer. He is now dead. Kurault visited Key West frequently. He was especially fond of Schooner Wharf. He claimed it was the center of the universe.

I do not wish to beconsidered a copy cat. However, that is how I feel about the Chart Room. It is the center of universe. I meet everyone from everywhere. In the process, I learn much from them.

Last night, I met Bill and Kati from Skaneateles. A small upstate New York community sitting on one of the Finger Lakes. Bill is involved in business in some fashion. Kati a nurse.

Kati is a nurse at St. Joseph Hospital in Syracuse. My son was born there in 1959.

Kati does not work as a nurse per se. Her responsibility has to do with hospital acquired infections and their prevention. Along the way, she mentioned Medicare a couple of times. My curiosity was piqued.

The internet is my world. This morning I looked up hospital acquired infections. That is where I first became aware of the term nosocomial. Sounds like it might have come out of the Chart Room after several drinks. It did not.

My Kati inspired research indicated the following.

Everything is about money.

Several years ago Medicare said it would no longer pay for infections acquired in a hospital setting after admission. Things like a staph infection. Medicare’s position was that the problem was hospital caused and the hospital should bear responsibility. Not quite true, but that is how Medicare viewed the situation.

Nor could the hospital charge the patient. The hospital was and is required to eat the charges. What Medicare was actually saying was that the hospitals should keep themselves clean.

Most insurance companies have adopted Medicare’s position.

After doing the digging reflected, I was better able to understand Kati’s job and the necessity for such a position.

The type of infections not payable include urinary tract infections, surgical site infections, bloodstream problems and pneumonia.

Is the Medicare inspired program working? Are hospitals overcoming the problem? It was thought by affecting the hospitals’ pocket books, they would clean up their act.

Hospitals are putting out the effort. The results are not there, however.

A recent New England Journal of Medicine article indicated that non payment had no measurable effect on infection rates in hospitals.

So much for nosocomial.

See what came out of my meeting with Kati at the Chart Room last night!

Enjoy your day! I am not certain of mine. I start with the dentist.