Sepsis and antibiotic resistance are two keynote themes of the current administration, HHS, CDC, FDA. I had the chance to write a blog collating a lot of recent online resources,
here.
New update. PAC CARB - the President's Advisory Commission on Combating Antibiotic Resistance - has announced a special pop up meeting all about CMS. The meeting is about whether PAC CARB should formally petition HHS to finalize CMS's 2016 proposal to require hospitals to have antibiotic stewardship committees. If this 2016 proposal is not finalized by June, it will expire.
- The special meeting will be Monday, April 8, 2019; website > here.
- See links on website for registration, Federal Register notice, draft agenda, proposed Letter to HHS.
- The virtual meeting is short, 12:00-1:15 eastern.
- Public comments are due April 2 midnight, no more than one page (see Fed Reg notice at link above).
Almost three years ago, CMS proposed that hospitals serving Medicare would have to have formal permanent Antibiotic Stewardship Programs - ASP's. That rule was never finalized, though, and it will automatically sunset in June 2019. PAC CARB has heard from some stakeholders that the CMS ASP program should be a national health priority. For this meeting, on April 8, PAC CARB will discuss whether to throw PAC CARB's prestige and weight behind a memo to HHS Secretary Alex Azar, which would ask him to require CMS to formalize its ASP policy.
