Bioterrorism Preparations Strain Hospital Budgets, USA Today Reports
USA Today looks at the difficulties that already cash-strapped hospitals face in upgrading their ability to respond to a possible bioterrorist attack. Hospital finances have declined over the past decade, leaving many with too little staff and beds to handle even a surge of patients from normal illnesses, such as the flu. The American Hospital Association said last month that hospitals need $11.3 billion in federal funding to boost their bioterrorism preparedness, but "Congress is more likely to come up with only about $400 million," USA Today reports. Even with this funding, some industry observers question whether hospitals would be better off meeting existing needs rather than potential threats. "If a hospital diverts ... even 5% to 10% of its revenue to these sorts of things, in today's limited environment, other things will suffer: The level of nursing quality will go down, the rate of complications will go up," Barry Hieb, a health care consultant with the Gartner Group, said. Still, USA Today reports that preparing for bioterrorism could also boost hospitals' day-to-day operations. For instance, the need for nurses in a bioterrorist attack could motivate hospitals to "rethink decisions to replace nurses with support staff and find ways to lure nurses back to hospital wards." Hospitals also may look to boost their inventory of medications, improve regional planning with other facilities and upgrade their communications abilities. Don Berwick of the Institute for Health Care Improvement said, "The biggest harm to (medical) quality right now is fragmentation. If this leads hospitals to coordinate more with community resources and each other, that could help in the long run" (Appleby, USA Today, 11/19). For comprehensive public health information from the CDC on anthrax and other bioterrorism issues, please visit www.bt.cdc.gov.
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