Rep. Houchin tackles mobility loss in hospital patients

Jun. 27—SOUTHERN INDIANA — Rep. Erin Houchin (R-Ind.) introduced a bipartisan resolution last week to urge the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to publish quality measures to address mobility loss for patients after a hospital stay.

The resolution was created to promote better practices in rural hospitals for senior patients. Rural hospitals are in underserved and low population areas, Houchin said.

Houchin said she was inspired to create this resolution after speaking with Rep. Greg Pence (R-Ind.) and then gained support from Terri Sewell (D-Ala.).

The resolution states that older hospital patients are spending less than 43 minutes each day walking and that one-third of adults 70 and older are discharged from a hospital with a functional disability they did not have when they were admitted.

"... (This resolution) just urges the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to publish measures to prevent mobility loss among hospitalized patients," Houchin said. "Hospital reimbursement incentives currently are designed to prevent patient falls, but they unintentionally disincentivize hospitals from mobilizing patients."

Hospitals are afraid of patients falling, so they have them bed-bound, which is not good for their recovery, Houchin added.

This is a resolution that is meant to express a sense of Congress, it is not an unfunded mandate, Houchin said.

"It's nothing that would be an extra cost or even a staffing issue, this is just simply urging Medicare to publish best practices to prevent mobility loss that hospitals can follow," Houchin said.

"It is critically important that we prevent the loss of mobility among older Alabamians who have been hospitalized," said Rep. Sewell. "I'm proud to join this bipartisan effort to help ensure that our seniors get the quality care they need and deserve."

When asked about the resolution, an Indiana Hospital Association official said that the issues this resolution is aiming to address have already been a top priority in hospitals.

"Usually there's a physician's order that says the patient needs to be up, first to the bedside, then to the chair and then walking to the bathroom," said Madeline Wilson, IHA's quality and patient safety adviser. "There are many programs where it has to be physically documented with a patients activity board for all to see."

Hospitals strive to get the patients up and moving as soon as possible, Wilson added.

"A top goal in every hospital is fall prevention, if a fall with injury occurs, that's on the hospital. The end goal is keeping your patient as safe as possible," Wilson said.