Pressure ulcer prevention. Health care facilities need to start developing aggressive programs for preventing pressure ulcers. (See In the Spotlight on page 474 for an example of what steps are being taken by facilities in New Jersey.) The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has proposed that starting in October 2008, it discontinue extra payments to facilities to cover the cost of pressure ulcers patients develop during hospitalization. Information on the proposal can be found at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/apps/media/fact_sheets.asp.

In addition, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement has made preventing pressure ulcers one of the goals of its 5 Million Lives Campaign. For more information, visit http://www.ihi.org.