Infection Control Leader Zimek Technologies Supports CMS Efforts to Enhance Hospital Quality Standards

TAMPA, FL–(Marketwire – October 1, 2010) –  Zimek Technologies (www.zimek.com), a worldwide leader in infection control and biohazard remediation, today applauded the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) current efforts toward enhancing hospital quality standards, which among them include driving hospitals to meaningfully reduce healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).

“We support all regulatory efforts that push for a critical need to address HAIs, which according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is a major concern with 3.5 million patients infected each year in hospitals and long-term care facilities due to HAIs,” said Kurt Grosman, CEO of Zimek Technologies. “As a business leader in the infection control industry, I intend to support the CMS by promoting meaningful infection control best practices which can reduce HAIs and save lives. Zimek’s state of the art infection control technology can clearly help hospitals all over the country meet the quality standards set forth by CMS to reduce overall Hospital-Acquired Conditions (HACs).” Last week, CMS suspended its plans to make HAC information available to the public due to a discrepancy which was identified between the claims data that hospitals submitted and the CMS data file that was used to calculate the HAC information.

Grosman pointed out that by utilizing Zimek Technologies, hospitals can save millions of dollars annually. “Preventing five of the most commonly occurring HACs could help a 200-bed facility save $2 million a year, which is documented by the Healthcare Management Council (HMC),” Grosman said. The savings relate to the extra services hospitals provide to treat related complications that arise. Infection due to medical care is one of the HACs that can result in nonpayment from Medicare, Medicaid, and in some cases private insurance.

In data provided by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, HMC studied hospitals as small as 75 beds and as large as 800 beds to determine how much they spend on HAC-related patient care. The cost ranged from $8,300 per patient for care costs associated with accidental punctures to $24,500 per patient for care related to hospital-acquired infections.

Zimek’s industry-leading infection control technologies are used by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, fire and EMS departments, healthcare facilities, public health agencies, transit systems, correctional facilities, and local law enforcement agencies across America.

Zimek’s revolutionary Micro-Mist^® products “micronize” disinfectants that can quickly and automatically decontaminate facilities, equipment and vehicles. Zimek’s germ-killing Micro-Mist^® can permeate crevasses and hidden surfaces where super-germs are untouched by standard sanitizing methods.

“Zimek’s proven rapid infection control application is a meaningful 21^st century best practices infection prevention technology which will add another weapon to our arsenal to combat the spread of infectious diseases,” Grosman added.