CHICAGO -- In an interview with Infection Protection & Control, the director of Medicare details how the federal healthcare funding agency is planning to reduce rates of hospital-acquired infections.

Acting Director of CMS Kerry Weems indicates that hospitals will no longer be reimbursed for costs of treating patients who acquire infections, or other conditions, while in the hospital.

The idea is that hospitals will be more vigilant at preventing illness if they will not be paid for working on those patients. Patients are protected under the new plan, Weems indicated, as hospitals cannot put off the costs onto them either. Many medical insurance companies are expected to follow suit and adopt similar programs, which will compel hospitals to reduce the number of hospital acquired conditions. The plan was proposed by President Bush in 2005 as part of a deficit reduction act, Infection Protection reported.

"This is an exclusive interview with the director of Medicare," says Chris Wright, publisher of Infection Protection, and CEO of Shepard-Medical, the award-winning medical products company and underwriter of the health care education site, www.care-mates.com/blog/ "We are very excited about the influence the site is gaining in the medical community. This demonstrates that our commitment to patients is paying off."

Infection Protection & Control is a winner of the Gold Medal for New Media in the 25th Annual Healthcare Advertising Awards (2008), sponsored by the Healthcare Marketing Report, the leading industry journal. The firm is committed to helping patients and allied health professionals control infection and protect themselves from infections. Last month, the firm reached a licensing deal with Ebsco, the leading healthcare database publisher, which provides content to NIH Medline and other leading medical periodicals.

This licensing deal means that even more people will receive the valuable information Care-Mates is providing for public health.