In Brief: Cedars-Sinai Reports Cases Of CRE Linked To Duodenoscope; CalOptima Launches New Network

Cedars-Sinai Reports Cases Of CRE Linked To Duodenoscope 

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has reported four cases of the superbug CRE linked to a single duodenoscope.

In a statement issued by the Los Angeles hospital late Wednesday, it said it had linked four cases of CRE that occurred between August 2015 and last January to a single instrument manufactured by Olympus.

Cedars-Sinai said the infections occurred “despite the fact that Cedars-Sinai meticulously followed the disinfection procedure for duodenoscopes recommended in instructions provided by the manufacturer.”

Out of what it said was an abundance of caution, Cedars-Sinai said it was notifying 71 patients who may have been exposed to that particular duodenoscope, even though they were likely not infected with CRE. The hospital is offering them a free home testing kit for CRE.

Cedars-Sinai said it was also ramping up its microbial detection to ensure there are no further cases.

“These include enhanced monitoring techniques involving microscopic laboratory analysis (including cultures) of the duodenoscopes, both before and after procedures. These are in addition to the cleaning and high-level disinfection recommended by the manufacturer,” Cedars-Sinai said in its statement.

One patient who was infected with CRE died, although Cedars-Sinai stressed that was due to the underlying causes of their original disease “as their CRE infection had cleared.” 

CalOptima Launches Contracting Network For Indivdual Providers

CalOptima, the Medi-Cal managed care health plan for Orange County, has launched a network that will allow individual doctors and smaller practices to provide care to its enrollees.

The CalOptima Community Network launched on March 1. 

The plan, which has more than 720,000 Medi-Cal recipients enrolled throughout Orange County. It provides care through a dozen networks aimed at private contractors. Altogether, there are about 7,300 physicians who are affiliated with CalOptima through these networks.

The new network was launched in order to recruit more individual physicians and smaller medical practices. CalOptima officials had learned through a series of town hall meetings that smaller practices and individual doctors had sometimes avoiding treating Medi-Cal patients due to what they saw as implacable bureaucratic hurdles. 

This new network promises a streamlined enrollment and payment process for participating providers, according to CalOptima officials.

“The increasing complexity of the healthcare environment calls for new approaches to delivering care,” said CalOptima Board Chairman Mark Refowitz. “The launch of CalOptima Community Network increases the pool of doctors who can provide quality care for our growing membership.”

CalOptima did not release any forecasts on the number of providers who may participate in the new network.