Congresswoman Houchin Introduces Resolution to Promote Best Practices in Rural Hospitals

WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Erin Houchin (R-Ind.-09) introduced a bipartisan resolution to urge the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid to publish quality measures to prevent mobility loss among hospitalized patients.

“When I was elected to represent the ninth district, I made it my obligation to find and promote best practices across our rural communities, especially in the healthcare field. If we can provide better metrics to hospital providers, we can prevent Hoosier seniors from leaving the hospital with less mobility than when they arrived,” said Congresswoman Houchin.

The bipartisan resolution was co-led by Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-Ala.-07) and Congressman Greg Pence (R-Ind.-06).

“Regular physical mobility during hospitalization is critical for averting functional decline and weakness. However, many older hospital patients do not receive sufficient mobility care,” said Congressman Pence. “Thank you to Congresswoman Houchin and Congresswoman Sewell for leading this bipartisan effort to prevent mobility loss among hospitalized older adults.”  

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

The resolutionrecognizes hospitalized older patients are spending less than 43 minutes a 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 admitted. In order to combat this, the resolution urges the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid should publish mobility metric recommendations for hospitals to follow.

For the text of the resolution, click here.