As states continue to build health insurance exchanges (HIXs) for use by the Jan. 1, 2014, deadline set forth in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), there is another aspect of the ACA that has received little attention – the requirement that by Jan. 1, 2015, HIXs cannot contract with a hospital of 50 beds or more unless that hospital has a patient safety evaluation system and reports data to a patient safety organization (PSO).

Welch Allyn has launched its new FlexiPort® EcoCuff™ single-patient-use blood pressure cuff. As hospitals continue to fight the never-ending battles against both cross-contamination and rising costs, EcoCuff provides a solution for both issues while also having less environmental impact than other disposable blood pressure cuffs.