Monday, August 20, 2001
HHS Awards $24.8 Million to Expand Community Health Services
Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson last week announced $24.8 million in grants that will allow 220 health centers nationwide to increase the range of services they offer to medically underserved Americans. The grants will enable health centers in 46 states and Puerto Rico to offer patients new or expanded oral health, pharmacy, mental health and substance abuse services at current sites, broadening access for about 200,000 people. Eight Ohio organizations are receiving more than $800,000 including: Southern Ohio Health Services Network, Cincinnati; Neighborhood Health Care Inc., Cleveland; Lincoln Heights Healthcare Connection, Inc., Cincinnati; Cincinnati Health Network, Cincinnati; Community and Rural Health Services, Fremont; Northeast Ohio Neighborhood Health Services, Cleveland; Neighborhood Health Association, Inc., Toledo; and Columbus Neighborhood Health Center, Columbus. For a complete list of grant recipients, go to http://www.hrsa.gov/Newsroom/releases/2001%20Releases/serviceexpansion.htm.

DAILY NEWS CLIPS

For your daily health care news digest, go to the Hannah News Service's StateHealthClips.com.

Massillon Community settles claim about overbilling Medicare
Canton Repository
Saturday, August 18, 2001
MASSILLON — Massillon Community Hospital has paid nearly $1 million to settle a claim it overbilled Medicare for care given to pneumonia patients.

Bzzzz: Your exam room table is ready
Cincinnati Business Courier
Monday, August 20, 2001
Customers receive a pager upon arrival, allowing them to wander outside during their wait. Personnel wear headsets, giving them the ability to get updates from other staff and immediately relay information to clients.

The new lease would require the county hospital system to treat every patient who walks into the municipal clinics. If patients belong to insurance plans that do not reimburse MetroHealth, the city would pay for the visits, up to $50,000 a year. The city won't be able to recoup the losses because it can't bill insurance companies.

Tuesday, August 21, 2001
Bipartisan Medicare Regulatory Relief Bill Introduced
Bipartisan legislation introduced earlier this month aims to lighten the burden of unreasonable and unnecessary regulatory paperwork on the nation’s health care providers.

Introduced by Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-CT), chair of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, and Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), the Medicare Regulatory and Contracting Reform Act of 2001 would streamline the regulatory process by allowing performance-based contracting with Medicare administrative contractors and requiring contractors to provide easy access and prompt answers to providers. The legislation would also allow the appointment of a “Medicare provider ombudsman” to handle provider grievances and propose improvements to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson. Additionally, H.R. 2768 would provide a prompt appeals process, special allowances for provider repayment of overpayments, coordination of provider education activities and once-monthly announcements of regulations.

DAILY NEWS CLIPS

For your daily health care news digest, go to the Hannah News Service's StateHealthClips.com.

Enrollment jumps at nursing colleges
Columbus Dispatch
Tuesday, August 21, 2001
The classroom was packed. The instructors ran out of handouts, and it took a couple of seconds for a hush to fall across the room.

Hillsdale hospital wants an 'urban' tag, not 'rural'
Toledo Blade
Tuesday, August 21, 2001
HILLSDALE - The Hillsdale Community Health Center's executive said the medical facility is attempting to have its Medicare reimbursement classification changed from rural to urban, a move that could lead to higher reimbursements.

Edwin Shaw course a healthy challenge
Akron Beacon Journal
Tuesday, August 21, 2001
Any golfer will tell you that good things happen on a golf course.

Wednesday, August 22, 2001
Research Community Asks HHS to Loosen HIPAA Privacy Rule
A conglomerate of health care research organizations are urging Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson to "substantially amend" a research data component of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act's privacy regulations. In a letter sent to Thompson this week, the groups say the rule that restricts the use and disclosure of protected health information for research purposes would seriously impair the ability to conduct clinical trials, clinicopathological studies of the natural history and therapeutic responsiveness of disease, epidemiologic and health outcome studies, and genetic research. The letter applauds HHS' commitment to protecting health information privacy, but said the rule must be amended "to better serve the public interest in sustaining the research enterprise." The letter is available at http://www.aamc.org/research/thompson.htm.

DAILY NEWS CLIPS

For your daily health care news digest, go to the Hannah News Service's StateHealthClips.com.

Flu vaccine should be plentiful
Toledo Blade
Wednesday, August 22, 2001
While national health officials are expecting a record amount of flu vaccine to be produced this year, they are warning about shipment delays to health-care providers and urging that only the elderly and other high-risk groups be vaccinated before November.

Stark eludes blood shortage
Canton Repository
Wednesday, August 22, 2001
CANTON — Kathy Shaffer, a technical specialist at Aultman Hospital’s Blood Donor Room, said the blood donor shortage so prevalent in other parts of the country doesn’t seem to have reached Stark County.

Thursday, August 23, 2001
Hospital CPI Slows to 0.2 Percent in July
Consumer prices for medical care inched up a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent in July, slowing from a 0.4 percent increase in June, while the overall Consumer Price Index dropped 0.3 percent, its first monthly decline since April 2000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this week.  

DAILY NEWS CLIPS

For your daily health care news digest, go to the Hannah News Service's StateHealthClips.com.

A chemo room with a view
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Thursday, August 23, 2001
In the opening scene of "The Jonathan Ferguson Story," the star sits in a chemotherapy room at the Cleveland Clinic, staring at a television and a useless VCR.

Drug will help treat congestive heart failure
Cincinnati Post
Thursday, August 23, 2001
The outlook for people hospitalized with acute congestive heart failure will improve drama tically this month when a new drug becomes available at hospitals in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky and across the United States.

Friday, August 24, 2001
Public Health Council Sends Newborn Screening, Nursing Home Staffing Rules to JCARR
Proposed rules on nursing home staffing requirements and newborn genetic screening are one step closer to becoming law. The Public Health Council heard testimony this week on the rules, which now move to the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR).

The health council last year tabled a rule to increase staffing requirements in nursing homes. Following further information gathering by the Ohio Department of Health (ODH), a new rule was proposed that reflects an understanding of the current workforce environment and staffing shortages. The rule, which is based on a Health Care Financing Administration report made last year, calls for 2.75 hours of direct care per day for each patient. The rule will have a minimal effect on OHA members and is supported by the Association of Ohio Philanthropic Homes, Housing and Services for the Aging (AOPHA), which represents non-profit nursing homes, as well as the Ohio Department of Aging.

Also heard this week by the Public Health Council were rules on newborn genetic screening. ODH has proposed increasing the fee for newborn screening test kits from $27 to $33.75. OHA has been working with the department on these rules and testified in support. While hospitals will be paying more for the kits, the fee now includes the cost of courier transport of the kits to public health labs for analysis and other changes made at the department have reduced the incidence of retests, which has resulted in a savings to hospitals. The health council also sent rules to JCARR that call for a pilot study to determine if more tests should be added to the list of those for which newborns are screened.

The above rules will be reviewed by JCARR Sept. 10. (Rick Sites, ricks@ohanet.org)

DAILY NEWS CLIPS

For your daily health care news digest, go to the Hannah News Service's StateHealthClips.com.

Baby left at hospital
Middletown Journal
Friday, August 24, 2001
Butler County Children Services took custody this week of a newborn infant that was anonymously dropped off at Middletown Regional Hospital Sunday.

Consumer pressure can help fight medical errors
Columbus Dispatch
Friday, August 24, 2001
Dr. Marvin Kazmin's Aug. 5 letter refers to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found a lower death rate from medical errors than did previously published studies.