Tuesday, September 04, 2001
JCAHO Issues Alert on Preventing Sharps Injuries
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) has issued a Sentinel Event Alert on preventing needlestick and sharps injuries. The alert, designed to increase health care organization’s understanding of the injuries, also outlines the requirements of the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act, which took effect last month. Additionally, the alert includes prevention strategies as outlined by the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety. JCAHO will begin assessing organizational compliance with the new provisions of the law in April 2002. For a copy of the alert, go to www.jcaho.org/edu_pub/sealert/sea22.html. For more information on needlestick and sharps injuries, visit the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Web site at www.osha-slc.gov/needlesticks. (Rosalie Weakland, rosaliew@ohanet.org)

DAILY NEWS CLIPS

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

Safeguards add to blood bank woes
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Tuesday, September 4, 2001
Complex surgeries and sophisticated emergency care are placing an enormous burden on blood supplies at a time when new restrictions threaten to reduce blood donations.

Hillsdale hospital keeps up its fight for urban rating
Toledo Blade
Tuesday, September 4, 2001
HILLSDALE - The Hillsdale Community Health Center is lobbying to get its fair share in federal Medicare reimbursements - money that is crucial to the hospital’s financial stability, officials said.

KMC move will open another 100 patient beds
Dayton Daily News
Tuesday, September 4, 2001
Kettering Medical Center plans to free up space for nearly 100 more patient beds at two hospitals in the next year by moving office staff to a new building at Sycamore Hospital's campus in Miamisburg.  

Wednesday, September 05, 2001
New Advance Directives Forms Available
A revised advance directives packet and new forms used to create a Living Will or Health Care Durable Power of Attorney, or to designate organ or tissue donation, are now available through the Ohio Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (OHPCO).

In a collaborative effort with OHA, the Ohio State Medical Association and the Ohio Osteopathic Association, OHPCO is now distributing the packet, Advance Directives Packet: Choices, Living Well at the End of Life. The Ohio State Bar Association also helped in developing the Living Will and Health Care Durable Power of Attorney forms, which conform to the requirements of last session’s Ohio’s Living Will law, as amended effective March 15, 2001 through House Bill 494, sponsored by Rep. Ann Womer Benjamin (R-Aurora).

In addition, the packet includes information for consumers on organ and tissue donation, and do not resuscitate orders.

OHA will soon send to member hospitals in a bulletin a copy of the packet and an order form with pricing information. Hospitals can obtain multiple copies of the packet and personalize them by adding the organization’s logo. Posters and free flyers are also available. The packet will be available to download on OHPCO’s Web site, www.ohpco.org, and OHA’s Web site, www.ohanet.org. (Jean Scholz, jeans@ohanet.org)

DAILY NEWS CLIPS

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

Family wins new trial in hospital TB lawsuit
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Wednesday, September 5, 2001
The family of a Bay Village man who caught a deadly strain of tuberculosis while assisting in an autopsy at MetroHealth Medical Center will get a second chance to convince a jury that the hospital was responsible for his death.

Cooperation brings care to East Side
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Wednesday, September 5, 2001
Once a month, the men filing into Shabazz Barber Shop in Glenville get more than a haircut. They get a free blood pressure check, courtesy of Joyce Lee.

Christ Hospital to dedicate new nursing school
Cincinnati Business Courier
Wednesday, September 5, 2001
The Christ Hospital School of Nursing will dedicate its new facility in a noon ceremony Sept. 5.

Thursday, September 06, 2001
Ohio Hospital Tells Tale of Workforce Shortage
A former Ohio hospital is this week featured in an American Hospital Association (AHA) Blast Fax sent to Capitol Hill as part of AHA’s workforce relief campaign. AHA is sending daily faxes to the Bush Administration, legislators and senators to depict how the workforce shortage impacts individual hospitals. In a fax sent yesterday, AHA tells the story of Columbus Community Hospital, the eleventh hospital to close in Ohio in the last 18 months. Columbus hospitals cite an immediate need for 708 nurses and 25 pharmacists, despite the influx of displaced Columbus Community workers into area hospitals, according to the blast fax.

AHA is also asking legislators to support the following legislation from its key advocacy agenda:

• The American Hospital Preservation Act of 2001, H.R. 1556/S. 839, would increase the amount of payment for inpatient hospital services under Medicare by providing a full market-basket update for fiscal years 2002-03.
• The Area Wage Index Floor and Standardized Payment Rate Act, H.R. 1609/S. 885, would standardize reimbursement rates for inpatient hospital services under Medicare and eliminate wage reimbursement differences between large urban and rural or community hospitals.

Hospitals can share their workforce experiences by contacting Al Jackson, ajackson@aha.org or 202/626-3757, or Mark Seklecki, mseklecki@aha.org or 202/626-2341; or by submitting their story online at www.aha.org/grassroots. (Jonathan Archey, jonathana@ohanet.org)

DAILY NEWS CLIPS

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

OSBA offering living will, health-care power of attorney forms
Columbus Daily Reporter
Thursday, September 6, 2001
The Ohio State Bar Association is offering Ohioans the opportunity to direct their own health-care wishes by creating living wills and establish health care power of attorneys through advanced forms.

Medicaid program benefits from settlement with CVS
Columbus Daily Reporter
Thursday, September 6, 2001
The Ohio Attorney General's office announced Wednesday that the state's Medicaid program will receive some $323,000 stemming from a $4 million settlement by CVS Corp. for alleged billing fraud.

Taft urges new rules for nursing homes
Columbus Dispatch
Thursday, September 6, 2001
Gov. Bob Taft asked state lawmakers yesterday to approve a package of rules that would increase staffing and increase care at Ohio nursing homes.  

Friday, September 07, 2001
CMS Releases Final Rule on Inpatient New Technology Payments
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is establishing a system for paying for new technologies used in Medicare inpatient admissions. The new system is similar to the methodology used to pay pass-throughs in the Medicare outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS). However, CMS appears to be putting to work some lessons learned when new technology pass-through payments under the OPPS began to exceed the available funds.

According to the American Hospital Association, details of the newly issued final rule include reducing the minimum time for introducing new diagnosis-related groups (DRG) from 11 months to six months. Additionally, to be eligible, the total charges for cases involving new technology must exceed the average for all cases in the DRG to which it would be assigned, and it must present "a substantial improvement in caring for Medicare beneficiaries." CMS will limit payments to 50 percent of costs in excess of the DRG payment, but the pass-through payment may not exceed 50 percent of the estimated average costs of the new technology. Overall, new technology payments may not be more than 1 percent of all inpatient PPS payments. The new system will begin in fiscal year 2003. The rule will be published in the Sept. 7 Federal Register. (Charles Cataline, charlesc@ohanet.org)

DAILY NEWS CLIPS

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

Ohio hospitals fight further reductions in federal funding
Columbus Daily Reporter
Friday, September 7, 2001
Fearing further hospital closings and increased health-care costs, the Ohio Hospital Association is supporting the Medicaid Safety Net Hospital Preservation Act of 2001, OHA officials stated.

Hospital for Mason withdrawn
Cincinnati Enquirer
Friday, September 7, 2001
MASON — Be it wanted or dreaded, Mason won't be getting a hospital anytime soon.

Web site's glitches hang up applications to medical schools
Columbus Dispatch
Friday, September 7, 2001
Looking to put scalpels in their eager healing hands, thousands of pre-med students around the country have instead found themselves mired in a mess made for the finest computer-science major.