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Monday, November 26, 2001
HHS to Limit Medicaid Loophole
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson last week proposed new regulations that would further restrict the use of a loophole in Medicaid regulations by revising Medicaid’s upper payment limit rules. The new regulations will lower Medicaid program payments to hospitals from up to 150 percent of the estimated amount that the Medicare program would pay for services to up to 100 percent of that amount. To help states adjust, the payments will be gradually lowered in 5- to 8-year transitions for states with long-established programs, or 1- to 2-year transitions for other states with newer programs.

HHS is revising the regulations because a number of states have made Medicaid payments to hospitals in excess of the actual reimbursed expenses and then required those facilities to return some or all of the excessive payment to the state through intergovernmental transfers, where they can be used for non-health related budgetary purposes. Ohio is not one of the 14 states with inflated payments, which, according to HHS, include: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New York, South Carolina, Texas and Washington.

The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register Nov. 23 and will have a 30-day comment period. It will likely become final in February. The American Hospital Association is opposed to the proposed rule, calling it “completely unacceptable” because it will negatively impact the nation’s safety net hospitals. (Jonathan Archey, jonathana@ohanet.org)

DAILY NEWS CLIPS

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

Ohio health officials develop quarantine plan
Akron Beacon Journal
Monday, November 26, 2001
COLUMBUS: Ohio health officials are trying to figure out how to impose mass quarantines in case of bioterrorism or an epidemic -- an authority the state hasn't had to consider in more than half a century.

Focus on making ties
Akron Beacon Journal
Sunday, November 25, 2001
I sit in the office of Akron General Medical Center's new leader, and one of the first things he'll do after sharing a warm smile and firm handshake is show off a shiny, new compass.

Children's loads up expansion program
Cincinnati Business Courier
Monday, November 26, 2001
Keith Goodwin could be forgiven for feeling more like a construction maven than a hospital administrator these days.

Tuesday, November 27, 2001
Pilot Newborn Screening Program to Begin Soon
A new pilot program that increases the number of diseases for which newborn can be screened is scheduled to begin April 1. An advisory panel to the Ohio Department of Health recommended that 16 additional conditions be added to the current slate of 12 conditions that newborns are screened for, bringing the total number to 28. Parents will be allowed to choose to have their children screened for only the current 12 mandated conditions or they may opt for the expanded screening once it becomes available.

The Public Health Council (PHC) and Joint Commission on Agency Rule Review already approved the pilot study in an October meeting. Conditions may be added or deleted from the expanded screening regimen as the advisory panel continues to evaluate the process.

In addition to the pilot program, Senate Bill 121, sponsored by Sen. Lou Blessing (R-Cincinnati), would also expand the number of screened disorders by allowing outside labs other than ODH’s public health lab to screen newborns. An external consultant and genetic authority recently reported favorably on ODH’s public health lab to the advisory panel. The legislation has received a couple hearings in the Senate health committee. OHA opposes SB121 because it would privatize the newborn screening process, which would reduce the level of oversight of the program including ensuring that newborns with disorders are referred quickly to genetic and metabolic treatment centers. (Rick Sites, ricks@ohanet.org)

DAILY NEWS CLIPS

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

Children's to expand psychiatric treatment
Cincinnati Enquirer
Tuesday, November 27, 2001
The number of treatment beds for mentally ill youths could double in Greater Cincinnati now that Children's Hospital Medical Center has closed a deal to buy a 10-acre site in College Hill.

Mount Carmel, doctors skirmish in court
Columbus Dispatch
Tuesday, November 27, 2001
A hospital Mount Carmel is planning to build in Fairfield County will compete unfairly with an outpatient surgery center 4 miles away, a group of surgeons contends.

OPINION: Biomedical emergency
Columbus Dispatch
Tuesday, November 27, 2001
As Ohio House and Senate negotiators meet this week to reconcile dramatically different proposals to balance the state's budget for the next two years, it is crucial that biomedical-research funding be preserved.

Wednesday, November 28, 2001
CDC Releases Smallpox Response Plan
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week released its guidelines for response to a smallpox outbreak in preparation for the potential use of smallpox as a bioterrorist weapon. The “Interim Smallpox Response Plan and Guidelines” forgoes mass immunization in favor of "ring vaccination," the method used to wipe out the disease worldwide in 1980. The risks of side effects from the vaccine outweigh the risks of someone actually being exposed to the virus. The ring strategy entails, in essence, discovering infected people and finding all those with whom they may have had contact.

However, high-risk frontline providers and responders will get priority in the plan for vaccination in the case of an outbreak. These personnel include those involved in direct medical care, public health evaluation, patient transportation, laboratory workers involved in collection/processing of clinical specimens, those involved in contact tracing and vaccination, or quarantine/isolation or enforcement, or interviews of suspected patients.

The guidelines, meant to be a working document updated regularly, also detail how state and local health officials can enact the strategy through setting up teams of epidemiologists and vaccination clinics quickly. The full plan is available at www.cdc.gov/nip/diseases/smallpox/.

Senate leaders this week praised the smallpox response plan and urged their fellow lawmakers to increase overall spending in the nation's immunization plan to combat bioterrorism along with other preventable diseases.

DAILY NEWS CLIPS

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

Care gap remains for Appalachian kids
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Wednesday, November 28, 2001
Columbus--Health and education for children in Appalachian Ohio have improved over the past decade, but not enough for the 29-county region to be in line with the care children get in the rest of the state, says a report released yesterday.

Visiting nurses see their patients as family
Alliance Review
Wednesday, November 28, 2001
Beech and other members of the staff at Alliance Visiting Nurse & Hospice, at 885 Sawburg Ave. go beyond nursing and home care duties reaching out to clients, caring for them as good friends and family would care for one another.
[4th story on the hosting page]

Thursday, November 29, 2001
JCAHO Seeks Input on New Disease Management Standards
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) is seeking input to assist in the development of new standards on disease management.

JCAHO is launching a voluntary certification program for disease management programs and services. The objective of this program is to offer an independent, comprehensive evaluation for organized programs of prevention and management services to individuals who have specific diseases or conditions. Certification will be available to health care organizations and health plans that provide these services to patients and to vendors that offer disease management programs to health care organizations and health plans. The Joint Commission is soliciting feedback on the standards from individuals knowledgeable in disease management.

To review and comment on the proposed standards go to www.jcaho.org. Open the “Top Spots” box at the top of the home page, and then select “Disease Management - Field Review.” (Rosalie Weakland, rosaliew@ohanet.org)

OSHA Issues Updated Bloodborne Pathogens Directive
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) this week issued a new compliance directive for enforcing the bloodborne pathogens standard that went into effect earlier this year. The compliance directive guides OSHA's safety and health inspection officers in enforcing the standard that covers occupational exposure to blood and other potentially infectious materials, and ensures consistent inspection procedures are followed. It also updates an earlier directive issued in 1999 and incorporates changes mandated by the federal Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act passed last November.

The directive implements changes made to the standard that focus on the requirement that employers select safer sharps devices as they become available, involve employees in identifying and choosing those devices, and now also requires most employers to maintain a log of injuries from contaminated sharps. The directive can be accessed from the OSHA Web site at www.osha-slc.gov/OshDoc/Directive_data/CPL_2-2_69.html. These requirements are similar to those in state legislation passed earlier this year in Ohio applying to government-operated hospitals.

According to a sentinel event alert issued by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), OSHA will begin enforcing the standard in April 2002. Currently, JCAHO surveyors are asking health care organizations about their familiarity with the law and in January 2002 they will begin scoring health care organizations on the standard. Access the sentinel event alert at www.jcaho.org/edu_pub/sealert/sea22.html. (Rick Sites, ricks@ohanet.org)

DAILY NEWS CLIPS

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

Hospital will expand OB unit
Marysville Journal-Tribune
Thursday, November 29, 2001
The steady baby boom in Marysville has led Memorial Hospital of Union County to welcome a new addition of its own. The hospital will be constructing a new obstetrics unit but when, where, and how are lingering questions.

Aultman opens doors to its Massillon area facility
Massillon Independent
Thursday, November 29, 2001
The description may sound like a fancy health club, but Aultman Health Foundation officials insist the sparkling new addition to their Aultman West medical facility on Wales Road Northeast is much more than a fitness center.

Support for Mercy Hospital building remains ongoing
Hamilton Journal-News
Thursday, November 29, 2001
HAMILTON-City residents and officials have lobbied U.S. Sens. Mike DeWine and George Voinovich for $3 million in federal dollars to help lure a new tenant to the Mercy Hospital of Hamilton building on Dayton Street.

Friday, November 30, 2001
Workforce Shortage Task Force Gathers Info, Insights From Other States
The Health Care Workforce Shortage Task Force is continuing its work toward mapping out a plan for addressing the shortage in Ohio. The task force, which was created out of Ohio House Bill 94 and meets monthly at the Ohio Department of Health, gathered earlier this week to hear presentations from Ed Salsberg, with the Center for Workforce Studies at the State University of New York at Albany, and Tim Henderson, with the Center for Primary Care & Workforce Analysis at the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Salsberg shared information and recommendations drawn from a study conducted through the center. He indicated similar trends are occurring in Ohio and across the nation with respect to declining numbers of registered nurses, the projected increase in utilization and shortages in various professions, such as pharmacists, radiology technicians, medical coders and others.

Henderson discussed a study he is conducting on how various states are addressing workforce issues. He shared information from the first phase of his study, which included 10 states, and also gathered information for the second phase, which covers eight states, including Ohio. The first phase indicates most states have a piecemeal approach of attracting health care professionals through various incentive programs and that recruiting and retaining health professionals in rural and underserved communities remains a perennial challenge.

The next meeting of the task force is scheduled for Dec. 17, when the group will be hearing a presentation by health care futurist Lee Kaiser, Ph.D. The December meeting will conclude what has been an information-gathering phase intended to ensure all task force members are on the same page. In January, the group will begin discussions to hammer out a blueprint for action, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of June. (Jean Scholz, jeans@ohanet.org)

CDC Announces Satellite Broadcast on Smallpox
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will sponsor a live satellite broadcast on smallpox Dec. 13. The broadcast is meant to improve health care providers' ability to recognize, diagnose and report smallpox.

Smallpox was eradicated in 1977, but recent concerns over bioterrorism and numerous confirmed anthrax cases have raised questions about the highly contagious disease, the CDC said. Register for the broadcast online at www.phppo.cdc.gov/phtnonline.

DAILY NEWS CLIPS

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

Needed: More nurses
Mentor-Willoughby News-Herald
Friday, November 30, 2001
Rebecca Wagner walks out of a treatment room at Ashtabula County Medical Center's emergency department, stethoscope rustling against her uniform. Behind her, a woman lies on a hospital bed, holding a plastic basin near her face.

Drake to open unit in Christ Hospital
Cincinnati Business Courier
Friday, November 30, 2001
Drake Center will open a 30-bed long-term acute care "hospital within a hospital" at the Christ Hospital in early 2002.