Tuesday, April 02, 2002
Hardin Memorial Wins Open Meetings Challenge
A judge has ruled that Hardin Memorial Hospital in Kenton does not have to open its board meetings to the public. Common Please Judge Frederick Pepple, who issued the ruling yesterday, said Hardin Memorial is a private, nonprofit corporation and not a public body.

The ruling was in response to a court action filed last month by Hardin County Publishing, publisher of the Kenton Times. The action came about after talks that the hospital might have to close its obstetrics unit because it was losing money. The newspaper, which has 30 days to decide whether to appeal the decision, had argued that the hospital should be bound by the state’s public meeting law because it receives funding from the county. Additionally, the ruling lifted a temporary order that had barred the hospital from holding meetings until the matter was resolved. The decision was consistent with the Ohio Supreme Court's ruling last year in a similar case that Parma Community General Hospital was not subject to Ohio's public records law. Columbus law firm Bricker & Eckler represented the hospitals in both cases. (Mary Gallagher, maryg@ohanet.org)

Board of Nursing Names New Executive Director
The Ohio Board of Nursing has named John Brion, RN, MS, as its new executive director, effective April 15. Brion comes from the Ohio Department of Health where he was most recently the administrator of the Ohio HIV Drug Assistance Program, Health Insurance Program. Brion has been licensed as a registered nurse in Ohio since 1989.

DAILY NEWS CLIPS

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

Thursday, April 04, 2002
Hospitals Urged to Comment on HIPAA Privacy Rules
Hospitals across the nation are encouraged to communicate with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) their comments on the proposed privacy rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). A template letter to HHS was created by the American Hospital Association (AHA) for hospitals to use when contacting HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson. The letter hits on the major issues important to hospitals including data restrictions on identifiable information, written consent, inadvertent disclosures and business associate contracts.

AHA members can access the template letter at www.aha.org/hipaa/resources/HipaaUpdateWritten.asp. An OHA version is available at www.ohanet.org/government/federal_correspondence.asp. Also available from AHA is a series of questions and answers to help hospitals respond to questions from patients and the public. Comment letters can be submitted online at the HHS Web site, hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa. Hospitals should submit comments as soon as possible. (Rick Sites, ricks@ohanet.org)

JCARR Adopts Trauma Rules; Education Seminar April 10
The Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review yesterday adopted the pre-hospital trauma rules without dissent. The rules, effective in November, define significant trauma injuries for pre-hospital care providers. The rules do not apply to hospitals. While OHA supports the trauma rules, the association continues to be concerned that the issue of measuring over triage has not been addressed.

OHA is holding a free trauma seminar April 10 to help hospitals learn how the trauma legislation will affect them. Subjects include performance improvement, transfer agreements, trauma protocols and provisional status. The seminar will be held in Columbus from 1-3:30 p.m. Contact Leanne Barnes at OHA, 614.221.7614 or leanneb@ohanet.org, for more information.

DAILY NEWS CLIPS

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

Hospital would add 3,200 jobs
Cincinnati Enquirer
Thursday, April 04, 2002
Middletown Regional Hospital's proposed health and technology campus would employ 4,750 people — 3,200 more than the hospital's current staff — officials said Wednesday in their most detailed statements yet on what the 550-acre project would cost and what it could pay back.

Pacemaker gives new hope for patients battling congestive heart failure
Alliance Review
Thursday, April 04, 2002
Bob Smith was just plain tired, all the time. His heart just wasn’t pumping the way it should, and he had so little energy he could only be active a few hours a day.

Hospitals, Pharmacies Court Students
Akron Beacon Journal
Thursday, April 04, 2002
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Paying $90,000 for a prescription may seem steep, but it's a bargain to pay the person that fills it - at least that's what CVS Pharmacy is paying for one graduating senior at Duquesne University.  

Friday, April 05, 2002
Palmetto/DynCorp Tell Providers Not to Worry
The two organizations replacing Nationwide Insurance Co. as the Medicare Part B claims and program integrity contractors for physicians and suppliers in Ohio and West Virginia recently told providers there would be no changes during the period of the transition, which has not yet been defined. In December, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services awarded a dual contract to Palmetto, a subsidiary of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Carolina, and DynCorp, a Reston, VA-based information and management systems support company, to replace Nationwide Insurance Co. The transition will begin in July.

At the first of a series of meetings on the transition last month, Palmetto said it expects to keep all of the Ohio Medicare Part B claims operations in Central Ohio. DynCorp will move program integrity operations to its Virginia base. Palmetto said providers will need to execute revised electronic funds transfer agreements, but indicated it already has the process in hand and expected it to be completed well before July. Both contractors also ensured provider representatives that they will work to maintain Nationwide’s existing relationships with all current trading partners and billing services.

A follow-up meeting is scheduled for April 19. Palmetto has scheduled a series of half-day provider workshops on the transition.  Palmetto recommends hospitals register online at www.palmettogba.com/palmetto/newwork.nsf/$$ViewTemplate+for+ws_prov?ReadForm.  (Charles Cataline, charlesc@ohanet.org)