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Monday,
June 10, 2002
Awards
to Honor Patient Safety; Health Care Innovation
The
National Quality Forum and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of
Healthcare Organizations have established a patient safety award to
recognize individuals and health care organizations that have made
significant contributions to improving patient safety. The John M.
Eisenberg Patient Safety Awards were named in memory of the former
leader of the Agency for Healthcare Research. Up to four awards will be
presented each year for individual lifetime achievements in patient
safety, and also for advocacy, system innovation and research.
Applications are available at www.jcaho.org/eisenberg.pdf
and must be submitted by July 15. More information is available at www.jcaho.org/news/nb378.html.
Also honoring innovation in health care is the eleventh annual Premier Cares Award, established by Premier Inc. to recognize exemplary, innovative efforts that have made health services more accessible to the medically underserved. The award recipient will receive a prize of at least $70,000, with an additional $120,000 in cash awards divided among five runners-up. Applications must be postmarked by July 31 and are available at www.premierinc.com. More information is available at my.premierinc.com/frames/index.jsp.
Help Celebrate Nursing Assistants
Nursing Assistants Week 2002 focuses on “Wellness of
Residents” and recognizes nurses aides, restorative aides, resident
assistants, homecare aides and others who provide daily care to patients
in long-term care settings. The week kicked off with Career Nursing
Assistants Day June 6 and ends June 13. More information is available at
www.cna-network.org
or by calling 330.825.9342.
DAILY NEWS CLIPS
(Editor’s note: StateHealthClips.com has gone to a subscription service. Please note that the link to access clips will change daily. If you visit www.statehealthclips.com, you will be required to enter a subscriber password. No password is required for the link published in HEALTH e-NEWS Plus.)
Tuesday, June 11, 2002
Docs
Rally Against Rising Premiums
Hundreds of Cleveland-area physicians rallied yesterday
in downtown Cleveland calling for remedies to mounting medical
malpractice premiums. Claiming increasing premiums are causing doctors
to leave their practices, stop performing high-risk procedures or retire
early, the rallying physicians called for implementation of state tort
reform to place limits or caps on jury verdicts as a possible solution.
Unlike many other states, Ohio does not cap jury awards and has
previously had two tort reform bills struck down by the Ohio Supreme
Court. As a way to ensure the survival of future tort reform
legislation, the physicians also showed their support for two Ohio
Supreme Court candidates who support tort reform -- Justice Evelyn
Stratton, who is seeking re-election, and Lt. Gov. Maureen O’Connor,
who is seeking election to the court.
Most affected by increasing premiums are physicians in high-risk fields such as emergency room surgeons and obstetrician/gynecologists. In turn, this can affect hospitals, causing them to stop performing certain procedures such as delivering babies or even causing them to close. Hospitals have also seen rate increases and have been asked to absorb a higher deductible and pay much more for excess coverage as premiums increase.
An additional impact may be difficulty in attracting and retaining physicians in Ohio, where medical liability premiums have increased by more than 100 percent, according to the OHA allied association The Center for Health Affairs. However, as hospitals continue to do a better job of preventing medical errors and improving patient outcomes, costs attributed to medical malpractice will be lower. (Rick Sites, ricks@ohanet.org)
DAILY NEWS CLIPS
(Editor’s note: The news clips are being password-protected on the OHA Web site. OHA members will be notified separately of the password. HEALTH e-NEWS Plus subscribers can still access news clips through the daily e-mail without a password.)
Wednesday, June 12, 2002
Ohio
Donor Registry Underway Soon
Starting July 1, the Ohio Donor Registry at the Bureau of
Motor Vehicles (BMV) will serve as a database of individuals who choose
to be anatomical donors. The registry will allow hospitals to identify
donors more quickly. Individuals in the registry will be classified as
indicating consent, indicating decline or unknown intent, or indicating
consent with a signed form to designate specific organs/tissue or
specific use of donated organs/tissue. Organ procurement organization (OPO)
personnel and tissue and eye bank personnel will be able to access the
registry through a secure Internet site after receiving notification of
a death by a hospital. Hospitals should continue to notify their
regional OPO of all deaths and imminent deaths.
The Ohio Donor Registry was created in Senate Bill 188 from the 123rd Ohio General Assembly, which also stipulated that an individual’s wishes to be a donor superceded objections from the family. Individuals who wish to become an organ, tissue or eye donor after July 1 can do so by signing a statement when applying for or renewing a driver’s license at the BMV or by completing and returning either a Donor Registry Consent Form to the BMV or an Anatomical Gift Card, which is included in most hospitals’ advance directives packets.
If procurement needs to take place before legal consent can be obtained, state statutes protect hospitals and their employees from liability if they act in good faith with the anatomical donation statutes of Ohio or any other state. A hard copy of the driver’s license application indicating proof of consent can be provided to hospitals within 72 hours. Hospitals may also obtain family consent or consult their facility’s risk manager. For more information, see OHA bulletin 02-008, available online to members at www.ohanet.org/bulletinsview.asp. (Jeff Klingler, jeffk@ohanet.org)
DAILY NEWS CLIPS
(Editor’s note: The news clips are being password-protected on the OHA Web site. OHA members will be notified separately of the password. HEALTH e-NEWS Plus subscribers can still access news clips through the daily e-mail without a password.)
Thursday, June 13, 2002
OHA this week filed an amicus brief asking the Ohio
Supreme Court to accept the appeal of UHHS Geauga Regional Hospital in a
peer review case. At issue is the decision of the Eighth District Court
of Appeals to uphold a trial court’s decision to award $200,000 in
damages to an obstetrician who sued the hospital after being dismissed
from its medical staff. The dismissal came after the physician failed to
provide proper medical coverage for his patients when he was off duty.
OHA supports the hospital’s position that neither the trial nor appeals court properly applied federal and state peer review law. Peer review law protects a hospital from being sued for damages when the hospital reviews and evaluates the competency of its medical staff. Without the proper application of the law, hospitals’ ability to appropriately ensure patient safety is jeopardized. (Rick Sites, ricks@ohanet.org)
DAILY NEWS CLIPS
(Editor’s note: The news clips are now password-protected on the OHA Web site. OHA members have been notified separately of the password and can access today’s and archived news clips at www.ohanet.org/healthenews/. HEALTH e-NEWS Plus subscribers can still access news clips through the daily e-mail without a password.)
Friday, June 14, 2002
Hospitals
Lead the Way
Here are some ways Ohio hospitals are making their
communities better places to live, work and raise families, along with
some future opportunities for hospitals to display their leadership:
- Mercy Medical Center in Canton received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the American Heart Association’s Ohio Valley Affiliate.
- Two Ohio hospitals have been named to the new Healthy Ohioans Business Council. The council includes representatives from TriHealth in Cincinnati, OhioHealth in Columbus and other Ohio companies and will work to increase health and fitness opportunities in the workplace.
- Entries for the 2002 eHealthcare Leadership Awards are being accepted until July 31. These awards honor the best health care Web sites. For more information and entry forms, call 914.967.6741 or visit www.strategichealthcare.com/Awards.html.
- Nominations are being accepted until July 8 for Modern Healthcare and Witt/Kieffer’s 2002 “Up & Comers” recognition program to honor outstanding leaders age 40 and under who have made their mark in health care and are expected to shape the industry’s future. Contact Kathleen Robson at 312.280.3173 for more information. (Mary Yost, maryy@ohanet.org)
OHA Tobacco Grants, State Tobacco Grants Separate
Though coming from the same pool of money, tobacco grant
funding available to hospitals through OHA’s Foundation for Healthy
Communities is separate from the grant opportunities through the state’s
Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Foundation (TUPCF).
Using funds from the Ohio Public Health Priorities Trust Fund, one of seven trust funds created out of the national tobacco settlement, OHA has awarded two rounds of tobacco grants to hospitals for hospital-based pulmonary rehabilitation programs and programs for pregnant women and children. OHA will this summer be accepting proposals for the next round of tobacco grants, to be awarded this fall. Hospitals that have already received a tobacco grant will likely be eligible for renewed funding. For more information, visit www.ohanet.org/HealthyCommunities/tobacco/default.htm.
In contrast, $7 million in funding from TUPCF, also created out of the national tobacco settlement, is available for general smoking prevention and cessation programs. Recipients of TUPCF funds will likely receive larger monetary awards than recipients of OHA tobacco grants. Potential grantees must submit a letter of intent to TUPCF by June 17 and proposals by July 31. Hospitals are encouraged to seek or form community-based or regional coalitions to increase their chances of grant approval. OHA is not involved in awarding TUPCF funding, but can help answer hospitals’ questions about applying. Direct questions to OHA’s Foundation for Healthy Communities Director Lynne Ayres at 614.221.7614 or lynnea@ohanet.org. Visit www.standohio.org for more information.
OHA Educational Opportunities
The following educational programs are being offered by
OHA’s Center for Education. Visit www.ohanet.org/education/education_programs.asp
or call 614.221.7614 for more information on the following programs:
- Preparing Your HIM Department for JCAHO Survey, June 21, Dublin.
- The World of Retailing - Hospital Gift Shop Program, June 24, Dublin.
- Blue Chip Attitudes, June 25, Dublin.
DAILY NEWS CLIPS
(Editor’s note: The news clips are being password-protected on the OHA Web site. OHA members will be notified separately of the password. HEALTH e-NEWS Plus subscribers can still access news clips through the daily e-mail without a password.)