Thursday, May 8, 2003
National Women’s Health Week Spreads the Word
As part of the National Women’s Health Week 2003, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is coordinating National Women’s Check-Up Day next Monday, May 12. Health care providers in Ohio and throughout the nation are invited to participate in this initiative to encourage preventive health services.

Hospitals Lead the Way
Hospitals throughout Ohio continue to excel in areas beyond basic health care and offer additional services to the communities they serve.

The communication department of Akron General Medical Center received two Awards of Distinction from The Communicator Awards for its Before Baby maternity services CD-ROM and information packet. It also was named a Silver Winner of the 2003 Aster Awards for Excellence in Medical Marketing for these products.

A national leader in pollution prevention, Fisher-Titus Medical Center, Norwalk, received an H2E Partners for Change Award at last week’s American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Meeting for its efforts to reduce waste and eliminate mercury. The Friends of Southern Ohio Medical Center, Portsmouth, was also recognized at AHA’s meeting, honored for raising funds to construct a $1.2 million facility to accommodate community events with proceeds purchasing hospital items such as a cobalt unit, mammography van, cardiac monitors and a cardiac catheterization table.

Cynthia Moore-Hardy, President and CEO of Lake Hospital System in Painesville, will also be honored this month with a YWCA Greater Cleveland Woman of Achievement Award to recognize her commitment to her career and community. (Mary Yost, maryy@ohanet.org)

Friday, May 9, 2003
OHA Unveils Med Mal Help
To assist hospitals in helping physicians cope with their skyrocketing medical liability premiums, OHA announces the OHA Sponsored Deductible Program (SDP). The SDP is not an insurance program, but it provides a financing mechanism that will enable some physicians to reduce their professional liability insurance premiums.

The program will help physicians, mostly those in high-risk specialties such as obstetrics or surgery, interested in assuming the risk of either a $50,000 or $100,000 per claim deductible on their professional liability coverage, written through participating carriers. Physicians who purchase a policy from their carrier will pay about 30 percent less for a policy with a $100,000 deductible and 15 percent less for a $50,000 deductible through SDP.

Under SDP, participating hospitals provide collateral for their participating physicians to obtain policies with deductibles and, if a loss is incurred, to obtain a loan at favorable rates from Fifth Third Bank of Central Ohio. Hospitals contribute a $1,000 per physician administrative fee, $10,000 per physician collateral fee, and possibly an additional $10,000 per physician collateral assessment. The physician who obtains a loan is responsible for repaying it, but the collateral in the SDP guarantees repayment to Fifth Third should the physician default. Collateral contributions may be repaid to hospitals if physicians do not default on loans or if loan default experience is sufficiently favorable.

OHA encourages member hospitals to review information about the SDP on OHA’s Web site at www.ohanet.org/SDP/ to decide if the program is right for them and their medical staffs. If interested, hospitals should return an interest form, also available online, to SDP at OHA’s address to begin the process for participation. SDP is one of several OHA strategies to address Ohio’s medical malpractice insurance crisis. (Rick Sites, ricks@ohanet.org)

Board Moves on Med Mal, Supports Conflict Bill
The OHA Board of Trustees at it last meeting approved earmarking $10 million from OHA reserves for the potential creation or acquisition of an insurance company to ensure the availability and affordability of medical liability insurance in Ohio. Also part of OHA’s strategy to address the medical malpractice insurance crisis in Ohio, the Board reviewed the OHA Sponsored Deductible Program (SDP), created by OHA to help physicians reduce their cost of medical liability coverage by providing a guaranteed financing mechanism when they purchase professional liability insurance with a deductible (see related story above). More information is available online at www.ohanet.org/SDP/.

Focusing on pending legislation, Board members signed a letter to the House Health and Family Services Committee to respond to inaccurate statements made in recent testimony about House Bill 71, legislation that would clarify public policy in Ohio to extend physician conflict-of-interest statutes to include inpatient hospital services.

The Board also heard updates on state and federal advocacy efforts. Providers avoided cuts in this biennium’s state budget, which is pending in the Senate. However, providers could be at risk for future cuts for the next biennium. Providers also avoided cuts to Medicare and Medicaid on the federal side, but a $400 billion Medicare prescription drug program not yet been funded could put hospitals at risk for future cuts.

The Board was also updated on the Hospital Care Assurance Program, new fundraising goals of the Coalition to Protect America’s Health Care, and progress on OHA and member hospitals’ right to sue the state for not providing lawful oversight of the Medicaid managed care program. (Jim Castle, jimc@ohanet.org)

Looking to Reduce Costs?
If so, you won’t want to miss the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) education session Sunday, June 8 to learn about Six Sigma, an innovative approach to reducing costs while maintaining or enhancing quality. The all-day session runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Greater Columbus Convention Center and is worth 6 Category 1 credits in continuing education. The registration fee is $495 per person.