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Monday,
August 11, 2003
ODI Helping Ohioans Obtain
Insurance
Starting today, the Ohio Department of Insurance (ODI) is working in
several cities statewide to help answer questions for eligible Ohio
workers about a federal program to help them acquire health insurance.
The Health Care Tax Credit program, a provision of the 2002 Trade
Adjustment Reform act, will pay up to 65 percent of the cost of
qualified health insurance coverage for the more than 11,800 eligible
Ohioans who have lost their jobs or been laid off and lost pension
benefits. Participating insurers are Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield,
which covers all 88 counties, and Kaiser Permanente, which covers
counties in northeast Ohio.
Registration for the program will take place Aug. 11 in Columbus, Aug. 12 in Cleveland, Aug. 13 in Youngstown and Aug. 14 in Toledo. Ohioans interested in the program should call 1-866-628-4282 or ODI at 1-800-686-1526. More information is available in an ODI new release at www.ohioinsurance.gov/Newsroom/scripts/Release.asp?ReleaseID=1803.
August 12, 2003
House Panel Continues Work on Physician Self-Referral Legislation
Today Ohio hospital representatives continued to voice support for legislation to stop the proliferation of physician-owned hospitals during a hearing of the House Health and Family Services Committee.
Theresa Brooks, a partner in the law firm Ungaretti & Harris in Washington, D.C., testified on behalf of OHA that physician self-referral practices exploit physicians’ monopoly over the inpatient referral and admissions process, damage the financial viability of community hospitals and threaten their ability to provide vital services. Brooks also represents a national coalition of full-service hospitals working to address the physician-owned hospital issue in the Medicare prescription drug bill, currently pending in the U.S. Congress.
Ken Hanover, president and CEO of The Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati, also testified, advocating that the issue is not about competition between specialty and general acute care hospitals, but about physicians who control referrals to specialty hospitals and also have an investment interest in that hospital--an inherent conflict of interest. Hanover updated the committee on a proposed joint venture hospital between The Health Alliance and local physicians, which would be structured as a not-for-profit facility.
“For-profit ownership is not the only model for physicians who are interested in having a greater say in hospital operations,” Hanover said.
The proposed legislation, HB 71, would extend physician
conflict-of-interest statutes to include inpatient hospital services. To
see copies of the testimony, please visit OHA’s Web site at
www.ohanet.org/advocacy/state/issues/default.htm#conflict.
(Jeff Klingler, jeffk@ohanet.org)
Wednesday, August 13
, 2003Hospitals Need More Prep for Bioterrorism
Though most urban hospitals throughout the country have participated in bioterrorism planning and coordination activities, few are fully prepared in the event of a large-scale infectious disease outbreak, according to a study published this week by the General Accounting Office (GAO).
Few of the 1,482 hospitals surveyed have the medical equipment needed to handle the likely surge of patients should a bioterrorist incident occur. Four of five hospitals reported having a written emergency response plan addressing bioterrorism, but many plans omitted some key contacts with other organizations such as laboratories. And although hospitals have provided some training to their staffs, fewer than half have conducted drills or exercises simulating response to a bioterrorist attack.
The full GAO report is available online at www.gao.gov. Ohio disaster preparedness information is available on OHA’s Web site at www.ohanet.org/terrorism_preparedness/. (Carol Jacobson, carolj@ohanet.org)
Thursday,
August 14, 2003
Safety Initiative Calls for Baseline
Abbreviation Data
The Patient Safety Discussion Forum (PSDF) is collecting baseline
data for its project to eliminate the five most dangerous medical
abbreviations. PSDF is a collaboration of health care leaders in Ohio
committed to identifying and promoting safeguards in health care systems
and improvements in patient safety as part of the Ohioans FiRxst
initiative, a collaboration of 13 Ohio organizations.
The first goal of the Forum, the elimination of five dangerous abbreviations by 2005, was rolled out in March. A toolkit to facilitate the formation of a plan to eliminate the five dangerous abbreviations and educate staff was sent to organizations at that time and is available online at www.ohioansfirst.org. The baseline survey, which allows for the anonymous submission of data, is a review of a random sample of 100 consecutive medication orders. The survey will be available online until Nov. 1 at www.ohioansfirst.org/survey/. A post-evaluation will be conducted upon completion of the project in 2005. (Rosalie Weakland, rosaliew@ohanet.org)
Friday,
August 15, 2003
Declining Birth Rate Requires Fewer Diaper Changes
Contributing to the declining birth rate, fewer teenagers in Ohio and across America are having babies. Other factors with possible influence on the declining birth rate are a lower number of women of childbearing age as the baby boomers continue to age and a delay in when women choose to have children. As the number of births decrease in Ohio and throughout the nation, the state’s rate of C-section births is growing.
As birth rates continue to fluctuate with time, hospitals learn to adapt with the changing trends, aided by technology and innovative services. Hospitals continue to equip themselves to serve pregnant women regardless of their age, needs or preferences. For more information, see the August Healthbeat.