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Monday,
October 6, 2003
Health care leaders statewide are encouraged to back their business communities by attending press conferences held by Gov. Bob Taft throughout Ohio this week to support civil tort reform. Civil tort reform is one step toward gaining and maintaining stability in the judicial system and achieving a healthy economy.
The press conferences will acknowledge Senate Bill 80, sponsored by Sen. Steve Strivers (R-Columbus) and currently stalled in the Ohio House Judiciary Committee, and House Bill 292, sponsored by Rep. Scott Oelslager to address tort reform for the asbestos industry. Gov. Taft also seeks to hear how the current law affects Ohio’s businesses.
Events include:
Oct. 8, 1 p.m., Cincinnati
Joe Lasita & Sons Inc.
940 West 5th Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45203
Oct. 8, 3 p.m., Dayton
Crown, Cork & Seal Co., Inc.
5005 Springboro Pike
Dayton, Ohio 45439
Oct. 9, 9 a.m., Toledo
Stoll Rug & Furniture Cleaners
5240 Lewis Avenue
Toledo, Ohio 43612
To learn more about the tort reform and medical malpractice environment in Ohio, visit www.ohanet.org/med-mal/ and for more information on the above events, contact Bridget Gargan at 614.221.7614 or bridgetg@ohanet.org.
NAMSS Deadline Approaches
Don’t wait until the last minute! The NAMSS re-certification deadline
of Oct. 31, 2003 (for those with cycles ending in their third year) is
only a few weeks away.
Thirty CE credit hours total toward CPCS/CMSC re-certification is required. Five NAMSS Continuing Education Units towards fulfillment of recertification requirement can be secured by attending the OHA Seminar Documenting Hospital and Medical Staff Minutes Oct. 16 in Columbus.
For details visit www.ohanet.org/education/education_programs.asp.
Tuesday, October 7, 2003
Responding to a request from the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association, the Ohio Office of the Attorney General increased its reimbursement for sexual abuse forensic exams 6.4 percent effective Oct. 1. Hospitals rely on this funding, allocated to help crime victims, with children’s hospitals and the emergency departments at general hospitals receiving $3.5-4 million per year to defray the cost of exam fees.
Hospitals also have the opportunity to continue to work toward the prevention of sexual assault through participation with The Ohio Sexual Assault Task Force through the Ohio Department of Health. The task force is a collaboration of law enforcement, social service agencies and other representatives working together to prevent sexual assault and improve programs for victims of assault. The task force seeks a hospital representative to join the task force, which meets monthly in Columbus. For more information, please contact Laura Landis at 614.221.7614 or laural@ohanet.org.
Southeast Ohio RN Appointed to Trauma Committee
A registered nurse from Marietta Memorial Hospital has been
appointed to Ohio’s Trauma Committee. Clarice Hall, RN, was selected as
a representative for non-trauma hospitals in the Southeast Ohio region.
OHA submitted a list of candidates to the Ohio Department of Public
Safety, including Hall’s name, and Director of Public Safety Kenneth
Morckel made the final decision. OHA received over 20 requests from
qualified candidates to serve on the committee. The director felt
strongly the committee needed representation from the Southern Ohio,
which was lacking prior to Hall’s appointment. (Bridget Gargan,
bridgetg@ohanet.org)
Wednesday,
October 8, 2003
Med Mal Commission Discusses Medical Errors
Ohio’s Medical Malpractice Commission, created
out of last session’s Senate Bill 281, last week discussed how medical
errors play a part in Ohio’s medical malpractice insurance crisis.
The panel of witnesses included Theresa Tonies, JD, from Barberton Citizens Hospital, who said many medical malpractice claims do not involve physician mistakes or substandard care, but are linked to bad outcomes. Brian Keaton, M.D., clinical professor of emergency medicine and a member of Akron City Hospital’s Emergency Medicine Informatics team further stressed that human error is inevitable in such a complex job and advocated for overall system changes to address the problem.
Tom Dilling, executive director of the Ohio State Medical Board (OSMB) testified on OSMB’s role of identifying and preventing medical errors by “problem physicians” through its Quality Intervention Program. Dilling also called for more coordinated health care provider education.
The commission also discussed the abuse of so-called “shotgun” complaints, where plaintiff lawyers list as defendants more people than were involved in the patient’s care. The commission will continue to discuss medical errors and other contributing factors in Ohio’s medical liability insurance crisis. (Rick Sites, ricks@ohanet.org)
Podiatrist Admissions Bill Passes House
Legislation to allow podiatrists to make independent admissions to a
hospital passed the Ohio House of Representatives yesterday by a 93-0
vote. House Bill 189, sponsored by Rep. Chuck Blasdel (R-East
Liverpool), now heads to the Senate.
OHA does not oppose the legislation, based on the recommendation of the association’s Quality Improvement and Accreditation Committee. The committee felt patient safety is enhanced when podiatrists coordinate an admission with a physician, who conducts a medical assessment of the patient. Under Ohio law, only a member of a hospital’s medical staff who is a doctor of medicine, osteopathic medicine or dentist may independently admit a patient to a hospital.
However, the committee felt that criteria hospitals use to determine how all physicians can admit ultimately resides with the hospital medical staff and governing board. When granting privileges to practice at a hospital, those groups then apply the criteria to each physician applicant to ensure patient safety. OHA advocates hospital medical staffs can develop criteria that address any patient safety concerns specific to that institution as they relate to independent admissions by a podiatrist. (Jeff Klingler, jeffk@ohanet.org)
A New Plan for Fighting Cancer
A statewide collaboration of cancer organization has introduced The
Ohio Cancer Plan: 2010, an effort to decrease cancer incidence and
mortality in Ohio over the next seven years.
The plan targets cancers of the breast, prostate, colon and rectum, lung and bronchus, skin, cervix, and leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma, and the goals and objectives encompass prevention, early detection, treatment/care, research/clinical trials, palliation/quality of life and data surveillance. The partners will work together to perform activities on a state level and will communicate with individual communities throughout the state to also operate at the local level. A follow-up report will outline progress and next steps for cancer prevention and control in Ohio.
For more information on the plan and a list of participants, visit www.cancer.org/downloads/com/ohiocancerplan2010.pdf.
Thursday,
October 9, 2003
The Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) is currently conducting a field review regarding a proposed standard that would require the use of Clinical Practice Guidelines in hospitals. These guidelines outline processes that experts have deemed effective in the treatment of patients with specific symptoms, conditions, diagnoses, risk factors or who is undergoing a high-risk procedure. They are an effort to improve safety and increase quality in health care and are addressed in JCAHO’s Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals.
Current standards require that hospitals consider using Clinical Practice Guidelines and JCAHO worked to address concerns voiced during a similar field review conducted in 2002 regarding mandatory use of the guidelines. To access the online field review visit www.jcaho.org and click on “Clinical Practice Guidelines Field Review” in the “Latest from JCAHO” column. The review will be available online until Oct. 22 and please forward comments to Rosalie Weakland at rosaliew@ohanet.org as well.
OHA Seeks Annual Meeting Presentations
OHA is getting a jumpstart on its 2004 Annual Meeting. The association
is now seeking presentation ideas and speakers for its 89th
annual meeting, planned for June 14 and 15 at the Greater Columbus
Convention Center. Possible topics can include, but are not limited to:
quality, patient safety, compliance, organizational development
performance, risk and insurance management, access, healthy communities,
leadership, workforce issues, and adequate funding. Proposals must be
sent to OHA by Dec. 10. The selection of presentations by the annual
meeting planning committee will be announced in March. For more, see the
Call for Presentations is online at
www.ohanet.org/annualmeeting/2004call.pdf
or call the OHA Center for Education at 614.221.7614.
Friday,
October 10, 2003
Tobacco Foundation Approves Continuation of Grants
Ohio’s Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Foundation’s (TUPCF)
board approved a two-year continuation of capacity-building community
grants approved last fall for the prevention and cessation of tobacco
use. The following hospitals act as lead agencies for management of
these funds: Paulding County Hospital; Upper Valley Medical Center,
Troy; Highland County Hospital, Hillsboro; and Robinson Memorial
Hospital, Ravenna.
TUPCF also approved two more years of funding for implementation grants for the following hospitals and councils: Holzer Hospital Foundation, Gallipolis; Hospital Council of Northwest Ohio, Toledo; and Wooster Community Hospital.
In addition, TUPCF is planning to release a request for proposals to conduct pilot projects that will increase understanding about tobacco use among college age students in Ohio and identify effective strategies for reducing the use of tobacco products. TUPCF is making available a total of $500,000 for this 16-month pilot project beginning March 15, 2004, and ending June 30, 2005. Letters of intent will be due Nov. 5 with final proposals due Dec. 17. Check TUPCF’s Web site at www.standohio.org for details. (Lynne Ayres, lynne@ohanet.org)