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Monday, June 21, 2004
The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN), along with six other health care organizations, is sponsoring National Time Out Day on Wednesday, June 23, to raise awareness about the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations’ (JCAHO) Universal Protocol for Eliminating Wrong Site, Wrong Procedure, Wrong Person Surgery.
The protocol, which accredited hospitals and other surgery facilities must adopt by July 1, calls on surgical teams to take a “time out” before surgeries to verify the patient’s identity, the procedure and the surgical site. The time out is one of protocol’s several requirements that will apply to more than 70 million surgeries performed annually. AORN and its partners also sent a “Correct Site Surgery Tool Kit” to more than 50,000 hospital CEOs, risk managers and perioperative nurses last month that includes materials to help hospitals implement JCAHO’s guidelines.
The Ohio Patient Safety Institute (OPSI) released the Ohio Surgical/Procedural Verification Protocol in April, which paved the way for the state’s health care facilities to implement JCAHO’s guidelines. The statewide protocol can be viewed at www.ohiopatientsafety.org/correctsite/correctsite.htm. In addition, time out boards are now available through OPSI. For more information about National Time Out Day, go to www.nationaltimeoutday.com. (Rosalie Weakland, rosaliew@ohanet.org)
Billing Hearings Rescheduled
The Oversight and Investigation Subcommittee
of the House Energy and Commerce Committee has rescheduled the first
federal hearing on hospital billing and collections for June 24. A
separate hearing on the tax-exempt charity status of hospitals is
scheduled for June 22 in the House Ways and Means Committee.
To help prepare hospitals for potential inquiries from media representatives and patients into billing and collections practices, OHA today sent materials to explain the problem, challenges hospitals face, and outline what hospitals are doing to address the issue. Member hospitals can access OHA Bulletin 04-011 at www.ohanet.org/bulletins/2004/04-011.htm. A password is required to access OHA bulletins. (Jonathan Archey, jonathana@ohanet.org; Tiffany Himmelreich, tiffanyh@ohanet.org)
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
The Ohio Board of Nursing (OBN) announced an enhanced online license verification service is now available to the public. The new Web-based verification system will provide more timely and helpful information about nursing licensees, including original date of licensure, licensure and application statuses, disciplinary actions and how the individual was originally licensed.
The new system, available through the Ohio eLicense Web site, will help hospitals more easily collect staff licensure reports for the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and will help hospitals ensure verification of staff licensure information. The Web site is also expected to provide licensure verification for other professionals licensed in Ohio as more licensing boards join the system.
To perform a license verification search, go to http://license.ohio.gov. For more information about the OBN’s licensure verification service, contact Eric Mays at 614.466.3947. (Jean Scholz, jeans@ohanet.org)
Wednesday,
June 23, 2004
Another Insurer Downgraded but Still Secure
A.M. Best Company last week downgraded medical liability insurance
carrier The Medical Protective Company (Med-Pro), based in Fort Wayne,
Ind., from an A (Excellent) to an A- (Excellent) and revised the
company’s rating outlook from negative to stable. Med-Pro, a GE company,
is the oldest professional liability carrier in the country and one of
the nation’s top writers of medical malpractice insurance.
A.M. Best, which provides insurance company information, considers carriers with an A- as financially secure, but this latest downgrade illustrates the continuing volatility of the medical liability insurance market not only in Ohio but nationwide. Last month A.M. Best downgraded The Doctors Company, based in Napa, Calif., from an A- (Excellent) to a B++ (Very Good).
For more information from A.M. Best Company, visit www.ambest.com/ and to learn more about the current medical malpractice environment in Ohio, visit www.ohanet.org/med-mal/. Find out more about OHA Insurance Solutions, Inc., a new company created by OHA to help stabilize Ohio's medical liability insurance market, at www.ohainsurance.com/. (Rick Sites, ricks@ohanet.org)
Hospitals Receive Critical Access Designation
Three Ohio hospitals are now among the ranks of the state’s Critical
Access Hospitals (CAH). The federal CAH program entitles select small,
rural hospitals to Medicare cost-based reimbursement. Blanchard Valley
Regional Medical Center-Bluffton Campus is now CAH designated and Holzer
Medical Center-Jackson and Barnesville Hospital Association will be
designated as of July 1. This brings the number of Ohio CAHs to 23. A
complete list of Ohio CAHs is available at
www.ohanet.org/about_oha/cah.asp. (David Hendershot,
davidh@ohanet.org)
Thursday,
June 24, 2004
Gov. Bob Taft last week signed legislation requiring non-accredited home medical equipment (HME) providers to be licensed by the Ohio Respiratory Care Board. The bill is effective 90 days after being signed by Taft.
OHA removed its initial opposition to House Bill 105 after obtaining an amendment to exempt from licensure HME providers accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations or other national accrediting entity. Board-licensed entities will be subject to inspections and penalties for failing to meet state standards. The bill will require accredited providers to register with the board, but they will not be subject to inspections, penalties, or regulatory oversight of the board. (Jeff Klingler, jeffk@ohanet.org)
ODH Proposes Price Hike for Newborn Screening
Kits
The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) is
proposing a nearly 34 percent increase in the cost of newborn genetic
screening kits, raising the cost from $33.75 to $45.16. The fees pay for
screening newborns for serious treatable genetic disorders and also fund
eight genetic and sickle cell centers to which newborns with abnormal
screens are referred. Most of the fee increase will go to the genetic
and sickle cell centers. However, OHA has previously expressed its
concern with the funding mechanism because hospitals with labor-deliver
services subsidize the program due to inadequate reimbursement from
Medicaid and uninsured mothers. Hospitals are encouraged to share their
thoughts and concerns with ODH and OHA by the July 6 comment deadline.
A memo explaining the increase and draft rules are online.
To learn more about the ODH programs to be funded by the additional money, visit www.odh.state.oh.us/ODHPrograms/NEWBRN/nbrn1.htm and www.odh.state.oh.us/ODHPrograms/GENSERV/genserv1.htm. (Rick Sites, ricks@ohanet.org)
Friday,
June 25, 2004
Hospital heroes earned much deserved kudos last week as 71 hospital employees, including nurses, radiology technicians, social workers and more, were honored for being nominated for this year’s Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year Award, presented by OHA. Christi LaPrairie, a registered nurse in the emergency department of South Pointe Hospital, Warrensville Heights, was honored as this year’s Health Care Worker of the Year. For more information on finalists and nominees, view a news release at www.ohanet.org/media/news_release/2004/awards061504.htm.
Several other OHA awards honoring leaders in Ohio health care were also presented.
For more information on these award winners, as well as the recipients of the Hospital Safety Awards, visit www.ohanet.org/media/news_release/2004/awards061504.htm.