|
| Hot Issues |
| Publications |
| Advocacy Center |
| Research & Data |
| Education |
| News Media Center |
| Find a Hospital Job |
| Membership |
| Corporate Partners |
| Home |
Search:
 |
Monday,
July 5, 2004
OHA offices are closed in celebration of Independence Day.
Tuesday, July 6, 2004
Beginning July 1, electronic Medicare claims that do not meet Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) standards will be treated as paper claims and paid more slowly than HIPAA-compliant electronic claims. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a reminder of the change last week and under the modification to CMS' HIPAA contingency plan, announced in February, Medicare will still accept non-compliant electronic claims, but their payment will take 13 additional days.
The modification to the CMS compliance plan only affects covered entities submitting Medicare claims to a Medicare contractor. The modification has an effective date of July 1, but CMS will begin delaying payments for non-compliant claims submitted on July 6 and after.
Hospitals needing additional help should contact AdminaStar Federal, their Fiscal Intermediary (FI), the private contractor that processes and pays Medicare hospital claims. A complete listing of Medicare FIs and carriers is online at
www.cms.hhs.gov/contacts/incardir.asp. For more on the original CMS announcement, visit www.aha.org/aha/key_issues/hipaa/jsp/whatsnew.jsp. (Charles Cataline, charlesc@ohanet.org)ODH Seeks Comments, Concerns on DNR Protocol Rules
The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) is requesting input from health care
providers for the five-year review of the Do Not Resuscitate (DNR)
protocol rules that help patients and hospital staff ensure appropriate
end-of-life decision-making.
The five-year review is required by the Ohio Revised Code to
determine whether the rules need to be amended or rescinded and whether
they duplicate, overlap or conflict with other rules. ODH staff
indicates comments or concerns regarding the DNR protocol rules will
also help determine if it is necessary to reconvene the DNR advisory
committee, which was put in place when the rules were initially
developed. Please send any comments or concerns to Doug Dils at
ddils@gw.odh.state.oh.us
or:
The Ohio Department of Health
Division of Quality and Assurance
Office of Policy, Projects, and Research
246 N. High St.
Columbus, Ohio 43216-0118.
For more information, view the DNR protocol rules (chapter 3701-62) at www.odh.state.oh.us under “final rules and regulations.” (Jean Scholz, jeans@ohanet.org)
Wednesday, July 7, 2004
OHA now has a master agreement with Stand Energy Company to supply natural gas to OHA members at the lowest rates among proposals reviewed by OHA’s Energy Committee. Stand has been a natural gas supplier in the Ohio market for 20 years and agreed to use OHA’s gas supply contract.
For hospitals considering Stand as their supplier, OHA will do a comparison of competing supply offers. OHA will also continue to provide hospitals with additional information, allowing them to make an informed decision on whether to change suppliers. For more information on Stand, visit http://standenergy.com or e-mail Steve Etsler at setsler@stand-energy.com. For more information on OHA’s energy committee or the contract with Stand, go to www.ohanet.org/energy/ or contact Rick Sites at ricks@ohanet.org or 614.221.7614.
(Rick Sites, ricks@ohanet.org)OHA To Hold Compliance Phone Briefing
OHA’s Center for Education will hold a phone briefing, Assisting the
Medical Staff: Compliance and Practicalities, at 11 a.m. on July 13.
The briefing will discuss the financial relationships between hospitals
and their medical staff and the compliance issues associated with these
relationships.
The briefing is part four of a seven-part series to assist chief financial officers, chiefs of medical staff, physician recruiters, business development directors, planning and marketing practitioners, compliance officers and others in dealing with rapidly-changing compliance issues.
For prices, registration and other information visit www.ohanet.org/education/education_programs.asp. Contact the Center for Education about continuing education hours at 614.221.7614. (Susan Compton, susanc@ohanet.org)
Ohio Doc Named to AOA Leadership
Ohio osteopathic physician George Thomas, D.O. will assume his
post as chair-elect of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) at the
association’s business meeting July 15-20 in Chicago. Thomas is a
board-certified osteopathic family physician and medical director of
care management and quality at Marymount Hospital in Garfield
Heights. Thomas has been a member of the AOA board of trustees since
1994, serving on many committees and chairing AOA’s departments of
education, business affairs, government affairs, professional affairs
and public affairs.
Thursday,
July 8, 2004
Next Thursday, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) will release organization-specific performance information to the public on its Web site at www.jcaho.org. JCAHO gave hospitals access to the data starting June 4, allowing them to check the accuracy of the information and submit a commentary if desired.
Hospitals are encouraged to review the posted data and contact JCAHO immediately with any questions or concerns. Hospitals should also be prepared to address questions from patients and others. A preview of the report and a user guide are also online at www.jcaho.org/general+public/making+better+choices/qr_survey.htm.
The information being released July 15 only reports on JCAHO-accredited hospitals and will likely differ from the quality information data released as part of other national quality initiatives. (Rosalie Weakland, rosaliew@ohanet.org)
CEOs on the Move
James A. Kingsbury has been appointed executive director and senior
vice president of the Health Alliance in Cincinnati, effective
last week. Kingsbury was executive director of University Hospital since
March. Lynn Oswald has been appointed senior vice president of
The Fort Hamilton Hospital. Rick Hinds was named president
and CEO of the Fort Hamilton Healthcare Corporation, the
not-for-profit parent organization of The Fort Hamilton Hospital. Mel
Fahs will join Community Memorial Hospital in Hicksville as
CEO on July 12.
CORRECTION: In yesterday's HEALTH e-NEWS Plus, George Thomas, D.O. was incorrectly identified as chair-elect of the American Osteopathic Association. His correct title is president.
Friday,
July 9, 2004
OHA this week commented on and made recommendations for specific provisions of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposed 2005 Medicare inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) rule.
OHA strongly recommended CMS not adopt the proposed changes in the current classification criteria of hospitals-within-hospitals and OHA voiced concern about the effects on hospitals’ Medicare payments of CMS’ proposed adoption of the revised Metropolitan Statistical Areas. In addition, OHA lauded CMS’ effort to address the problem of proving the need to reclassify dominant and single hospitals to other MSAs and offered three potential solutions. OHA also voiced strong opposition to the IPPS Postacute Care Transfer Payment Policy and its possible expansion. To view OHA’s comment letter, go to www.ohanet.org/advocacy/federal/ and look under the “Regulatory Alert” section.
OHA Comments on Proposed Resident Redistribution
OHA this week sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services (CMS) on behalf of Ohio’s teaching hospitals and health systems
to comment on the proposed redistribution of unused resident slots.
Under the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA), CMS must redistribute direct
Graduate Medical Education and Indirect Medical Education resident slots
from hospitals not using their full allotment.
OHA asked CMS to consider additional priorities in determining the redistribution of unused residency slots and also requested CMS keep redistributed slots within the geographic area or state from which they were moved. Redistributing slots within the same area would maintain stability in residency programs while fulfilling the intent of MMA. CMS is expected to release the final FY 2005 Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System rule by the end of August. To view OHA’s comment letter, go to www.ohanet.org/advocacy/federal/ and look under the “Regulatory Alert” section. (Jonathan Archey, jonathana@ohanet.org)