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Monday,
July 12, 2004
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last week extended the freeze on the licensing of high-powered private land mobile radio service users in the 460-470 MHz band, giving hospitals more time to migrate to newer bands and protect patients from interference. High power mobile radio transmitters were operating in the same frequency range as many medical telemetry systems and the freeze prevents harmful interference while hospitals change to the protected WMTS band. The American Hospital Association pushed for this extension, which sets a new deadline of Dec. 31, 2005, wanting hospitals to have adequate time to buy the necessary equipment and make the transition.
The FCC reminds hospitals operating in the 460-470 MHz band and those moving into the WMTS spectrum they must register their equipment with the American Society for Healthcare Engineering. Instructions for registering hospital equipment will be available online this week at www.ashe.org. For more information, visit www.ashe.org/ashe/currentevent/advisories.html or http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-04-2071A1.doc. (Rick Sites, ricks@ohanet.org)
Hospital Receives Critical Access Designation
Dunlap Memorial Hospital, Orrville, has been granted Critical Access
Hospital (CAH) designation as of June 1. The federal CAH program
entitles select small, rural hospitals to Medicare cost-based
reimbursement. To become a CAH, hospitals must provide 24-hour emergency
services along with inpatient care, laboratory and radiology services,
and meet other specific criteria. This addition brings the total number
of Ohio CAHs to 24. For a complete list of Ohio CAHs, go to
www.ohanet.org/about_oha/cah.asp. (David Hendershot,
davidh@ohanet.org)
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
There is still time to register for the second in a series of four telephone briefings, Medical Staff 2004: The Challenges…The Solutions. The second session on July 22 deals with the corrective action process and will address the numerous substantive and procedural issues that arise in dealing with corrective action problems. An outline of the presentation is available at www.bricker.com/LegalServices/Practice/hcare/medicalstaffbrief.asp. OHA encourages registrants to review the outline and submit questions to the presenters at MSQuestions@bricker.com. Questions received prior to July 22 will be considered for inclusion in the briefing. Register for this or the remaining sessions by contacting Kelly Harrison at kellyh@ohanet.org. Find program details or register online at www.ohanet.org/education/education_programs.asp#phone.
Safety Award Winners Updated
Highland District Hospital, Hillsboro, was
inadvertently omitted from the list of Group Award winners in the
Hospital Safety Awards. The hospital should have been listed in the
351-500 employees category. OHA apologizes for the omission.
The safety awards recognize successful hospital safety programs and superior employee safety records. A complete list of 2004 safety award winners is available online at www.ohanet.org/media/news_release/2004/safetyawards052104.htm. (Rhonda Major-Mack, rhondam@ohanet.org)
Wednesday, July
14, 2004
Sidney Lewine, 89, former director of the old Mt. Sinai Hospital, died July 1 at the Judson Retirement Community in Cleveland. Lewine was instrumental in preserving Mt. Sinai’s urban status to serve low-income community members and maintaining the hospital’s non-profit status. He was a former president of OHA’s Board of Trustees during a one-year period from 1964 to 1965, and the 1996 recipient of OHA’s Donald R. Newkirk Award. Lewine was also active in other hospital and health care associations and will be remembered for his numerous contributions to health care in Ohio.
CMS Announces Administration Changes
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) this week announced
changes in its administration. Leslie Norwalk, who had been serving as
acting deputy administrator, was named deputy administrator of the
agency. In addition, CMS named John Robert Dyer as chief operating
officer and Charlene Brown as acting deputy chief operating officer.
Brown previously served as deputy director of CMS’ Center for Medicaid
and State Operations.
Thursday,
July 15, 2004
Legislation pending in the 125th Ohio General Assembly is in its last leg, with the General Assembly scheduled to wrap up the two-year legislative session by Dec. 16. The legislature is currently on summer recess and will reconvene Nov. 9, with sessions scheduled in September if needed.
To keep members apprised of state health care-related legislation, OHA developed Bulletin 04-012, available online at www.ohanet.org/Bulletins/2004/04-012.htm. In addition to highlighting legislation already enacted during the 125th General Assembly, the bulletin outlines the provisions of and OHA position on 13 health care-related bills still pending this session. Pending bills include those affecting medical malpractice reform, nurse overtime, tax exempt bonds, hospital charity care and more. (Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org; Jeff Klingler, jeffk@ohanet.org)
Lawmakers Oppose CMS Pay Rates for LTACHs
Members of Congress from both parties are asking the Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to reconsider its proposal on payment
rates for certain long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs), which they
say would be detrimental to patients and force these hospitals to close.
Several lawmakers, including Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-OH), oppose the hospital-within-hospital quota in the proposed 2005 Medicare inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) rule, which states no more than 25 percent of the population of an LTACH within a hospital can come from the host hospital. In a letter to CMS Administrator Mark McClellan, Pryce said the rules “would make it impossible for most of these hospitals to continue to operate.” Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Jeff Sessions (R-AL) also voiced their disapproval of the “arbitrary” quota in their joint letter to McClellan.
Both OHA and the American Hospital Association sent comment letters to CMS in which they opposed the 25 percent quota. OHA strongly recommended CMS not adopt the current classification criteria of hospitals-within-hospitals, which it said could potentially restrain LTACHs’ ability to succeed. CMS has not responded to lawmakers and industry groups’ comments, but is expected to release the final IPPS rule later this year. (Jonathan Archey, jonathana@ohanet.org)
Friday,
July 16, 2004
OHA has joined those urging the Ohio Supreme Court to let non-lawyers represent employers such as hospitals in routine workers’ compensation hearings. Attorney General Jim Petro also voiced his support this week, filing a friend of the court brief on behalf of the state as the largest employer in the workers’ compensation system.
At its June meeting, the OHA Board of Trustees voted to file an amicus curiae brief urging the Ohio Supreme Court to allow third party administrators to represent employers’ interests in appeals of Bureau of Workers’ Compensation decisions. The Board of Commissioners on the Unauthorized Practice of Law, a group under jurisdiction of Ohio’s Supreme Court, held that this procedure is an improper practice of law. If the court upholds the decision, the current workers’ compensation due process structure will change dramatically, increasing costs for Ohio’s hospitals and other employers and negatively affecting the state’s economy. (Mary Gallagher, maryg@ohanet.org)
Hospitals Lead the Way
Ohio’s hospitals continue to offer their communities more than basic
health care by providing new, improved services and exceptional quality
of care.
Many Ohio hospitals are expanding their services. Riverside Methodist Hospital, Columbus, this week opened its McConnell Heart Hospital, which will help the hospital treat more heart care patients. Parma Community General Hospital opens its expanded emergency department (ED) July 18.
Although Deaconess Hospital, Cincinnati, is well known for decreasing its ED waiting times, the hospital is also improving services through new additions. Last month Deaconess Hospital opened its new Surgical Weight Loss Center. Similarly, Greene Memorial Hospital, Xenia, has also been successful in decreasing ED waiting times through its performance promise instituted last year. The hospital reports patient satisfaction has increased dramatically.
Ohio hospitals are also being honored for their exceptional quality of care. Miami Valley Hospital, Dayton, was one of 115 hospitals nationally to receive Magnet certification from the American Nurses Credentialing Center for its outstanding nursing practice. McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital, Oxford, earned Quality Respiratory Care Recognition from the American Association for Respiratory Care for the second year in a row and the hospital’s imaging department was awarded a three-year term of accreditation in breast ultrasound from the American College of Radiology. In addition, the Ashtabula County Medical Center was recently awarded a Certificate of Achievement for outstanding quality care from Ohio KePRO, the Ohio Medicare Quality Improvement Organization, and the hospital’s laboratory services received a commendation by the College of American Pathologists for their excellent laboratory standards. (Mary Sterenberg, marys@ohanet.org)