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Monday, May 9,
2005
Preliminary results from a pay-for-performance demonstration project involving 270 hospitals were released last week, showing financial incentives can improve care. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) last fall launched a project tracking hospital performance on a set of 34 widely-accepted measures of processes and outcomes of care for five common clinical conditions, including 17 measures reported by the Hospital Quality Alliance. During the three-year project, which began in October 2003, Medicare will reward high performers with bonuses totaling $7 million per year and hospitals not achieving certain performance levels may face financial penalties in the third year.
The initial results of the Premier Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration showed across-the-board improvement in the hospitals’ performance on the care measures. The data will remain preliminary until CMS completes an auditing and validation process. Hospitals in the top 20 percent in each clinical area will receive incentive payments from Medicare annually, starting in September 2005 for first-year results. (Charles Cataline, charlesc@ohanet.org; Rosalie Weakland, rosaliew@ohanet.org)
Making Time to Celebrate Caregivers
National Hospital Week, May 8-14, presents an excellent time for hospitals to honor their caregivers for their daily dedication. This year’s hospital week theme, “A Calling to Care,” pays homage to the 4.5 million people who work in America’s hospitals every day. Learn more at www.aha.org/aha/awards-events/awards/05nhw.html.
In Ohio, hospitals have the opportunity to celebrate the state’s more than 230,000 hospital workers at the annual OHA Recognition Dinner, June 20 at the Hilton Columbus at Easton—a NEW location. The dinner will honor all nominees for the Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year Award and recipients of the following awards: Distinguished Service Award, Donald R. Newkirk Award, Healthcare Consumer Advocacy Award, Hospital Safety Awards, John Chapman Award, Meritorious Service Award, and William C. Kelley Safety Leadership Award.
To help honor Ohio’s caregivers, Gov. Bob Taft has declared June 20 Ohio Hospital Employee Appreciation Day. A copy of Taft’s resolution and more information about the dinner, including registration information, are online at www.ohanet.org/annualmeeting/Awards/. (Tiffany Himmelreich, tiffanyh@ohanet.org)
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
With state budget talks heating up in the Senate, OHA is mounting a full-court press advocating that reimbursement to hospitals and Medicaid eligibility remain in tact. OHA late last week sent an opinion/editorial to major daily and business weekly newspaper around Ohio, outlining OHA and hospitals’ concerns with the proposed state fiscal year 2006-07 budget. A proposed freeze in payments to hospitals coupled with the proposed recalibration effort, along with the immense amount of uncompensated care hospitals already provide would cost hospitals over $800 million. Proposed eligibility cuts would leave 25,000 working adults without health coverage.
Hospitals are encouraged to communicate with the public and legislators about the impact of the pending state budget on hospitals and all Ohioans. A new resource highlighting concerns and recommendations is online at www.ohanet.org/medicaid/resources/issues.pdf. Other Medicaid resources are available at www.ohanet.org/medicaid/.
The Senate must wrap up its version of the budget by late May to allow one month for conference committee deliberations before the July 1 deadline for completion of the budget. State fiscal year 2006 begins July 1. (Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org)
Two-Day Conference Covers Palliative Care
OHA, Mount Carmel and the Ohio Hospital & Palliative Care
Organization (OHPCO) are sponsoring Palliative Care Partnerships,
a two-day conference for hospitals and hospice administrators,
medical professionals, physicians and other clinicians. Scheduled
for May 16-17 in Columbus, the first day will outline designing and
delivering successful palliative care programs and day two will
cover the clinical aspects of palliative care. CMEs, CEs and
Certificates of Attendance are available for the second day only.
The conference is
$200 per day or $200 for both days, and those interested can
register or obtain additional information by contacting OHPCA at
1.800.766.9513.
Wednesday,
May 11, 2005
Unlike choosing a car or a new vacuum, selecting a health care provider requires more than a glance at Consumer Reports. The Ohio Hospital Association (OHA) has launched The Consumer’s Guide to Quality Health Care in Ohio, an easy-to-use Internet roadmap at www.ohanet.org/portal/ to help consumers navigate and use the wealth of health care quality information currently available to them.
Though many organizations provide online information to the public on health care quality and pricing, the information remains out of reach unless consumers have the time and know-how to dig down to the pertinent facts on each individual site.
The consumer’s guide, online at www.ohanet.org/portal/, is a user-friendly Web site connecting Ohioans with a wide range of available information on the cost and quality of health care in Ohio. The site can connect a consumer with information about a specific hospital or physician, help patients find area health care providers with a strong record of quality or compare charges for common treatments at local hospitals.
“This new resource reflects the commitment of Ohio’s hospitals to providing information to promote informed and empowered health care consumers,” said Jim Castle, OHA president and CEO. “Consumers can combine this information with advice from their physicians, family and friends to make better health care decisions.”
View a news release with more information on the Web portal at www.ohanet.org/media/news_release/2005/quality_portal051105.htm. (Mary Sterenberg, marys@ohanet.org; Joseph Roel, jroel@ohanet.org)
CMS Offers Help to Hospitals Caring for Immigrants
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced the implementation of a new program ordered in the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) to provide $1 billion over four years to help hospitals, certain physicians and ambulance providers recoup the costs of providing needed emergency medical care to qualified individuals who are uninsured or cannot afford emergency care.
Each state will receive a portion of the total funding based on a formula established in law. Ohio’s predetermined allocation for 2005 is a relatively modest $950,000. Payments will be made directly to hospitals, certain physicians and ambulance providers for emergency care unpaid by any other source.
Additional information, including the program notice, enrollment and billing forms and a complete list of state allocations is available on a special Web site created by CMS at www.cms.hhs.gov/providers/section1011/. (Charles Cataline, charlesc@ohanet.org)
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Max Baucus (D-MT) this week introduced legislation that would permanently exclude specialty hospitals from the “whole hospital” exemption in physician self-referral law, eliminating a major incentive for physicians to invest in limited-service, physician-owned facilities. Supported by the American Hospital Association, this bill would not affect limited-service facilities already in operation or under development before Nov. 18, 2003, but would limit their growth and investor composition.
The legislation, the Hospital Fair Competition Act of 2005, would also allow aligning of incentives between hospitals and physicians, under criteria established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and it would mandate an examination or recalculation of DRG weights. All changes in the retroactive bill would be effective June 8, when the current moratorium is set to expire, regardless of when the law is enacted. In addition, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee today heard testimony in support of and against an extension of the current moratorium on limited-service facilities to determine whether it should be extended.
Because action by Congress is not assured, this issue may also surface on the state level with the possible inclusion of a 24-month moratorium on limited-service, physician-owned facilities in the state budget bill. Ohio hospitals support a moratorium, concerned about the impact of limited-service facilities on the financial viability of full-service community hospitals. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission and the Government Accountability Office both provide support for the concerns of community hospitals. OHA will provide updates on both federal and state action on this issue. (Jonathan Archey, jonathana@ohanet.org; Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org)
Hospitals Have New Tobacco Cessation Resource
With tobacco use causing more preventable premature deaths in the U.S. than any other single cause, Ohio hospitals have an additional resource to add to their tobacco cessations programs. The Ohio Tobacco Quit Line (1.800.QUIT.NOW), a free telephone tobacco cessation program available to all Ohioans, supports smokers looking to kick the habit and caregivers helping patients become tobacco-free.
The Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Foundation launched the Quit Line last fall after a pilot program showed Ohioans were five times more likely to quit using tobacco with the Quit Line than on their own. The Ohio Tobacco Quit Line connects callers with trained specialists who guide them through the quitting process during a series of telephone calls, providing a personalized program for each caller. Specialists help callers set a target “quit date,” follow up on their progress, assist with difficulties and link callers with resources in their areas. The program has helped more than 17,000 Ohioans from every county in the state stop smoking, but it seeks to reach the many others who want to quit.
Individuals and organizations interested in supporting or promoting the Quit Line can join the Call it Quits Coalition for free and receive news and information about the Quit Line. To learn more about the Call it Quits Coalition, contact Dawn Pribble at 614.734.8437 or dpribble@northlich.com, and to find more information on the Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Foundation’s efforts, visit www.standohio.org. The 2005 OHA Recognition Dinner, www.ohanet.org/annualmeeting/Awards/default.htm, is also sponsored in part by the Ohio Tobacco Quit Line.
Friday,
May 13, 2005
At it most recent meeting, the OHA Board of Trustees adopted a resolution calling on the state legislature to establish a budget-neutral Medicaid recalibration formula and an inflationary update in Medicaid rates for hospitals in state fiscal year 2007.
Promoting educated consumers, the Board approved activation of The Consumer’s Guide to Quality Health Care in Ohio, an Ohio-specific, user-friendly resource to help consumers find and use the wealth of health care quality information currently available to them, available at www.ohanet.org/portal/. Hospitals are encouraged to share this resource with patients, who can utilize it to make health care decisions in conjunction with talking to physicians, family and friends and checking insurance coverage.
Looking at federal issues, the Board was updated on Congress’ look into the tax-exempt status of charitable organizations, including hospitals; the federal budget and physician-owned, limited-service hospitals. An 18-month federal moratorium on those facilities is set to expire June 8. OHA’s Board-adopted position calls on Congress to make the moratorium permanent.
The Board was briefed on recommendations of a new OHA task force evaluating and updating Hospital Care Assurance Program principles to ensure fairness and equity to all hospitals while retaining the necessary flexibility to address key priorities each year.
The Board voted to support a statewide smoke-free indoor air standard and lend grassroots support to the campaign. It further instructed OHA staff to investigate the potential for all Ohio hospitals to transition their campuses to smoke-free.
It also heard updates on the Friends of Ohio Hospitals’ 2005 campaign kick-off, health care costs and utilization trends, provider-based health insurance corporations and the Medicare Modernization Act. (Jim Castle, jimc@ohanet.org)