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Monday, June 27,
2005 Though Ohio’s three largest cities have their work cut out for them in the area of health according to a recent study by Burt Sperling’s BestPlaces and Centrum, OHA’s Foundation for Healthy Communities is working with Ohio’s hospitals to reverse unhealthy trends. The Centrum Healthiest Cities Study, released by MSN.com, rated the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas on health status, nutrition, fitness, mental health and lifestyle. Following Cincinnati in third place and Cleveland in fourth place, Columbus was rated the sixth unhealthiest city due to high incidence of chronic illness and high levels of smoking and alcohol consumption. However, Columbus boasted high levels of physical activity, low stress and low levels of arthritis, and Cincinnati and Cleveland also showed low rates of arthritis, diabetes and hypertension.
The Foundation for Healthy Communities is a non-profit, charitable organization that promotes healthy communities by encouraging hospitals to serve as the healthiest workplaces in Ohio. Its current grant cycle seeks to help hospitals improve employee wellness, allowing them to serve as role models in their communities in the practice of healthy lifestyles. Since its inception in 1994, the foundation has funded 105 grants, totaling over $1 million for programs promoting healthy lifestyles and improving community health status.
For more information on the Foundation for Healthy Communities, or to learn about available grants, visit www.healthycommunitiesohio.org. To read more about the Centrum Healthiest Cities Study, visit http://articles.health.msn.com/id/100104950/site/100000000/.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005 At its most recent meeting, the OHA Board of Trustees approved a policy regarding OHA’s release of hospital safety, operating and financial data. Among other things, the policy ensures data released by OHA is reliable, timely and of value to consumers while also being easily understood. The Board approved four recommendations of the OHA Medical Malpractice Task Force, which are derived from the Ohio Medical Malpractice Commission’s final report in April. The Board authorized OHA to seek designation of the Ohio Patient Safety Institute as Ohio’s “patient safety center” to develop error protocol and a uniform medical error reporting system. It supported the commission’s recommended pilot project to establish medical malpractice courts and directed OHA to request that the Ohio Department of Insurance investigate use of a Medical Liability Underwriting Association to provide tail coverage for doctors whose insurance companies have left the Ohio market or gone out of business, and request the Ohio Medical Board monitor physician practice changes.
On the heels of the successful campaign to educate the public about Ohio’s medical liability crisis in 2004, the Board supported the concept of creating a Strategic Issue Fund to support statewide campaigns or other key activities in advocacy or public policy. OHA staff will continue to develop a detailed structure and financial plan for final Board approval at its next meeting.
OHA staff briefed the Board on state and federal initiatives regarding limited-service, physician-owned hospitals, including the American Hospital Association’s Advocacy Day July 21 to urge Congress to make permanent a moratorium on such facilities.
The Board also heard updates on recent state legislative and regulatory proposals, including those on advanced practice nurses, physician assistants and pharmacists; the 2005 Hospital Care Assurance Program assessment rates and distribution pools (visit www.ohanet.org/hcap/ for a preliminary model); and the state and federal budgets, and Congressional investigations into hospitals’ tax-exempt status. (Jim Castle, jimc@ohanet.org)
Error Found in JCAHO Software Joint Commission Resources (JCR), an affiliate of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), disclosed Friday that a software error was found in Accreditation Manager Plus. The software helps organizations assess their compliance with JCAHO accreditation standards.
The error occurred in a software update that was distributed in May and used by more than 1,200 organizations and hospitals. The error is a failure to change some response categories from yes/no to true/false; as a result, some organizations may have had standards flagged as non-complying although they were in compliance.
All customers were notified about the error and a downloadable patch is available on the JCR web site. The application of the patch will not affect or change previously entered scores or data. To download the software patch, visit www.jcrinc.com/amp05-u2. For questions concerning software issues, contact Diane Martin, executive director of business operations, at 630.268.7427.
Wednesday,
June 29, 2005 Ohio’s hospital leaders are encouraged to contact their legislators regarding the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposal to expand the post-acute care transfer policy from 30 diagnosis-related groups to 231 in its proposed inpatient proposed payment system (PPS) rule for fiscal year 2006. This policy cuts payments for patients transferred to post-acute care if the patient’s length of stay is more than one day below the national average. This policy does not prioritize patients and could harm the nation’s hospitals to the tune of $900 million for FY 2006 alone. The proposal undermines clinical decision-making and penalizes hospitals for providing the proper care at the appropriate time and in the best setting.
Some Congressional leaders are circulating a letter to CMS requesting that the agency stop the expansion of the transfer provision. Hospital leaders can contact their senators and representatives this week and next week to urge that they sign on to these letters in opposition to the policy. Visit www.ohanet.org/advocacy/federal/default.htm for contact information on Ohio’s delegates and visit www.ohanet.org/advocacy/federal/resources/ohio_payments.pdf to view the financial impact of the proposal on each Ohio hospital. (Charles Cataline, charlesc@ohanet.org)
2005 OHA Annual Meeting: A Final Look OHA would like to thank all of the Ohio hospital associates who attended or assisted with this year’s Annual Meeting, held last week at its new location at the Hilton Columbus at Easton. The more than 1,200 participants enjoyed a classy new venue, mingling with corporate partners, attending sessions in 14 different tracks and taking advantage of a variety of luncheons and other special events.
2005 OHA Annual Meeting Highlights:
Those unable to attend this year’s meeting can begin preparing now for next year. The 2006 Annual Meeting will be held June 12-13 at the Hilton Columbus at Easton. Stay tuned throughout the year for additional information. Thursday, June 30, 2005 Gov. Bob Taft this morning completed his line-item vetoes and signed the state’s biennium budget. The major budget issues impacting Ohio’s hospitals were not affected by the 27 provisions the governor vetoed. OHA’s amendment to require surety bonds for Medicaid managed care plans to reduce potential liability for hospitals remains included. The budget also retains language harmonizing state and federal code related to critical access hospitals to allow them to maintain their critical access status and fully restores vision coverage for Medicaid beneficiaries. Though language requiring mandatory managed care for the aged, blind and disabled population by Jan. 1, 2006 was included, it contains a host of exclusions. OHA also intends to continue efforts to modify the recalibration process through the administrative process. With the conclusion of the state budget process, OHA again thanks all hospital executives and government affairs personnel who contributed to OHA’s advocacy efforts related to the budget.
Hospitals to Receive Increase in Resident Cap The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that hospitals will receive an increase in their full-time equivalent resident caps for graduate medical education payments. The increase provisions were established by Congress in 2003 as part of the Medicare Modernization Act, section 422.
Letters
were sent out to affected hospitals notifying them of the change and
informing them of the number of slots requested and granted. The
letters also included information about the ranking system on which
the determinations were made. For more information on the Medicare
Modernization Act, visit
www.cms.hhs.gov/medicarereform/.
Friday,
July 1, 2005
Hospitals to Collect Language Info in Medical Records As hospitals continue working to meet the health care needs of all patients, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) will require hospitals to document the language and communication needs of patients in their medical records beginning Jan. 1, 2006. The change comes under revisions to the Information Management standard (IM.6.20) and will allow patients’ communication needs to be easily shared across the continuum of care to bolster safety and quality. The standard will not require providers to collect information on patients’ race and ethnicity, as was proposed in a draft standard. (Rosalie Weakland, rosaliew@ohanet.org) © 2001-2008 OHA. Last updated
January 03, 2008. |
