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Monday, July 25,
2005 The Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) has slated its yearly Workers’ Compensation University to take place in nine cities throughout Ohio this fall. The day-long seminar will come to Portsmith, Cambridge, Youngstown, Akron, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo and Columbus between Sept. 9 and Oct. 5. Employers interested in reducing workers’ compensation costs and keeping employees safer on the job can attend introductory courses on workplace health and wellness programs, sessions featuring updates for the health-care community, a course track on the unique needs of self-insuring employers, a course about case law and legislation affecting workers’ compensation in Ohio and many other topics.
The Workers’ Compensation University was founded in 2000 by BWC and is Ohio’s largest workers’ compensation conference. Thousands of people attend each year and tuition is free. Many courses offered are eligible for Step 6 credit for the BWC’s 10-Step Business Plan. To find out more, visit www.ohiobwc.com, or call 1.800.466.6292.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005 A House bill introduced last week by Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ) would lower the admissions standard for qualification as a rehabilitation hospital. The bill is a companion to similar legislation introduced in the Senate earlier this month. Loosening current regulations, the House bill would require 50 percent of a hospital’s admissions to meet one of 13 conditions for the hospital to qualify for inpatient rehab fees, which are higher than standard Medicare reimbursement. Current regulations require 60 percent until next July, when it rises to 65 percent and ultimately 75 percent in July 2007. The newly introduced House bill also restores rehabilitation hospital status to facilities that lost this designation when the threshold rose to 60 percent on July 1 and the legislation establishes a 17-member panel to advise the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on future policy for rehab hospitals. Both the House bill and the parallel Senate legislation, sponsored by Jon Corzine (D-NJ), Ben Nelson (D-NB) and Rick Santorum (R-PA), are supported by the hospital community. OHA will continue to monitor this issue and provide information to member hospitals. (Jonathan Archey, jonathana@ohanet.org)
Wednesday,
July 27, 2005 Hospitals participating in the Hospital Quality Alliance have until the end of this week, July 30, to review their fourth-quarter 2004 quality data. Hospitals can review the data online at https://qnetexchange.org/public/home.do and report any errors to Ohio KePRO before the data is reported on the public Hospital Compare Web site, www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/. To report errors, contact Rita Bowling at rbowling@ohqio.sdps.org. The fourth-quarter data includes new surgical infection measures, including a measure that tracks appropriate antibiotic use. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations have agreed to temporarily suspend public reporting of SIP-2 (appropriate antibiotic selection for surgical prophylaxis) because of conflicting recommendations regarding the appropriate antibiotics. More information about that agreement is online at www.jcaho.org/pms/core+measures/sip2suspensionnoticecmsjcaho.pdf. (Rosalie Weakland, rosaliew@ohanet.org)
New National Award to Honor Hospital Leader The National Center for Healthcare Leadership (NCHL) is accepting nominations for the first National Healthcare Leadership Award to honor an individual whose lifetime work is committed to improving the field of health care leadership. Nominees must be actively engaged in the field, have shown leadership resulting in quantifiable improvements, have developed a respected perspective on health and wellness, and have contributed personal time to improvement. The nominator should provide a copy of the nominee’s vita, a letter of personal endorsement and at least one additional letter of support.
The nomination form is available online at www.nchl.org/ns/awards/award_selectNomiForm.pdf. The deadline to submit a nomination is Aug. 30. The award will be presented Dec. 5 at the Peninsula Hotel in Chicago.
Thursday, July 28, 2005 Sixty-one U.S. Senators signed a letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Administrator Mark McClellan expressing concern about the proposal to expand Medicare’s post-acute transfer policy from 30 diagnosis-related groups (DRG) to 231. Sent by Craig Thomas (R-WY) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) and signed by 59 other senators including Ohio Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH), the letter said such a change would penalize hospitals for efficient treatment and ensuring patients receive the right care at the right time in the right setting. They also stated it would reduce critical Medicare payments by almost $5 billion over fiscal years 2006-2010. Under the current policy, hospitals receive less than the standard payment when they discharge patients diagnosed with one of 30 specific DRGs to post-acute settings earlier than the national average length of stay for the DRG. The senators noted “the expansion of a misguided policy undermines the basic principles and objectives of the prospective payment system” and urged CMS not to implement and broaden the post-acute transfer provision. Though Ohio Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) did not sign the above letter, he sent a letter independently to CMS voicing similar concerns regarding the proposed provision. OHA will provide ongoing information on this issue, and a breakdown of the financial impact of the proposal on each Ohio hospital is available online at www.ohanet.org/advocacy/federal/resources/ohio_payments.pdf. (Charles Cataline, charlesc@ohanet.org)
Midwest, Non-profit Hospitals Score Well in National Assessment Results from the first nationwide quality assessment of hospital care were released last week, indicating that non-profit Midwestern hospitals are among the best performing in the nation. The study was performed by the Harvard School of Pubic Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Boston Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, using information gathered from the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA). The report showed hospital care varies across medical conditions, hospital size, region and other factors.
The HQA data was pulled from 3,558 hospitals and researchers studied 10 quality indicators for three medical conditions: acute myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure and pneumonia. The study showed that non-profit hospitals had consistently higher scores than for-profit hospitals, and hospitals in the Northeast and Midwest outperformed hospitals in the West and South. The results also showed that, in general, patients failed to receive needed care about 10 to 20 percent on the time for six of the 10 indicators, and for the other four indicators, performance was even worse.
For more information on this study, contact Kevin Myron at the Harvard School of Public Health at 617.432.3952. (Rosalie Weakland, rosaliew@ohanet.org)
100K Lives Campaign Reaches 100th Hospital Ohio has signed up its 100th hospitals in the 100,000 Lives campaign, an effort by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) to save 100,000 patients’ lives by June 2006.
OHA’s Board of Trustees approved OHA participation in the campaign in March, and all member hospitals are encouraged to get involved. The 100,000 Lives campaign seeks to reduce patient fatalities through the wide-scale implementation of interventions proven to reduce the risk of infections, adverse drug events and heart attack deaths.
Ohio’s goal is to have 100 percent participation. Nationally, IHI has enlisted over 2,400 hospitals and Ohio hospitals still have the chance to enlist in the campaign by contacting Rosalie Weakland at 614.221.7614 or rosaliew@ohanet.org or through the IHI Web site at www.ihi.org. (Rosalie Weakland, rosaliew@ohanet.org)
Friday,
July 29, 2005 The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) provides hepatitis B vaccine free of charge to all hospitals participating in the Universal Hepatitis B Vaccination Program. All birthing facilities in Ohio are eligible to participate in the program, which works to ensure every infant receives the recommended first dose of hepatitis B vaccine soon after birth and prior to hospital discharge. Once a hospital enrolls, ODH furnishes the hospital with free hepatitis B vaccine to provide to all newborns at no charge, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay. While a reasonable administration fee may be charged, no patient can be denied the vaccine for failure to pay such a fee. For more information regarding the program or to enroll, please contact Linda Zeigler of the ODH Immunization Program at 614.466.0895 or at lzeigler@odh.ohio.gov.
‘Quit Kits’ Available
to Ohio Health Care Providers
When a health care provider registers with the Quit Line, they will receive a “Quit Kit” containing a provider’s brochure, nine patient brochures and “Quit Tip” wallet cards, two in-office posters, and a fax referral form tablet.
A postcard with information on how to register to receive the Quit Kits is being sent to approximately 15,000 Ohio primary care physicians, and information is also available on the Quit Line Web site at www.ohioquits.com.
For more information on the Ohio Tobacco Quit Line, contact Julie Lincoln at 513.762.1738 or jlincoln@northlich.com. (Lynne Ayres, lynnea@ohanet.org)
CEOs on the Move Effective June 1, L. Kenneth Taylor began serving as president and CEO of Southwest Community Health System, which includes Southwest General Health Center, Middleburg Heights, and Southwest Community Health Foundation. He replaces L. Jon Schurmeier, who served as the health center’s president and CEO for more than 30 years.
Marje Gentes, who has been serving as interim CEO for Twin City Hospital Corporation, Dennison, was recently named CEO.
Bill Smith Jr., CEO of Pomerene Hospital, Millersburg, recently left his position and Tony Snyder from Aultman Hospital, Canton, will serve as interim CEO while the hospital seeks a permanent replacement.
After spending several years at Holzer Medical Center, Gallipolis, LaMar Wyse is now serving as president and CEO of Galion Community Hospital. James Phillippe now serves as president of Holzer Medical Center.
Community Health Partners, Lorain, has named Mark Nosacka, president and CEO. Nosacka will be responsible for the direction and strategic oversight of Community Health Partners Regional Health System's two hospitals and 18 plus locations.
In January of 2006, Mary Boosalis will become president and CEO of Miami Valley Hospital, Dayton, succeeding William Thornton. She currently serves as the hospital’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.
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Budget Essentials © 2001-2008 OHA. Last updated
January 03, 2008. |
