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Monday, August 15,
2005 The Public Health Council (PHC) considered several issues pertaining to hospitals at its August meeting. The council adopted more than 100 pages of new and revised radiation control regulations. These rules govern all radiation-generating equipment and the use of radioactive materials in health care. The rules should be effective by September, at which time they will be posted on the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) final rules page at www2.odh.ohio.gov/Rules/rulesfinal.html. PHC also restored Bureau for Children with Medical Handicaps eligibility requirements to those in existence before October 2003 when ODH changed standards and cut approximately 5,000 children from the program. House Bill 66 mandated restoration of the eligibility requirements, giving ODH until the close of 2005 to put the rules in place.
The council proposed revising its regulation that mandates reporting of infectious diseases including likely bioterrorist agents. The rule change was propelled primarily by concerns related to early identification of bioterrorist events, and it will be subject to public hearing at the next PHC meeting Sept. 15 and will likely take in November. (Rick Sites, ricks@ohanet.org)
Tuesday, August 16, 2005 The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) this week announced a proposed rule that would require nursing homes to immunize all residents against the flu and pneumococcal disease to preserve their participation in Medicare and Medicaid. Hospitals with skilled nursing facility beds will need to comply with the rule for patients in those beds. Patients or their legal representatives may refuse the vaccine and vaccines can also be deferred for medical reasons. If the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declares a vaccine shortage, state survey agencies could opt not to cite facilities for lack of compliance with the requirement. The proposed rule appears in this week’s Federal Register online at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20051800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2005/05-16160.htm. The rule will have a 15-day comment period and is expected to take effect before Oct. 1, when flu immunization season begins.
Similar legislation is also pending in the state legislature, which would require hospitals to offer all patients over 50 years of age vaccines against flu and pneumonia. Though OHA supports the intent behind the bill to address an important public health concern, it voiced concerns with this bill including the ways in which it conflicts with federal initiatives and limits the flexibility that is crucial to the appropriate administration of the flu vaccine. To view OHA’s testimony on House Bill 257, sponsored by Rep. John Hagan (R-Alliance), visit www.ohanet.org/advocacy/state/resources/Status126.doc. (Jeff Klingler, jeffk@ohanet.org; Carol Jacobson, carolj@ohanet.org)
HRSA Offers Webcast for Small, Rural Hospitals The Health Resource and Services Administration’s Trauma-EMS Systems Program and Office of Rural Health Policy will offer a Webcast Tuesday, Aug. 23, to present a vision for including rural health facilities in an inclusive trauma system. Developing an Inclusive Trauma System: The Challenges and Opportunities of Including Small, Rural Facilities, scheduled for 1-2 p.m., will also identify strategies and resources to accomplish this vision. All interested participants must register online prior to the session, using the same computer they will use for the Webcast. Registration will include a technical check to ensure the computer meets all technical requirements.
Register for the event at www.hsbcom.com by selecting ‘National Rural Trauma EMS August 2005 Webcast.’ An archived version of the Webcast will also be available several days after the live event. Those registered for the session should connect to the live Webcast 20 minutes before the scheduled start time to allow time for connecting and downloading presentation slides.
Wednesday,
August 17, 2005 The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) is accepting comments through Aug. 22 on proposed revisions to its accreditation standards for credentialing and privileging. The revisions would address situations in which hospitals use contracted or telemedicine services offered by ambulatory care entities. According to JCAHO, the revisions are intended to prevent a “two-tiered credentialing and privileging system,” since ambulatory care entities that hospitals may contract with may have less rigorous credentialing and privileging requirements than hospitals. (Rosalie Weakland, rosaliew@ohanet.org) Hospital Heating Costs Heating Up With natural gas prices almost triple what they were a few years ago, hospitals looking to meet budget pressures this winter may need the following advice from Stand Energy, the natural gas supplier OHA offers to member hospitals.
More information about OHA’s natural gas purchasing program and market updates are online at www.ohanet.org/energy/. (Rick Sites, ricks@ohanet.org)
Thursday, August 18, 2005 A Lancaster nurse did not engage in the unauthorized practice of law by conducting community education on advance directives, according to a recent ruling of the Disciplinary Counsel of the Ohio Supreme Court. In an Aug. 12 letter to the Lancaster attorney who originally raised questions about Fairfield Medical Center’s seminars on living wills and durable powers of attorney, the counsel dismissed charges against the nurse who led the seminars, noting both state and federal law requires hospitals to provide information related to advanced directives, including dissemination of written materials, assistance in completing forms, and education of patients and their families. The disciplinary counsel’s letter is available online at www.ohanet.org/advocacy/state/issues/advance_directives.htm. Letters of support sent by OHA, Bricker & Eckler, LLP, the law firm representing the nurse and the hospital, and the Ohio Hospice and Palliative Care Organization are also available. An advance directives packet and forms for help in making end-of-life decisions can also be downloaded. (Rick Sites, ricks@ohanet.org)
OHA Responds to ODJFS Proposed Changes OHA this week submitted comments to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) on several proposed Medicaid rules.
OHA urged ODJFS not to create barriers to patient care or add claims processing costs as it implements new elective service co-payments ordered by the Ohio General Assembly in the 2006-2007 state budget. OHA asked that ODJFS avoid cumbersome and expensive claims monitoring and processing systems that would require hospitals to act as gatekeepers and collection agencies for abusive recipients. Specific OHA requests included clarification on co-payment language and the elimination of the blanket prohibition on waiving co-payments for non-emergency services delivered in the ER.
OHA also requested that ODJFS reconsider and withdraw its proposed amendment to cut $30 million in payments to hospitals by modifying Medicaid cost-sharing for dually eligible Medicare beneficiaries. This reduction hits hospitals already facing a $112 million Medicaid DRG recalibration payment reduction scheduled for Jan. 1 and a $142 million estimated payment reduction as the result of a freeze in inpatient and outpatient payment rates. OHA will continue to follow these proposed changes. (Charles Cataline, charlesc@ohanet.org; Berna Bell, bernab@ohanet.org)
Friday,
August 19, 2005 The 2005 OHA Nominating Committee has announced its nominations for various positions on next year’s OHA Board of Trustees. All nominees would begin their terms Jan. 1, 2006. Kevin Martin, president and CEO of EMH Regional Medical Center in Elyria, was nominated for secretary/treasurer, a one-year term.
Four individuals nominated for trustee-at-large positions, a three-year term, are:
Mina Ubbing, CEO of Fairfield Medical Center in Lancaster, and Walter Wielkiewicz, M.D., Primecare of Southwestern Ohio, Inc., have been nominated for extended terms of three years.
Hospitals Lead
the Way
Mercy Hospital Clermont, Batavia, received the Quality and Patient Safety Award from Mercy Health Partners and the highest ratings in the Physician Satisfaction Survey by Catholic Healthcare Partners. The Baxter Excellence in Patient Safety Award was given to The Fort Hamilton Hospital, Hamilton, for a 2003 project in collaboration with the Cincinnati Collaborative for Patient Safety.
Holzer Consolidated Health Systems, Gallipolis, received a Bronze Telly Award for an outstanding non-network and cable television commercial. The American Association for Respiratory Care honored Kettering Medical Center with Quality Respiratory Care Recognition. The Christ Hospital, Cincinnati, was honored by Hospitals for a Healthy Environment with the Making Medicine Mercury Free Award. John E. Horns, president of Defiance Regional Medical Center, was named Distinguished Rural Health Administrator.
Bucyrus Community Hospital is the first in the state to use its designation as a critical access hospital to apply for Federal Housing Administration’s Sec. 242 Mortgage Insurance to finance hospital modernization, also providing small Ohio hospitals with a local model for using federal programs to access funding. The Health Alliance, Cincinnati, announced plans to build a new 160-bed community hospital, scheduled to open in 2008 on the University Pointe campus in West Chester, Ohio. The Non-Invasive Vascular Laboratory at Robinson Memorial Hospital, Ravenna, was granted accreditation by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Vascular Laboratories. And The Children's Medical Center, Dayton, was re-verified as a regional pediatric trauma center by the American College of Surgeons’ Committee on Trauma. (Mary Sterenberg, marys@ohanet.org) © 2001-2008 OHA. Last updated
January 03, 2008. |
