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Monday, September 19,
2005 In Comer v. Risko, the plaintiff filed a complaint against radiologists and Knox Community Hospital for medical negligence, including the failure to timely diagnose and treat cancer, saying the patient relied on the hospital to provide necessary and proper radiology services. However, the plaintiff failed to file suit within the statute of limitations against the physicians who allegedly failed to correctly read X-ray films.
The court ruled 5-2 against expanding hospital liability and in favor of the hospital. Writing for the majority, Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton said ruling otherwise would effectively make hospitals the primary insurers for any negligence that occurred, whether by its agent, a hospital employee, or non-agent, such as a contracting physician. Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer and Justices Maureen O’Connor, Terrence O’Donnell and Judith Ann Lanzinger concurred. Justices Alice Robie Resnick and Paul E. Pfeifer dissented.
With this ruling, the court declined the opportunity to expand Clark v. Southview Hospital, which makes a hospital liable for mistakes made by independent practitioners, typically emergency room physicians, if the hospital held itself out to the community as a provider of medical care and the patient looked to the hospital as opposed to an individual practitioner to provide care.
The Knox County Common Pleas Court initially ruled in favor of the hospital. The 5th Ohio District Court of Appeals reversed that decision, which was then overturned by the Supreme Court’s ruling. The opinion is online at www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/newpdf/0/2005/2005-Ohio-4559.pdf. (Rick Sites, ricks@ohanet.org)
Tuesday, September 20, 2005 The Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA) has updated its Hospital Compare Web site, www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/, with the latest data from participating hospitals. The site now offers information on virtually all of the nation’s acute care hospitals on 18 common quality measures for heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia care. Since the site was launched in April, the number of participating hospitals has increased from 23 percent to about 75 percent, nationally. In addition, Hospital Compare has begun offering surgical infection prevention rates and nearly 600 hospitals have reported their statistics on this measure.
HQA, which partners with the American Hospital Association and other hospital groups, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, AFL-CIO, AARP and others, said the data update on Hospital Compare gives consumers “an even more in-depth look at the care their hospital provides so they can make more informed choices.” (Rosalie Weakland, rosaliew@ohanet.org)
BWC Offers 61 Safety & Hygiene Courses The Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Division of Safety & Hygiene will offer 61 occupational safety, health and ergonomic courses this fall. The courses will be available at the Ohio Center for Occupational Safety and Health in Pickerington and at service offices in Toledo, Cincinnati, Canton, Cambridge, Portsmouth, Youngstown and Cleveland.
Courses will emphasize practical application of safety principles to help develop a safety culture and to provide current and proposed standards for regulatory compliance. All courses are offered at no additional cost to Ohio employers who pay into the Ohio workers’ compensation insurance fund. For more information, visit www.ohiobwc.com.
Wednesday,
September 21, 2005 The network is gearing up for its launch this month and is working to educate beneficiaries and other caregivers about the new prescription drug benefit before the Medicare Part D enrollment period begins Nov. 15.
Other programs the network will conduct to further its goal of encouraging seniors to participate in the benefit include media outreach briefings, signup rallies and enrollment events, “train the trainer” activities, and partnerships with members of Congress to conduct town hall meetings.
To attend the event, please RSVP to Teri Kirk at 614.232.8309 or tkirk@lesiccamper.com by the end of day Thursday, Sept. 22. For more information on the Medicare Rx Access Network, contact Jenny Camper at 614.224.1658, or jcamper@lesiccamper.com.
JCAHO Revised Leadership Standards in Field Review The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) is seeking comments on its revised leadership standards for all accreditation programs. The revised standards for ambulatory care, behavioral health care, critical access hospital, home care, hospital, laboratory, long term care and office base surgery are posted for comment through Oct. 14 at www.jcaho.org/accredited+organizations/field_reviews.htm. Major revisions include a new culture of safety standard, enhanced safety standards related to leadership responsibility, and increased emphasis on existing standards to prevent adverse events. In addition to commenting online to JCAHO, please forward any concerns regarding the proposed standards to Rosalie Weakland at rosaliew@ohanet.org.
Thursday, September 22, 2005 With the gulf states still reeling from Hurricane Katrina, they must now prepare for Hurricane Rita, and Ohio hospitals are helping with both efforts. The Health Resource and Services Administration (HRSA) has requested that Ohio and a few other states begin discussion with government hospitals for possible employee deployment to Texas, should the need arise with Hurricane Rita. OHA is working with the Ohio Department of Health and Ohio Emergency Management Agency to coordinate deployment requests. Government hospitals are invited to participate in an informational conference call tomorrow, Sept. 23 to discuss Emergency Management Assistance Compact provisions and pose questions about the three-phase plan. Those facilities should have received information yesterday about the call. Following that call, OHA will work with government hospitals to determine the number and designation of health care workers for possible deployment.
To help hospitals providing medical services to Hurricane Katrina evacuees, an agreement with the federal government announced last week by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will provide evacuees easier access to services through Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), including Ohio’s approximately 3,400 evacuees. It will also create an uncompensated care pool for physicians, hospitals and other providers who provide services to uninsured evacuees and those not eligible for Medicaid or SCHIP. More information is available in an HHS news release, online at www.hhs.gov/news/press/2005pres/20050915b.html.
Additionally, the National Uniform Billing Committee (NUBC) has approved a series of new codes to help facilitate medical billing for services rendered to victims of Hurricane Katrina. The new condition code, “DR,” is intended to help the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and other health plans identify claims for which the admission is related to a disaster. NUBC plans to have more information soon on its Web site, www.nubc.org. (Carol Jacobson, carolj@ohanet.org)
Friday, September 23, 2005 In a time when entire cities are banning cigarette smoke from their premises, health care facilities are in step with the trend. According to a recent survey conducted by OHA’s Foundation for Healthy Communities, more than a dozen Ohio hospitals have implemented totally tobacco-free policies for their entire campuses, and at least a dozen more are considering introducing similar policies or extending existing policies in the next year.
In order to encourage the continued spread of tobacco-free policies in Ohio’s hospitals, OHA introduced a new section of the OHA Web site with resources for hospitals interested in becoming tobacco-free. The site includes results from the foundation’s recent survey, current hospital tobacco policies, and resources such as PowerPoint presentations and promotional flyers created by several hospitals that have been leaders in going tobacco-free.
For more information on the foundation survey and transforming a hospital into a tobacco-free facility, visit www.ohanet.org/advocacy/tobacco/. Hospitals are encouraged to send existing tobacco policies and questions for the frequently asked questions section of the Web site to foundation director Lynne Ayres at lynnea@ohanet.org.
JCAHO Issues Emergency Planning Guide The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) issued a step-by-step natural disaster and terrorism preparedness guide for small, rural and suburban communities. The guide builds on a March 2003 JCAHO white paper and a two-year project to identify emergency preparedness challenges, solutions and recommendations. Included in the guide are 13 essential steps for local government and public health leaders to use in establishing an effective community-based emergency management planning and response process. Find more information online at www.jcaho.org/news+room/press+kits/ems/emergency_planning_guide.htm. (Rosalie Weakland, rosaliew@ohanet.org; Carol Jacobson, carolj@ohanet.org) © 2001-2008 OHA. Last updated
January 03, 2008. |
