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Monday, January 9, 2006
Trauma Committee Seeks to Fill Open Position
A position on the State Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Board’s Trauma Committee is now available and OHA has the opportunity to submit three nominees to be considered for the committee appointment. Candidates must be “a representative of a hospital that is not a trauma center and actively provides emergency care to trauma patients. The representatives may be hospital administrators, physicians, nurses or other clinical professionals.” Trauma committee members must have substantial experience in their area, be residents of Ohio and may be members of the State EMS Board—but the committee can not include more than one member practicing at the same hospital, health system or EMS organization.

OHA must submit its nominees by Jan. 20 and provide a resume and a letter from the nominee expressing his or her interest in serving on the Trauma Committee. Those interested in being considered as a hospital representative for the Trauma Committee should contact Bridget Gargan, OHA’s vice president of state policy and advocacy, at 614.221.7614 or bridgetg@ohanet.org.

Hospitals Receive Critical Access Designation
Fayette County Memorial Hospital in Washington Court House and Highland District Hospital in Hillboro were granted Critical Access Hospital (CAH) designation, effective Dec. 1, 2005. The federal CAH program entitles select small, rural hospitals to Medicare cost-based reimbursement. To become a CAH, hospitals must provide 24-hour emergency services along with inpatient care, laboratory and radiology services, and meet other specific criteria.

With the addition of these two facilities, 33 Ohio hospitals have received the CAH designation. For a complete list of Ohio CAHs, go to www.ohanet.org/about_oha/cah.asp. (David Hendershot, davidh@ohanet.org)

Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Emergency Care Study Lauds Ohio Quality, Warns of Med Mal Environment
Ohio landed above the national average in a study of the nation’s emergency care system released today by The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). Assigning each state grades in four categories—access to emergency care, quality and patient safety, public health and injury prevention and medical liability environment—the National Report Card on the State of Emergency Medicine ranks Ohio 11^th in the nation.

Ohio was among the nation’s leaders in both access to emergency care, and quality and patient safety, earning an A and a B- respectively. The two areas of concern in Ohio, both earning Ds, were public health and injury prevention and medical liability environment. Ohio falls below average in percentage of children immunized and adults receiving flu vaccination. The state also lost points for its lack of: primary seat belt law enforcement, required helmet use for motorcycle riders and efforts to address domestic violence. But the report lauded Ohio for putting in place many training programs for emergency response to disasters and biological and chemical attacks. For more information on Ohio disaster preparedness efforts, visit www.PrepareOhio.com

Ohio’s medical liability environment received low scores, with the increase in physicians’ medical liability insurance rates reported at more than 94 percent from 2001 to 2004. Though ACEP offered praise for Ohio’s cap on non-economic damages in medical liability lawsuits and similar legislative measures, it recommended the state enact a more stringent $250,000 cap without exceptions on non-economic damages. To learn more about the medical liability insurance crisis in Ohio, visit http://www.ohanet.org/med-mal/ or www.AskYourDoctorOhio.com.

To view the complete ACEP report, visit www.acep.org.

Hospitals’ Heartbeat
A 2005 nominee for the Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year Award

Elaine Ozarzak
Director, Maternity and 4^th Floor
Flower Hospital, Sylvania
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A look inside Elaine’s nomination –
Elaine Ozarzak consistently provides a high level of patient and family satisfaction in her service areas. Maternity customer satisfaction scores are one of the highest among a local hospital network serving northwest Ohio and parts of Michigan. These scores have been consistent over the last several reporting periods. Elaine has challenged her staff on the fourth floor to raise their customer satisfaction scores, and they met her challenge, having the highest scores ever for the unit. Elaine is sensitive to her staff’s wishes. She facilitated schedule changes in her units’ staffing to meet their lifestyle needs with every third weekend rotation and incorporating the mix of eight- and 12-hour shifts within the unit. Elaine is an asset to the Flower Hospital team.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Report Lists Available Tobacco Prevention, Cessation Grants
The Ohio Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Foundation’s (TUPCF) recently released its 2005 annual report, a valuable resource on many of the tobacco control, education, prevention and cessation programs currently underway in Ohio. The report provides information on available community grants as well as a list of TUPCF grant recipients. The document also offers a glossary and acronym listing, and it links to additional resources and reference materials. To download and print the form, visit www.standohio.org/uploadedFiles/Home/TUPCF%202005%20Annual%20Report.pdf. More information about TUPCF is available at www.standohio.org. (Lynne Ayres, lynnea@ohanet.org)

Lecture Explores Formation of Health Professionals
For its 2006 Midland Lecture, The Ohio State University School of Public Health will host David C. Leach, M.D. to present The Formation of Health Professionals: From Diversity to Authenticity. Lead is the executive director of the accreditation council for graduate medical education and completed residency training in internal medicine and endocrinology at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. He served as director of Medical education at Henry Ford, playing a role in the affiliation between Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Henry Ford.

The lecture, co-sponsored by the Division of Health Services Management & Policy and the Center for HOPES, will be held at OSU’s Prior Health Sciences Library on the 5^th floor of the Medical Heritage Center on Wednesday, Jan. 18, from 2:30-3:30 p.m.

Contact Kathy Holloway at 614.292.9708 or kholloway@sph.osu.edu for more information.

Hospitals’ Heartbeat
A 2005 nominee for the Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year Award

Carrie A. Schilling, CNP
Certified Nurse Practitioner
Genesis HealthCare System, Zanesville
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A look inside Carrie’s nomination –
As the Genesis RN of the Year, Carrie Schilling has the respect of peers and physicians. She is a family nurse practitioner for the Genesis hospitalists group and has also worked as a critical care nurse, clinical educator and nursing instructor. A physician who supported her for RN of the Year commented, “Mrs. Schilling is one of the best clinical nurses I have ever worked with. She advocates for the patient and family but also works well with the physicians.” Carrie’s focus on improving her skills and education has benefited our patients. Her compassion and desire to help others makes her an excellent nurse, and she has shared her extensive knowledge with others. Carrie is an asset for our health system and our community.

Thursday, January 12, 2006
Flu Cases Increase in Ohio, Nationwide
Flu season nationwide continues to gain steam as it nears its typical February/March peak. A reminder to hospitals experiencing high census due to flu and seasonal illness that they should no longer contact the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) directly to request the use of prospective payment system-exempt beds for flu. CMS Region 5 returned to its original process of granting waivers, requiring hospitals to work through their regional hospital associations to funnel information about the need for a regional or statewide waiver to OHA. If and when appropriate, OHA will ask the Ohio Department of Health to declare a public health emergency and request that CMS issue a bed waiver.

To track the increasing incidence of flu nationwide, view the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention weekly update at www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/ or the national flu surveillance network at www.fluwatch.com. For more information on the 2005-2006 flu season in Ohio, visit www.ohanet.org/flu/. (Carol Jacobson, carolj@ohanet.org; Rick Sites, ricks@ohanet.org)

Friday, January 13, 2006
HCAHPS Training Taking Registrants
In February, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will begin training survey vendors and hospitals that plan to implement the hospital patient satisfaction survey, Hospital Care Quality Information from the Consumer Perspective (HCAHPS), as part of the Hospital Quality Alliance. The survey is slated for implementation this fall, and vendors that plan to administer the survey for hospital clients and hospitals conducting the survey themselves must attend the survey training. All participating hospitals must also take part in a short trial run to gain experience collecting and submitting the data before it is used for public reporting. For more on the survey and to register for the survey training online, visit the HCAHPS Web site at www.hcahpsonline.org/. (Rosalie Weakland, rosaliew@ohanet.org)

Creative Nurses Sought for Care Cards
A Central Ohio nurse is calling on her fellow nurses to help with her line of health care and “life altering event” cards written exclusively by nurses. Kathy Boston, RN, founded Kathy’s Care Cards, and in conjunction with the Ohio Nurses Association (ONA) is seeking artwork and text from ONA members for the unique line of greeting cards dedicated to people facing life’s most difficult challenges. Artwork and text should be sent via e-mail to Kathy@KathysCareCards.com or via CD or hardcopy to P.O. Box 1330, Westerville, OH, 43086. Submissions must be made no later than Jan. 30. Selected artwork and text will be announced in the March/April ONA newsletter and each card will have the artist’s bio on the inside of the card. For more information, contact Carrie Baker at ONA at 614.448.1029.

Risk Management Conference Hosts State Supreme Court Justice
The Ohio Society for Healthcare Risk Managers will hold its Winter Conference Jan. 20, with featured luncheon speaker Ohio Supreme Court Justice Terrence O’Donnell. O’Donnell will speak on challenges facing the Supreme Court of Ohio.

Those interested in attending the conference, being held at the Quest Business Center in Columbus, can learn more and register at www.ohanet.org/education/education_programs.asp.