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Monday, January 16, 2006
 OHA Seeking Award Nominations

OHA is now accepting nominations for the 2006 Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year Award along with its other prestigious health care leadership awards.

 

The Health Care Worker of the Year Award honors caregivers who routinely go beyond the call of duty and give back to the community. Every hospital is encouraged to nominate one individual to represent the facility and be celebrated at the OHA Recognition Dinner June 12, in conjunction with the OHA Annual Meeting June 12-13 at the Hilton Columbus at Easton. The ultimate recipient of the award and four finalists will be named during the event.

 

Also honored at the dinner are recipients of OHA’s health care leadership awards including: Donald R. Newkirk Award, Distinguished Service Award, Meritorious Service Award, John Chapman Award, and William C. Kelley Safety Leadership Award; and the Ohio Society for Healthcare Consumer Advocacy’s award.

 

Public relations representatives were mailed nomination materials last week. They are also available online at www.ohanet.org/annualmeeting/Awards/. Nominations for all awards must be submitted electronically by Feb. 17 using an official nomination form (one form for the Health Care Worker of the Year Award, a separate form for health care leadership awards) to Donna Dugas (donnad@ohanet.org). Hospitals may submit a nomination for more than one health care leadership award, but are limited to only one nomination per facility for the Health Care Worker of the Year Award. (Tiffany Himmelreich, tiffanyh@ohanet.org)

 

Tuesday, January 17, 2006
 CDC Updates TB Prevention Guidelines
At the end of December, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued reassessed and updated tuberculosis (TB) infection control guidelines for health care settings. The report updates recommendations issued in 1994 to reflect shifts in the epidemiology of TB, advances in scientific understanding, and changes in U.S. health care practice. It also notes that TB transmission in health care settings continues to decrease due to the implementation of infection-control measures and reduction in community rates of TB.

Many of the report’s changes will benefit health care settings, including a broader concept of health care settings, the simplification of risk assessment determinations, a decrease in TB screening and the determination of screening frequency for health care workers, and the recommendation for only periodic respirator fit-testing based on specific criteria. However, concerns remain regarding the recommendation for N95 respirators, as evidence for preventing transmission is not conclusive. A copy of the complete report is available at www.cdc.gov/mmwr. (Carol Jacobson, carolj@ohanet.org)

 

Medicare, Medicaid-Eligible Ohioans Receive Rx Assistance

Gov. Bob Taft last week announced co-payment assistance for dually-eligible Medicare and Medicaid Ohioans who are experiencing difficulties accessing prescription drug coverage through the new federal Medicare Part D program. Though dual eligible beneficiaries should have co-pays of no more than five dollars, federal computer systems are misidentifying many people as ineligible and charging significantly higher co-pays. Taft directed the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) to guarantee the difference to pharmacists until the end of the month. At that time, the state will review the situation and determine the need for further assistance. ODJFS will communicate directly with pharmacies regarding details of this effort. For more information, view a news release at http://governor.ohio.gov/releases/011306Medicare.htm or visit the the Access to Benefits Coalition’s Ohio Chapter Web site at www.oashf.org/Access%20to%20Benefits%20Coalition,%20Ohio%20Chapter.htm. (Berna Bell, bernab@ohanet.org)

 

Savings Event Offered to Health Care Professionals

Borders® and Waldenbooks® stores nationwide will offer a Healthcare and Fitness Professional Savings event at stores nationwide Friday, Jan. 20, through Monday, Jan. 23. All health care and fitness professionals, including doctors, nurses, paramedics, speech pathologists, mental health professionals, veterinarians, pharmacists, alternative medicine practitioners, dentists, researchers, dieticians, physician assistants, massage therapists, sports trainers, etc. are invited to save 20 percent on all regularly priced books, CDs, DVDs and gift items.

To participate in this savings event, eligible customers should visit www.bordersstores.com/healthcare for a downloadable coupon. Feel free to circulate the above link to health care colleagues.

 

Wednesday, January 18, 2006
 Franklin Becomes Mandatory Managed Care County
As part of its expansion of the Medicaid managed care program, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services recently signed a provider agreement with Molina Healthcare of Ohio, Inc., to provide Medicaid-covered services to Covered Families and Children (CFC) Medicaid consumers in Franklin County. Effective Dec. 28, 2005, consumers in the Franklin County market have the choice of two managed care plans: CareSource and Molina.

With the addition of this second plan, Franklin County became a mandatory managed care enrollment county. Eligible CFC consumers not enrolled in a managed care program will soon receive notification that they must choose a program for themselves and eligible family members.

 

For more information, Medicaid providers should contact the managed care plans directly at: CareSource, 1.877.725.4577; Molina, 614.781.4304. Consumers may contact the state’s Selection Services Center at 1.800.605.3040 for more information or help in choosing a plan. (Berna Bell, bernab@ohanet.org) 

 

Pediatric Hearing Conference Available to Audiologists

Audiologists are invited to attend the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management’s (NCHAM) three-part workshop “Auditory Evaluation for Infants Referred from Newborn Hearing Screening.” The sessions will update participants on new skills in pediatric assessment of hearing loss. The first part, Feb. 27-April 12, consists of weekly chat room discussion and online reading. Part two is an onsite workshop April 27 and 28 with hands-on training. The final part, May 1 to Sept. 30, provides practicum experience. The cost is $175. The registration deadline is Feb. 13. Online registration is available at www.infanthearing.org.

 

Hospitals’ Heartbeat

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

 

Jimmy Mann, Sr., M.Div.

Chaplain, Pastoral Care

Good Samaritan Hospital, Dayton

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A look inside Jimmy’s nomination –

Jimmy Mann Sr, a chaplain at Dayton’s Good Samaritan Hospital, is founding pastor of the All Nations Bible Fellowship and founder/director of Project Hope, Inc.

 

Thanks to Jimmy Mann’s pastoral commitment over the past 10 years, the multiethnic, cross-cultural All Nations Bible Fellowship has grown from a handful of people meeting in the Mann’s’ living room to a congregation of 150 in one of Dayton’s toughest neighborhoods. In addition, the now six-year-old Project Hope, Inc is one of only two bereavement-counseling services for children in the Dayton area. Project Hope has overcome tremendous odds to reach 250 children with a life-changing message: We’re going to love you, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

 

 

Thursday, January 19, 2006
 Foundation Seeks Proposals for Work Site Wellness Partnerships

The Foundation for Healthy Communities is requesting grant proposals from hospitals outlining work site wellness partnerships with local businesses and community organizations. The foundation will distribute $425,000 in total funding, in $10,000 to $25,000 non-renewable grants. The grants aim to increase the quality and quantity of work site wellness programs in Ohio and position hospitals as hubs of health expertise, health education services and wellness resources. Hospitals will channel awarded funds into their partners’ programs, provide support for activities and offer services to make the programs successful.

 

All Request for Proposal documents are available at http://www.healthycommunitiesohio.org/grants_howtoapply.asp. Three copies of the proposal and an electronic version on disk are due by 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17 for a grant period of April 2006-June 30, 2007. Contact Lynne Ayres or Maggie Williams at 614.221.7614 or by e-mail at lynnea@ohanet.org or maggiew@ohanet.org with questions. The Healthy Ohioans in Healthy Workplaces grants supplement the 10 Hospital as the Healthiest Workplaces in Ohio! grants the foundation is currently supporting. These grants, totaling $200,025, support hospital employee wellness programs. (Lynne Ayres, lynnea@ohanet.org)

 

JCAHO Requests Hospital Input on Field Reviews

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) posted two topics for field review, accepting comments on a proposed staff influenza immunization standard as well as on proposed revisions to the plan of care for anesthesia.

 

JCAHO will accept comments from hospitals until Feb. 9 on whether influenza vaccination should be mandatory among caregivers in various health care settings, which groups of individuals should be vaccinated, whether the option to decline vaccination for certain reasons should be allowed and how organizations can track declination rates.

 

The plan of care for anesthesia standard currently requires that a licensed independent practitioner with appropriate clinical privileges either plan the administration of moderate to deep sedation or general anesthesia or concur with the planned administration of the anesthesia. To eliminate confusion, the revision would substitute the word “agree” for “concur” and stipulate that both the practitioner administering the anesthesia and the practitioner performing the surgery must agree that the patient is an appropriate candidate for the planned anesthesia. Proposed language also addresses situations without a licensed independent practitioner. Comments will be accepted until Feb. 10. View the field reviews at www.jcaho.org/accredited+organizations/field_reviews.htm. Please send a copy of all submitted comments to Rosalie Weakland at rosaliew@ohanet.org.

 

Hospital Receives Critical Access Designation
Fulton County Health Center in Wauseon was granted Critical Access Hospital (CAH) designation, effective Dec. 31, 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 this facility, 34 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)

 

Hospitals’ Heartbeat

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

 

Patricia McDonnell       

Department Secretary, Rehabilitation Services Department

Grady Memorial Hospital, Delaware

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A look inside Patricia’s nomination –

The quote, “There is no ‘I’ in TEAM,” while not authored by Pat, is epitomized by her.  She is a visionary with a steadfast mission to improve patient care regardless of credit.  Her indirect patient care initiatives have transformed patient experiences by minimizing or eliminating patient registration processes, appointment wait time, and redundancy in data collection. Other processes enabled external benchmarking to drive performance improvement initiatives, and maximized staff direct patient care time.  Pat’s “informal leadership” status is well respected and utilized throughout the hospital.   Her healthcare career is a testimony to integrity, compassion, and quality. She consistently gives all, which appears 150% more than most.  While "good may be the enemy of great," I have only known Pat to do good, with consistently great results.  

 

 

Friday, January 20, 2006

MedPAC Recommends Lower Hospital Update

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) this week recommended a Medicare payment update of market basket minus half of expected productivity growth for hospital inpatient and outpatient services in fiscal year 2007. With an anticipated increase in the market basket of 3.4 percent for fiscal year 2007 and an expected productivity growth target of 0.9 percent, MedPAC’s recommendation to Congress would be 2.95 percent for services effective Oct. 1, 2006.

 

Though it recommended reduced payments, MedPAC dropped the outpatient low-volume adjustment it proposed for small rural hospitals last month. The commission also voted to provide an update to physicians equal to inflation minus 0.9 percent, but recommended no update for skilled nursing facilities, inpatient rehab facilities, long-term care hospitals or home health agencies. (Charles Cataline, charlesc@ohanet.org)

 

ODI Reports Less Sharp Med Mal Rate Hikes

The Ohio Department of Insurance (ODI) this week announced medical liability rates of Ohio’s top five med mal insurers, which represent 67 percent of the market, increased 6.7 percent in 2005, compared to double-digit increases in recent years.  In 2004, rates increased 20 percent and were up to a 30 percent increase in 2002 and 2003.

 

The provider community continues looking to tort reform legislation passed in 2003 capping medical liability non-economic damages as another measure to control costs in the future. More information about Ohio’s medical liability insurance crisis is available at www.ohanet.org/med-mal/ or www.AskYourDoctorOhio.com/.

 

2006 Most Wired Survey Available

Hospitals and health systems can participate in the 2006 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study to measure their information technology efforts, available through March 15 at www.hhnmostwiredsurvey.com. Hospitals completing the survey may be named to the 2006 Hospitals & Health Networks list of 100 Most Wired, released by the American Hospital Association magazine in July.  Every participating organization received a benchmarking analysis of their data. User ID codes and passwords were mailed to hospital CEOs, but hospitals still needing these resources should e-mail mostwired@healthforum.com with the facility’s name, city and state.

© 2001-2008 OHA. Last updated January 03, 2008.
Please direct comments, corrections or additions to: oha@ohanet.org 614.221.7614.