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Monday, February 20, 2006 Ohio Supreme Court Races Underway Though Election Day may be months away, the Ohio Supreme Court races are well beyond the starting gate. Though Republican candidates will avoid dispute in the May 2 primary, Democrats face contested races to nominate candidates for two open seats on the court. Judge William O’Neill of the 11th Ohio District Court of Appeals and Judge A.J. Wagner of Dayton, who serves on Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, will appear on the primary ballot. The winner will run against Republican Justice Terrence O’Donnell, who beat Judge O’Neill in 2004 and served the remaining term of former Justice Deborah Cook, now a federal appeals court judge. Attorney Ben Espy and Judge Peter Sikora of Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court will seek the Democratic nomination for the second available seat on the Ohio Supreme Court, a seat previously filled by the court’s sole Democratic Justice Alice Resnick, who chose not to seek re-election. The winner will run against Judge Robert Cupp of the 3rd Ohio District Court of Appeals in the general election. OHA’s Political Action Committee, Friends of Ohio Hospitals, will research the candidates and make endorsement recommendations after the May 2 primary. (Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org)
Hospitals’
Heartbeat
Loretta McCollum, RN, C.D.E.
A look inside
Loretta’s nomination –
OHA Supports a Smoke Free Ohio, Encourages Others to Help As a member of the SmokeFreeOhio coalition, OHA will work alongside other partner organizations to enact a ban on smoking in all indoor public places, including bars and restaurants. The coalition, led by the American Cancer Society and supported by partners such as the Association of Ohio Health Commissioners, OHA and the Ohio State Medical Association, has started the process of putting a clean indoor air standard on the November 2006 ballot.
OHA anticipates the legislature will not enact the language as presented in January, and the association will be working with the coalition on next steps for taking the issue to Ohio voters, most importantly the collection of signatures. To secure a November vote, the coalition must gather at least 97,000 valid signatures between May 4 and Aug. 1. Individuals interested in assisting with the signature collection drive and organizations wishing to endorse the effort can sign up at www.SmokeFreeOhio.org. The site also includes additional information and a mailing list sign-up. (Stacey Conrad, staceyc@ohanet.org) CMS to host Teleconference on National Provider Identifer The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will host a free audio-conference Feb. 22 from 1-2 p.m. on the National Provider Identifier (NPI) standard, NPI: Beyond the Tip of the Iceberg. The conference will address the NPI questions to ask as an organization’s subparts enumeration and crosswalks are accomplished. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires the standard unique identifier on electronic claims and other standard electronic transactions by May 23, 2007. Fifteen minutes prior to the call start time, call 877.203.0044 and provide the conference ID number 4199233. For more information or to access a related PowerPoint presentation, view the informational flyer at http://www.sharpworkgroup.com/presentations/HIPAATeleconferenceflier8.pdf. Wednesday, February 22, 2006 Ohio Hospitals Lead the Way The nursing staff at Riverside Methodist Hospital, Columbus, was awarded magnet status by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the highest commendation for nursing care. Debra Watkins, RN, nurse manager at Dayton VA Medical Center, received a national Cherokee Inspired Comfort Award for her exceptional service, sacrifice, innovation and positive impact on the lives of others. The employees of Lake Hospital System, Painesville, and the Lake Hospital Foundation donated cash and gift cards totaling nearly $22,000 to those affected by Hurricane Katrina. Akron General Medical Center, Parma Community Hospital, University Hospitals of Cleveland and Lake Hospital System, Painesville, were named among the 50 healthiest employers in Northern Ohio for promoting health and wellness in the workplace. Child magazine ranked Children’s Hospital, Columbus, second in the nation in providing outstanding Pediatric Emergency Medical Care. Fostoria Community Hospital received a Cheers Award from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists for development of a companion tool to help determine the proper dosage of medicine for patients. Licking Memorial Hospital, Newark, earned ISO 9001:2000 certification, recognizing their adherence to quality management procedures. The American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer accredited Lima Memorial Health System’s cancer program. ProMedica Health System, Toledo, topped the list of integrated health networks in the United States in the 2006 Verispan assessment, published in the Feb. 6 issue of Modern Healthcare. TriHealth, Cincinnati; OhioHealth, Columbus; University Hospitals Health System, Cleveland; and MetroHealth System, Cleveland also made the list. Several Ohio hospital Web sites received national eHealthcare Leadership Awards for their Web site: Lima Memorial Health System received a Gold Award for health content, Children’s Hospital, Columbus, received a Platinum Award for its employee recruitment site. The Cleveland Clinic was honored for its overall site, health content, heart center site, family health & surgery centers site, nursing recruitment site, bariatric surgery site and its World Class Ideas Program. (Mary Sterenberg, marys@ohanet.org) BWC Suggests Programs to Improve Safety, Decrease Costs Ohio hospitals work to ensure the safety of not only patients but of the many health care workers in their organizations. The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation encourages hospitals to consider several programs to help them achieve a higher level of safety and reduce workers’ compensation costs. A Salary Continuation Policy allows companies to pay salary continuation in lieu of workers’ compensation payments, reducing an organization’s BWC claims, which can lower long-term costs and ensure continuing eligibility in Group Workers’ Compensation Programs. BWC recommends that hospitals work with their Workers’ Compensation Actuarial Company to develop Salary Continuation Policies and set specific parameters for these programs. Transitional Duty Programs allow employees to return to work and complete certain duties based on their health restrictions until they fully recover. The organization works to accommodate the injured worker until they are able to take on their full job responsibilities again. Health care concerns come first, and allowing employees to transition back to their full workload often speeds up the recovery process while reducing costs to the organization. For more information on Salary Continuation Policies or Transitional Duty Programs, call American Safety & Health Management Consultants, Inc., at 1.800.356.1274. Thursday, February 23, 2006 Health Care Worker Award Deadline Extended Think you missed your chance to participate in this year’s Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year Award? Think again! OHA has extended the deadline for this award to Monday, March 6 to give every hospital once last chance to recognize a dynamic employee in this statewide awards program. Download nomination materials at www.ohanet.org/annualmeeting/Awards/. All nominations must be made using the official nomination form and sent electronically to Donna Dugas at donnad@ohanet.org. OHA thanks the over 70 hospitals that have already nominated a dynamic individual, each of whom is invited to attend the OHA Recognition Dinner in Columbus June 12. (Tiffany Himmelreich, tiffanyh@ohanet.org) Board Approves 2006 HCAP Model At its most recent meeting, the OHA Board of Trustees made its final recommendations on the Hospital Care Assurance Program (HCAP) for 2006. Based on recommendations from the OHA Finance Committee and HCAP Task Force, the Board-approved model will continue to distribute funds using much of the same policy from 2005. However, the Board did recommend that ODJFS redistribute funds from the rural hospital pot to the critical access hospital (CAH) pot to reflect the increasing number of CAHs, and alter this year’s Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) cap multiplier to 110 percent for public hospitals.
OHA staff updated the Board on the state’s plan to bolster enrollment in Medicaid managed care plans by over 725,000 beneficiaries by the end of 2006. Staff also outlined OHA’s plans to seek an update in outpatient reimbursement under Medicaid and seek language to allow hospitals to waive a new $3 Medicaid co-payment for inappropriate emergency room use.
The Board also received an update on proposed cuts to Medicare and Medicaid in President George W. Bush’s budget proposal and a review of the American Hospital Association’s Seven Steps to a Healthier America. More about the Seven Steps is online at www.hospitalconnect.com/aha/campaign2004/. (Jim Castle, jimc@ohanet.org)
Hospitals’ Heartbeat A 2005 nominee for the Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year Award
Betsy Trame, M.Ed., P.T. Manager of Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation Services Lima Memorial Health System, Lima
A look inside Betsy’s nomination –
Betsy Trame
had a stable teaching career but knew physical therapy was her
true calling. Bravely, Betsy used her teaching retirement and
home equity to return to school. She completed her goal to
become a physical therapist and has been giving back to her
patients and co-workers ever since. New physical therapy
programs have been developed under her management. She
sacrifices personal time to ensure her patients and staff are
successful; one reason both patients and staff have full
confidence and trust in Betsy. Her community outreach includes
health fairs, speaking to groups and motivating patients by
example. She is an adjunct faculty member at Findlay University
and is an active member in her community. Her recent diagnoses
and treatment of cancer has only motivated Betsy to be a better
physical therapist and manager.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will host a Special Open Door Forum Wednesday, March 8 from 2-3:30 p.m. about its proposed strategic and implementing plan for studying certain specialty hospital issues, required by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA). CMS seeks public comment until March 31 on the proposed methodology to develop the strategic plans. Submit comments for inclusion in OHA's comments to Mary Gallagher at OHA (maryg@ohanet.org), or submit comments directly to CMS, addressed to Donald Romano, director of the division for technical payment policy at CMS, at Donald.Romano@cms.hhs.gov. Section 5006 of the DRA, enacted Feb. 8, requires the development of a “strategic and implementing plan” regarding whether the physician investment in a specialty hospital is proportional, whether the investment is a bona fide investment and whether CMS should require annual disclosure of investment information. CMS must also consider the provision by specialty hospitals of care to Medicare patients, patients receiving medical assistance under a state demonstration project approved under title XI of the DRA and patients receiving charity care. To participate in the forum, call 1.800.837.1935 and reference conference ID 5845625. To access an audio recording of the call, available for four days following the forum, call 1.800.642.1687 and reference conference ID 5845625. © 2001-2008 OHA. Last updated
January 03, 2008. |
