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Monday,
April 17, 2006 OHA’s Annual Meeting, June 12-13, will usher in summer by bringing hospital employees together for educational sessions, networking and continuing education opportunities and a Recognition Dinner to honor exemplary hospital leaders and health care workers. This year’s meeting, Hospitals...at the Community’s Service, will offer more than 60 sessions on current hot issues as well as the change to visit with OHA Corporate Partners about the latest technology and cost-cutting measures. Detailed information on the educational programming, meal functions and keynote speakers is now available at www.ohanet.org/annualmeeting/. Visit this site to download registration materials for both the meeting and the OHA Recognition Dinner, honoring Ohio health care leaders and the Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year. Official programs with print registration materials will be sent to hospitals in the next several weeks. (Joe Ruggles, joer@ohanet.org) 100K Lives Campaign Nears Completion The Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI) 100,000 Lives Campaign set a goal to save 100,000 lives by June 14. As of April 1, an estimated 63,233 lives had been saved nationwide. More than 3,000 hospitals are enrolled and participating, and 111 of those are Ohio hospitals. IHI and other campaign partners are encouraging hospitals to take steps to deploy rapid response teams at the patient’s first sign of decline, deliver evidence-based heart attack care, and prevent adverse drug events, medication errors, central line infections, surgical site infections, and ventilator associated pneumonia to help reduce harm and deaths of patients. A recent article inaccurately stated that the hospitals participating in the 100,000 Lives Campaign will save only 61,000 lives by the June 14 deadline. This number was the estimate of the current lives saved as of March 13. The deadline results are not final, but are on target to reach the goal. View more information about the campaign at www.ihi.org/IHI/Programs/Campaign/. (Rosalie Weakland, rosaliew@ohanet.org).
Wednesday,
April 19, 2006 CMS’ proposed rule would entail a two-step notice process when discharging patients from the hospital level of care that would be similar to that followed by home health agencies and skilled nursing facilities. The new process would include the patient’s prospective discharge date, the date coverage ends and financial responsibility for continued services would begin, and the right to an expedited review and other appeals. Ohio hospitals can provide feedback on the proposed rule until 5 p.m. on June 5. View the complete proposal and comment information at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/pdf/06-3264.pdf. Please send a copy of your comments to Charles Cataline at OHA at charlesc@ohanet.org. (Charles Cataline, charlesc@ohanet.org)
Thursday,
April 20, 2006 Looking to accurately reflect the cost of hospital services and level the playing field between specialty and community hospitals, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) last week proposed a new prospective payment system to weight diagnostic related groups (DRG) based on hospital costs rather than charges. The new payment system for inpatient care would go into effect Oct. 1 and take effect fully by 2008 or possibly earlier when CMS would replace the current 526 DRGs with a system of 861. The proposed change is designed to accurately reflect costs and prevent hospitals from being rewarded for treating high numbers of low-severity patients. CMS anticipates the new system may negatively affect payments to specialty hospitals, but prove positive for rural hospitals with low-profitability services. The proposed rule will be published in the April 25 Federal Register. An OHA member bulletin with more information is available at www.ohanet.org/Bulletins/2006/06-005.htm. Public comments are due June 12. (Charles Cataline, charlesc@ohanet.org)CMS to Hold Telephone Conference on Physician Voluntary Reporting Program On Tuesday, April 25, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Chicago Regional Office, is inviting physicians and hospitals to participate in a conference call with Susan Nedza, MD, MBA, FACEP, chief medical officer, to discuss the recent roll-out of the Physician Voluntary Reporting Program (PVRP), which was initiated Jan. 1. The call will cover PVRP background and infrastructure. Implementation of the PVRP will help physicians prepare for Medicare's transition to pay-for-performance reimbursement systems and CMS is hoping for a productive discussion. CMS' objectives are to provide an overview of the program, identify physician recruitment issues and respond to callers questions and concerns. The call is scheduled for 1 - 2 p.m., on Tuesday, April 25. The dial in number is 1.800.448.4232, option #4, participant pin code 913727. An alternate call in number is 1.410.786.3100, same pin code. (Charles Cataline, charlesc@ohanet.org)
Friday, April 21, 2006 The May 1 deadline is approaching for hospitals and other entities that offer medical malpractice insurance to submit information regarding medical liability claims closed during the preceding year to the Ohio Department of Insurance (ODI). Adopted in 2005, OAC 3901-1-64 requires that these organizations submit information on medical liability claims to enable ODI to monitor claims frequency and severity trends in the Ohio market, including the large number of self-insured providers. Visit www.ohioinsurance.gov/agent/medmal.htm to obtain a copy of the application needed to submit claims information. For information on this and other medical liability insurance legislation and regulations, visit www.ohanet.org/med-mal/legislation/. (Rick Sites, ricks@ohanet.org)Hospitals Encouraged to Act Now on Free Tobacco Treatment Training Hospital employees should register now to secure one of the remaining slots for a free training available in May on incorporating tobacco treatment into clinical practices, increasing the use of tobacco cessation services and becoming a designated Ohio Quit Site. OHA’s Foundation for Healthy Communities and the Hospital Council of Northwest Ohio are providing this training to hospitals through a grant from the Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Foundation. The workshops are targeted to clinical directors or clinicians, cardiopulmonary staffs and others who have influence on patients identified as tobacco users. The Get in Line with the Tobacco Treatment Clinical Guidelines training will feature a national expert on tobacco control and outline how hospitals can use resources such as the Ohio Tobacco Quit Line. Participants will also earn continuing education credits. For more information and to register for the training nearest you, visit www.healthycommunitiesohio.org/quitsites.asp. Contact Susan Zabo, OHA, at 614.221.7614 or susanz@ohanet.org with other questions. © 2001-2008 OHA. Last updated
January 03, 2008. |
