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Monday, May 15, 2006 OHA Solutions Partners with ShiftWise to Bring Staffing Software to Ohio OHA Solutions, a subsidiary of OHA, has worked with ShiftWise to bring a new Web-based Staffing Management Program, Internal Resource Pool (IRP) Software to Ohio. IRP will provide work schedules with improved flexibility for hospital staff and will save money by helping Ohio hospitals to utilize internal employees to cover shifts before turning to outside staffing vendors.
Through
IRP, Ohio hospitals will be able to post open shifts and
allow internal staff to choose their own schedule and safely
post their availability online. It also provides a program
in which hospital systems can share staff among their
affiliated facilities. For more information on IRP or OHA
Solutions, visit
www.ohasolutions.com. (Dan Paoletti,
danp@ohanet.org; Nancy Melcher-Webb,
nwebb@ohanet.org)
Tuesday, May 16, 2006 If the legislation is enacted with the amendment, prosecutors will be able to use any test results relevant to OVI cases—including those order by health care providers—to convict persons driving under the influence. It will override an Ohio Supreme Court ruling in 2005 that found inadmissible all alcohol and drug results from labs that did not comply with ODH regulations. Sponsored by Rep. Larry Wolpert (R-Hillard), HB 461 would increase the prison term for aggregated vehicular homicide when the offender has prior convictions. The bill was voted out of the House Criminal Justice Committee this week and now heads to the Ohio House of Representatives for a vote. (Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org) NQF Proposes Revisions to Consensus Standards, Seeks Comments The National Quality Forum released for comment proposed revisions to its consensus standards for safe practices and serious reportable events. Comments are due June 15 for the revised reportable events standards, available at www.qualityforum.org/docs/safe-practices/txSRE_web_all_FINAL.doc.pdf, and June 29 for the revised safe practices standards, available at www.qualityforum.org/docs/safe-practices/txSafePracticesforWeb05-10-06.pdf. The proposed revisions to the safe practices standards are the most substantive. (Rosalie Weakland, rosaliew@ohanet.org) 2006 OHA Annual Meeting Focuses on Top Hospital Issues With more than 60 educational sessions, the 2006 OHA Annual Meeting June 12-13 offers information and resources to help hospital associates address the challenges they face in a host of different areas. The Annual Meeting focuses on the key issues of interest to the hospital community and this year those issues fall into the following 12 topic areas: business development, compliance, finance, health lifestyles, leadership & strategy, organizational development, patient satisfaction, performance improvement, physician relations, public relations, risk management and workforce. To view descriptions of the specific sessions offered in each of these tracks, or to learn more about the 2006 OHA Annual Meeting, visit www.ohanet.org/annualmeeting/default.asp. This site also contains registration materials. (Joe Ruggles, joer@ohanet.org)
Thursday,
May 18, 2006 After two years of OHA advocacy efforts, legislation that will make additional information on hospital quality and pricing available to consumers passed the Senate Health, Human Services and Aging Committee yesterday and will likely receive approval from both the House and Senate by the end of next week. House Bill 197, sponsored by Rep. Jim Raussen (R-Cincinnati) passed out of committee following OHA’s final testimony by Wayne Wheeler, M.D., medical director of external and government affairs at Southern Ohio Medical Center in Portsmouth. Dr. Wheeler shared OHA’s support for the legislation with the final inclusion of an amendment offered by Sen. David Goodman (R-Columbus). The amendment addressed OHA concerns that requiring hospitals to submit all National Quality Forum standards in addition to the other reported data would result in hospitals submitting hundred of measures to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH). The amendment states that the ODH director, when promulgating rules for the submission of quality measures, will choose from those of the Centers for Medicaid Services, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, Agency for Healthcare Research and limited measures of the National Quality Forum. And the director must consider any financial or administrative burdens that may be imposed on hospitals before requiring them to submit a quality measure. OHA was also successful in deleting previous hospital quality reporting requirements that date back to 1998. OHA will begin working the ODH to provide reliable quality and pricing data to Ohioans through a user-friendly Web site. For more information on the issue of public disclosure, visit www.ohanet.org/advocacy/state/issues/public_disclosure.htm. (Jeff Klingler, jeffk@ohanet.org) Board Moves Ahead on Community Benefit Report At its most recent meeting, the OHA Board of Trustees directed OHA staff to continue collecting data and educating members on the upcoming statewide community benefit report, set for release this summer. The report will include hospital-specific data including Medicaid losses, Medicare losses, uncompensated care – broken out by charity care and bad debt – and community activities. Hospital CEOs and CFOs received a preview of their data in a mailing late last week for final review. The Board also endorsed the recently released American Hospital Association policy on tax exemption as consistent with the OHA policy previously adopted by the Board in August of 2005. OHA is exploring a series of regional meetings to share the policy with member hospitals and seek additional member input. In light of the current spotlight on transparency, the Board discussed challenges facing hospitals related to transparency of quality and pricing information. The two main challenges discussed were the multiple audiences demanding the data and the ability to ensure the data is reliable and valid. The Board also heard a 2006 election forecast on the major Ohio races with implications for hospitals, including the races for governor, Ohio Supreme Court, state auditor and attorney general. The Board also looked ahead to the 2006 fundraising campaign of the OHA political action committee (PAC), Friends of Ohio Hospitals. More information about the PAC is available at www.friendsofohiohospitals.org. The Board was also updated on a new CEO publication, CEOhio, an e-newsletter designed to give hospital executives an early look at upcoming issues. The weekly communication will begin May 22. (Jim Castle, jimc@ohanet.org)
Friday, May 19, 2006 Knowing it is a question of “when” and not “if” the next pandemic influenza will hit the U.S., hospitals are making preparations for a scenario that would leave them treating an overwhelming number of patients with the three-fourths of their staffs not affected themselves. Achieving the best care possible when a pandemic hits will take collaboration both before and during the outbreak—hospitals, public health, business leaders and others in the community must work together. OHA and ODH are developing a list of “triggers”—factors such as a rising number of flu cases in Asia or other parts of the world—that would give hospitals and communities early notice of a potential pandemic influenza occurrence. A syndromic surveillance system currently in place at 36 Ohio hospitals will expand to 70 total hospitals by the end of the year, providing health departments with the needed representative sample of what is occurring statewide. The system analyzes patients’ symptoms as documented by caregivers, tracking trends and alerting the hospital and local health department when numbers surpass established thresholds. Another major thrust of hospitals’ planning is the careful examination of their surge capacity and the identification of locations where they can send overflow patients for treatment. Hospitals look to other health care providers and community leaders to help them secure alternative care sites such as nursing homes and health centers for overflow patients, and also to help educate members of the community on how to protect themselves. Pandemic influenza will strike again—many will be sick and some will die. But preplanning and technology will help Ohio’s hospitals catch it early, and the responses by hospitals and their communities will reduce the number of people who get sick and ensure that care is available for everyone who needs it. View the complete May Healthbeat for more information at www.ohanet.org/healthbeat/2006/0506.htm. (Carol Jacobson, carolj@ohanet.org) ACHE Offers Strategic Repositioning Seminar The American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) will offer a Category 1 seminar, Strategic Repositioning: Managing the Transition to Being a Great Hospital, June 11 preceding OHA’s Annual Meeting. Awarding six hours ACHE Category 1 credit, the session will discuss recent changes in the marketplace that are requiring a new or revamped Integrated Delivery System model. Particular attention will be focused on realignment of physician relationships with the new business model. To learn more or register for this program, visit www.ohanet.org/education/ACHEbrochureJune06.pdf. (Joe Ruggles, joer@ohanet.org) © 2001-2008 OHA. Last updated
January 03, 2008. |
