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Monday,
May 22, 2006
For hospitals to participate in the OHA safety campaign they must submit the information on workplace safety they are required to maintain for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The safety awards were created in 1953 by OHA and the Industrial Commission of Ohio to promote workplace safety. View a full list of the Ohio hospitals recognized for superior safety programs this year at www.ohanet.org/annualmeeting/Awards/recipients/safety_awards.htm. (Rhonda Major-Mack, rhondam@ohanet.org )
CMS Posts Proposed Quality Reporting Criteria for Annual Payment Update The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently posted to its Web site proposed criteria for the quality portion of the Annual Payment Update for fiscal year 2007. To receive the full annual payment update, the proposed regulations include:
If the
hospital is not compliant with the requirements it will receive
a 2.0% reduction in payment. The
document is listed as CMS-1488-P at
www.cms.hhs.gov/AcuteInpatientPPS/IPPS/list.asp. The portion
discussing the proposed criteria for RHQDAPU begins on page 326.
Comments will be accepted until June 12 and submission
instructions are included in the document starting on page 2.
(Rosalie Weakland,
rosaliew@ohanet.org)
Tuesday, May 23, 2006 The study, which examined 1,452 claims resolved between 1984 and 2004, found three percent of claims analyzed were filed by patients who had no injury, and 37 percent of cases lacked evidence of a medical mistake. Most of the cases without error – 72 percent – were thrown out or otherwise resolved without a payment. Overall, claims not involving medical errors accounted for 13 to 16 percent of the total payouts in settlements or verdicts. The combined payout for all cases studied was $449 million in verdicts and settlements. Findings also indicate the overhead costs of malpractice litigation are exorbitant. For every dollar spent on compensation, 54 cents went to administrative expenses, including lawyers, experts and court costs. The NEJM article is available online at http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/354/19/2024. (Rick Sites, ricks@ohanet.org)
Wednesday,
May 24, 2006 To address these concerns, in October of 2005, the International Code Council created a new section to the Flammable and Combustibles Liquids chapter of the International Fire Code to provide detailed criteria on the use and storage of alcohol-based hand rubs. Earlier this year, the National Fire Protection Association adopted the 2006 Life Safety Code with new language addressing the use of alcohol based hand rubs. Ohio follows the International Fire Code, and CMS requires compliance with the Life Safety Code. Both updates include parallel guidelines to CMS’ Amendment to Fire Safety Requirements for Certain Health Care Facilities, which was issued in the Federal Register March 25, 2005. This amendment will allow certain health care facilities to place alcohol-based hand rub dispensers in egress corridors under specified conditions. More information is available at www.ashe.org/ashe/codes/handrub/index.html. (Rick Sites, ricks@ohanet.org) Joint Commission Invites Input for Certification of Organ Transplant Centers Over the past 16 years, organ transplants across the nation have increased significantly and the demands for quality oversight of the transplant centers that perform these life-saving procedures also has grown. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) is seeking comments on a proposed new certification program designed to provide an independent, comprehensive evaluation of hospital-based Organ Transplant Center programs. The requirements proposed are based on the January 2005 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Proposed Rule for Approval and Re-Approval of Transplant Centers to Perform Organ Transplants. The proposed requirements are available for comments until July 7 at www.jointcommision.org/standards/fieldreviews/. (Rosalie Weakland, rosaliew@ohanet.org)
Thursday,
May 25, 2006 OHA supports House Bill 197, sponsored by Rep. Jim Raussen (R-Cincinnati), after an amendment offered in Senate Health Committee last week by Senator David Goodman (R-Bexley) addressed hospitals' outstanding concerns on which quality indicators hospitals should be required to submit to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH). In a separate amendment obtained by OHA, hospitals will no longer be required to submit quality reports that they have been submitting to ODH since the late 1990s. Senate Health Committee Chairman Kevin Coughlin (R-Akron) offered the amendment, deleting what are commonly referred to as the Senate Bill 50 quality reports so ODH staff can shift its focus to the new reporting requirements under HB 197. Once the law takes effect, which should be mid September, OHA will begin working with ODH to help hospitals comply with the new data disclosure requirements. The following is a timeline for some of the new requirements under the bill:
OHA will provide a member bulletin with additional details in the coming weeks. For more information on the issue of public disclosure, visit www.ohanet.org/advocacy/state/issues/public_disclosure.htm. (Jeff Klingler, jeffk@ohanet.org)
Friday, May 26, 2006 Thanks in part to lobbying efforts of the hospital community, the U.S. House of Representatives this week approved a fiscal year 2007 budget resolution that excludes specific cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. The resolution also includes a nonbinding amendment to allow roughly $7.1 billion in increased funding for discretionary programs administrated by the U.S. Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services if offsetting cuts to other programs can be negotiated with the Senate. Under a separate amendment, at least $1 billion of these offsets would come from an Iraq reconstruction fund. The Senate also approved a budget resolution that would bolster federal spending by $7.1 billion and exclude Medicare and Medicaid cuts. The resolution, which passed the House along party lines, now goes to a conference committee between the House and Senate to iron out differences. It remains unclear whether conservatives and moderates will be able to agree on a mutual budget resolution. Absent a mutual resolution, each chamber will continue its budget and appropriations process under the terms of its own budget resolution. The budget resolution is a nonbinding blueprint for congressional appropriation bills and is the first step in the annual budget process. (Jonathan Archey, jonathana@ohanet.org) TEL Language No Longer Includes Limits to Local Government Funds This week the Ohio House and Senate approved several amendments to Senate Bill 321, the $763 tobacco settlement proposal, which amend the state spending cap as proposed by Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell. Included were the following provisions:
A document prepared by the Ohio Legislative Service Commission outlining the impact of this proposal, along with the distribution of the tobacco settlement, is available at www.lbo.state.oh.us/fiscal/fiscalnotes/126ga/SB0321HR.htm. The legislature also adopted an amendment that changes Ohio’s petition law by allowing TEL supporters to withdraw it from consideration on the November general election ballot. In addition, a hearing is scheduled for June 9 to invalidate the TEL petitions. By all accounts, the TEL language will be removed from the ballot. (Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org) © 2001-2008 OHA. Last updated
January 03, 2008. |
