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Monday,
June 26, 2006 The new Medicare prescription drug program offered the benefits of savings and security, which helped entice Medicare beneficiaries to enroll. Despite these efforts, 21.9 percent of Ohio’s 1.8 million potential Medicare beneficiaries still don’t have drug coverage. The Medicare Rx Access Network of Ohio is reminding the thousands of Ohioans who are eligible they can still apply between now and Nov. 15. View the Medicare agency’s final state by state enrollment data at www.cms.hhs.gov/PrescriptionDrugCovGenIn/02_EnrollmentData.asp#TopOfPage. Learn more in a related press release at http://hhs.gov/news/press/2006pres/20060614.html.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006 The administration appears poised to move ahead despite a letter from 82 Republican representatives stating, “The magnitude and scope of such proposals are such that input from Congress, states, health care providers and patient groups is essential in order to avoid serious, unintended consequences.” These regulations would limit payments to government safety net hospitals, restrict intergovernmental transfers and decrease allowable provider taxes, making it more difficult for hospitals to continue providing community services—ultimately having a negative impact on patients. Hospital advocates should urge their Republican officeholders to contact White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolton directly, asking the administration not to proceed with its planned cuts to Medicaid. Find contact information for local lawmakers at www.ohanet.org/advocacy/federal/lawlinks/lawmakersandlinks.htm. (Jonathan Archey, jonathana@ohanet.org)
Wednesday,
June 28, 2006 To learn more about the importance of Newborn Hearing Screenings view the UNHS annual report at www.ohanet.org/advocacy/state/issues/resources/unhs_report05.pdf. View an UNHS report form at www.ohanet.org/advocacy/state/issues/resources/screening_form.pdf. (Jean Scholz, jeans@ohanet.org) New Hospital Data Available on Hospital Compare Site The Hospital Compare Web site now includes the latest data from participating hospitals—data from patients discharges for a 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2005. Launched in April 2005, the Hospital Compare site enables patients and families to compare the performance of the nation’s acute care hospitals on 20 quality measures for care provided since 2004 to adult patients for heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and the prevention of surgical infections. Hospitals also are involved in the preliminary stages of a new national survey on patients’ perceptions of hospital care, with the first public reporting of results slated for late 2007. All eligible Ohio hospitals submit data for this voluntary initiative.
Hospital
Compare, available at
www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/,
is one of many resources available to help consumers make
informed health care decisions. OHA provides the Consumer’s
Guide to Quality Health Care in Ohio at
www.ohanet.org/portal/default.htm and patients also
should continue to consult physicians, family, friends and
insurance coverage before making health care decisions.
(Rosalie Weakland,
rosaliew@ohanet.org)
Thursday,
June 29, 2006 OHA staff collected signatures at the OHA Annual Meeting June 12-13 to help SmokeFreeOhio put a statewide smoke-free air law on the November ballot for Ohio voters. OHA will continue to gather signatures, but hospitals can also join this effort by visiting http://smokefreeohio.grassroots.com/webpages/SFOPetitionRegistration/ to obtain an updated petition and instruction sheet. The campaign must gather 100,000 signatures by July 31 to put the issue on the November ballot. For more information on SmokeFreeOhio, visit www.smokefreeohio.org/oh/. (Stacey Conrad, staceyc@ohanet.org)
Friday, June 30, 2006 Despite nine months of OHA requests to join forces, Attorney General Jim Petro yesterday released draft rules that would impose substantial disclosure, governance and operational requirements on all charitable organizations in Ohio, particularly tax-exempt hospitals. In a Sept. 6, 2005, letter, OHA attempted to initiate dialogue with Petro, where OHA “reach[ed] out to [Petro] in partnership as Ohio’s hospital community strives to enhance our accountability to the public.” OHA described the OHA Board of Trustees’ policies concerning community benefit reporting, executive compensation, conflict of interest, hospital charges, billing and discounts, and collection practices. View OHA’s letter at www.ohanet.org/advocacy/state/resources/petroletter090605.pdf. Although Petro declined to work with OHA, the association and Ohio hospitals moved forward on their own, leading efforts to strengthen hospital policies and procedures and improve community benefit reporting. While it is disappointing the attorney general released these draft rules without well-informed input, portions of Petro’s rules duplicate many of Ohio hospitals’ existing voluntary efforts. However, other portions of the rules miss the mark, demonstrating the state’s fundamental lack of understanding of Ohio’s valuable and complex hospital community. The rules, summary and instructions for comments are available at www.ag.state.oh.us/spotlight/cgrules.asp. In addition, all Ohio hospitals are encouraged to submit comments to OHA. (Mary Gallagher, maryg@ohanet.org) Hospitals Plan to Become Tobacco Quit Sites for Patients Forty-five Ohio hospitals will soon take their intervention efforts with tobacco-using patients to a higher level. In addition to identifying and advising patients about the need to quit using tobacco, they will become official Quit Sites, incorporating a process that includes referral of patients, with their permission, to the Ohio Tobacco Quit Line (1-800-QUIT-NOW). About 240 hospital representatives attended one of four “Get in Line with Clinical Practice Guidelines” training sessions sponsored by OHA’s Foundation for Healthy Communities, the Hospital Council of Northwest Ohio and the Northwest Ohio Strategic Alliance for Tobacco Control. Thirty-six percent of the attendees gave “wanting to become a Quit Site” as a reason to register for the training, second only to “learning more about tobacco addiction and treatment.” For a list of the Ohio Quit Site hospitals, visit www.healthycommunitiesohio.org/quitsites/Ohio%20Tobacco%20Quit%20Sites%20List.doc. Contact Lynne Ayres, director of the Foundation for Healthy Communities, at 614.221.7614 or lynnea@ohanet.org for more information. OHA Program Prepares Hospitals for JCAHO Surveys OHA’s Research and Educational Foundation will offer the program JCAHO Survey Readiness Techniques: Practical Lessons from the Field July 21 in Columbus to help hospitals prepare for the JCAHO survey process. The session is aimed at accreditation/regulatory directors, JCAHO coordinators, members of the JCAHO readiness team, medical staff representatives, clinical department managers, case managers, risk managers, non-clinical department managers, patient safety and others who are interested. Learn more or register at www.ohanet.org/education/BrochureJCAHOSurvey.pdf. © 2001-2008 OHA. Last updated
January 03, 2008. |
