Monday,
November 13, 2006
Deadline Today for Hospitals to Post
Price Info Lists
OHA reminds hospitals that effective today, Nov. 13, they
must post
on their Web sites a price information list, which should
include charges for various services such as emergency room,
operating room, labor and delivery, and physical,
occupational and pulmonary therapies. The requirement was
included in House Bill 197, Ohio's
recently-enacted hospital transparency legislation. To help
hospitals comply with the new statute and to encourage
consistent disclosure of this information across the
membership, OHA has developed – using best practices from
several member hospitals – a sample price information list
template. To download a copy of the template as well as an
instruction sheet for using the template, visit OHA’s Web
site at
www.ohanet.org/advocacy/state/issues/public_disclosure.htm.
(Charles Cataline,
charlesc@ohanet.org; Jeff Klingler,
jeffk@ohanet.org)
State Shares
Med Mal Premiums for Free Clinics
Hospitals and other organizations that operate free clinics
are eligible to participate in the state’s Medical Liability
Insurance Reimbursement Program, which reimburses 80 percent
of premiums paid for medical liability insurance for the
clinic, its staff and volunteer health care professionals
and workers. The maximum reimbursement is $20,000 for
eligible free clinics. To participate in the program, free
clinics must register with the Ohio Department of Health by
Jan. 31, 2007. Visit
www.ohanet.org/med-mal/resources/clinic.pdf
or contact Phil Styer at 614.644.8063 or
Phil.Styer@odh.ohio.gov
for more information.
Hospitals and physicians statewide are feeling some medical
liability relief given premiums have decreased an average of
1.7 percent in 2006 for four of the state’s five largest
medical malpractice insurers, according to the Ohio
Department of Insurance. However, until Ohio sees a decline
in payouts and defense costs, the rates are not likely to
decrease in a significant manner. (Rick Sites,
ricks@ohanet.org)
Tuesday, November 7, 2006
AHA Health IT Survey Due This Week
OHA encourages hospitals to complete the American Hospital
Association’s (AHA) second health information technology (IT)
survey by this Friday, Nov. 10.
The survey was distributed to all community hospitals in October
and is also available online at
www.ohanet.org/hit_survey.pdf. The first survey was fielded
in the spring of 2005, but given the rapidly accelerating pace
of technology AHA now needs to update the data to show the
progress hospitals have made in implementing electronic health
records and highlight the remaining challenges of IT adoption. (Kim
Keiser,
kimk@ohanet.org)
Independent Labs
Can No Longer Bill for Technical Component of Lab Tests
The
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will not
allow independent laboratories to directly bill Medicare for
the technical component of physician pathology tests after
Dec. 31, according to the 2007 physician fee schedule final
rule. In the rule, CMS maintains that the hospital
prospective payment amount adequately pays hospitals for the
technical component, which involves preparing slides for
interpretation and examining tissue removed during surgery.
The currently pending Physician Pathology Services
Continuity Act (S. 3609), sponsored by Sens. Blanche Lincoln
(D-AR) and Craig Thomas (R-WY), and its companion bill, H.R.
6188, sponsored by Reps. Kenny Hulshof (R-MO), John Tanner
(D-TN), and Mike Ross (D-AR), would require Medicare to
continue paying laboratories for the technical component of
physician pathology services furnished to hospital patients.
(Charles Cataline,
charlesc@ohanet.org)
Hospitals’
Heartbeat
A 2006 nominee for the
Albert
E. Dyckes
Health Care Worker of the Year Award
Steve Weckbacher, RN
Surgical Services
Marietta Memorial Hospital
Marietta
A look
inside Steve’s nomination –
Steve Weckbacker, RN, is a 13-year veteran of Marietta
Memorial Hospital who now works in surgical services, after
spending many years in the Emergency Department. He
consistently demonstrates sincere care, empathy, dedication
and leadership in all aspects of his profession and life.
He is known for his teaching skills and quiet, unassuming
way in which he links members of his department together
with the common goal of teamwork and quality patient care.
His work has extended into his own community where he has
been trained and worked as an EMT. We believe he
demonstrates the qualities of an outstanding healthcare
worker.
Wednesday,
November 15, 2006
MedPAC Drops Recommendation to Cut Rural Hospital
Payments
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has
discarded a draft recommendation that would have
redistributed rural hospital outpatient payments. As part of
its mandated study on the rural provisions in the Medicare
Modernization Act, the commission was considering
eliminating outpatient hold-harmless and rural sole
community hospital add-on payments in lieu of a new
outpatient services adjustment for geographically-isolated
hospitals with fewer than 100,000-125,000 outpatient
services per year. The recommendation would have resulted in
a reduction in assistance to rural hospital from $140
million annually to between $35 million and $55 million.
Several commissioners raised concerns that many rural
hospitals face negative margins each year, and that MedPAC
should take steps to make broader policy changes with the
hospital outpatient prospective payment system before
reducing the assistance currently provided to some of these
small rural hospitals. MedPAC is required to submit the
rural health report to Congress by December. (David Nichols,
davidn@ohanet.org)
Hospitals’
Heartbeat
A 2006 nominee for the
Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year Award
A look
inside Terry’s nomination –
Terry Mitchell embraces Memorial Hospital’s values;
compassion, respect, integrity, and sound ethical conduct.
On a daily basis she non-judgmentally approaches difficult
situations, such as assisting a distraught husband choose a
nursing home for a beloved spouse. She continually
demonstrates respect for co-workers and family members,
which makes her role in Social Services so vital. Her high
ethical standard is evident in the amount of trust her
patients place in her. She is privy to a multitude of
confidential information and observes every boundary of her
licensure. Terry modestly performs her duties and is a
valuable lifeline for our community.
Thursday,
November 16, 2006
Providers Urged to Vaccinate for Flu into 2007
Looking to keep Americans flu-free, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) has designated Nov. 27-Dec. 3
as National Influenza Vaccination Week. As part of the push,
CDC urges health care providers to make flu vaccine
available to patients and employees through December and
beyond since flu season does not peak until February. Supply
should not be a problem during this flu season with vaccine
makers expecting to produce 110 million to 115 million
doses, 32 million more than in any past flu season.
Currently, Ohio is under watch for flu, meaning positive flu
results have been reported in the state, reportedly in
central Ohio. For more information about the flu, visit
www.ohanet.org/flu/index.html
or
www.cdc.gov/FLU/.
Hospitals
that need the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid’s permission
to use non-prospective payment system beds because of high
census and seasonal illnesses such as influenza and
pneumonia should us the same process as last year and
contact Robert Daley, Non-Long Term Care Branch Manager for
Region V in Chicago, and request a bed waiver. Contact OHA
for Daley’s contact information. (Rick Sites,
ricks@ohanet.org; Carol Jacobson,
carolj@ohanet.org)
HIT Stakeholder Working Groups Seek
Hospital Reps
The 3rd Annual Ohio Health Information Summit
sponsored by OHA, the Health Policy Institute of Ohio and
other partners, was held Oct. 23 with a focus on the
evolution of Health Information Technology in Ohio.
Stakeholder working groups are now being created to develop
strategies for implementing the policy recommendations
created at the summit. The strategies need to be developed
by early 2007 for inclusion in the next biennial state
budget.
Hospital
representatives are encouraged to participate in the
following working groups held at 37 West Broad St. Suite
350, Columbus:
Nov. 21, 10
a.m. – noon, Organizational Structure
Nov. 21, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m., Local RHIO Development
Nov. 28, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m., Workforce Development
Dec. 4, 1:30 – 3:30, HIE with focus on payer-based and
personal health records
Dec. 14, 10 a.m. – noon, Communication Infrastructure
Dec. 14, 2 – 4 p.m., HIT Adoption Subsidy Pool
Dec. 19, 10 a.m. – noon, Development of Return on
Investments
Register at
www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=558192845619 (Note: there
is a limit of 25 attendees and 50 phone participants per
group.) (Kim Keiser,
kimk@ohanet.org)
Friday, November 17, 2006
ODI Issues First Ohio Med Mal Closed Claims
Report
The Ohio Department of Insurance (ODI)
this week issued its first Ohio
Medical Liability Closed Claims Report, analyzing data
collected in 2005 from entities including insurers and
self-insured hospitals that provide medical malpractice
coverage to Ohio health care providers. The report shows a
total of 5,051 medical malpractice claims were closed in
2005 with an average of $269,374 in compensation paid on
behalf of each defendant in claims closed with payment. The
total payout was just under $282 million. Almost 80 percent
of med mal claims resulted in no payment to a claimant,
though almost all claims generated expenses for
investigation and defense—the average was $24,442 per claim.
Half of the claims (2,561) came from Northeast Ohio with an
average payment of $303,108.
This report stems from House Bill 215, passed by the 125th
General Assembly, which mandated that authorized insurers,
surplus lines insurers, risk retention groups and self
insurers that provide medical malpractice insurance to health care
providers in Ohio report closed claims information to ODI.
The full report is available at
www.ohioinsurance.gov in the featured links section. To
learn more about the medical malpractice insurance crisis in
Ohio, visit
www.ohanet.org/med-mal/. (Rick Sites,
ricks@ohanet.org; Mary Gallagher,
maryg@ohanet.org)
Hospitals’
Heartbeat
A 2006 nominee for the
Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year Award
A look
inside Mary’s nomination –
After 16 years of service, Mary’s been given the lead tech
position for the Chemistry section of the lab. She is a
wonderful instructor for new employees and students who
complete their clinical rotation at Memorial Hospital of
Union County. She is very knowledgeable in all areas of the
lab wherein she works. She is very knowledgeable and
helpful with the utilization of the analyzers in the
department and serves as resource for others. Mary’s always
willing to stay late or come in early to help cover other
shifts even on short notice. She goes to all of the
community health screenings to collect samples. She’s
always willing to help assist patients and employees and
other departments anyway she can.
© 2001-2008 OHA. Last updated
January 03, 2008.
Please direct comments, corrections or additions to: oha@ohanet.org
614.221.7614.
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