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Monday,
June 11, 2007 OHA last week submitted comments on the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services’ Proposed Changes to the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems (IHPPS) and Fiscal Year 2008 Rates released in early May. The proposed rule sets inpatient hospital payment rates for federal fiscal year 2008, changes the methodology for assigning Medicare discharges to Inpatient Hospital Prospective Payment System diagnosis-related groups, and establishes a policy and process by which hospitals will be held accountable for alleged hospital-acquired conditions. OHA, along with the American Hospital Association, supports improvements to the Medicare IHPPS, but has concerns that CMS is moving too quickly on a comprehensive change in diagnosis-related group (DRG) assignment. This change has the potential to shift nearly a billion dollars of Medicare reimbursement between hospitals in a very short timeframe, and it violates IHPPS core principles that Medicare payments be stable, predictable and based on proven data. OHA’s written comments, available at www.ohanet.org/finance/hippscomment_060807.pdf, include further details on the association’s concerns. (Charles Cataline, charlesc@ohanet.org)
Hospitals’
Heartbeat
Elizabeth
Smith, RN, BSN
A look
inside Elizabeth’s nomination –
Tuesday, June 12, 2007 Interim Action on Review of ED Medication Orders Suspended The interim action that required hospital and critical access hospital emergency departments (ED) to complete a retrospective review of all medication orders in the ED by a pharmacist when a prospective review was not conducted has been suspended. The interim action for was implemented Jan. 1 but was suspended in April based on several concerns cited in the field. Concerns included the lack of prior hospital pharmacist involvement in the ED setting, the costs to hospitals of providing additional pharmacist manpower to support medication review in the ED and the frequent unavailability of pharmacists due to an ongoing shortage.
While the interim action is suspended, the requirement for Standard MM.4.10, Element of Performance 1 will be re-instated as written in the 2007 accreditation manual. The Joint Commission also will permit organizations to implement the two exceptions in the standard more broadly to minimize treatment delays and patient back-up. A Joint Commission bulletin with more information is available at www.jointcommission.org/AccreditationPrograms/Hospitals/urgent.htm. The Joint Commission will host a free audio conference on Standard MM 4.10 on Wednesday, July 18, at 2 p.m. EST. Registration information will be sent to accredited hospitals and critical access hospitals via list-serv approximately one week prior to the call. To sign up to receive registration information, visit your organization’s extranet site on The Joint Commission Connect. Please direct questions to the Standards Interpretation Group at 630.792.5900, option 6, or through the online submission form at www.jointcommission.org/Standards/OnlineQuestionForm/.
ODH Announces Draft Changes to Communicable Disease Reporting Rules The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) is seeking comments on proposed changes to regulations governing infectious disease reporting. Draft changes are significant and include deletion of the current disease class system, reorganization of named diseases, creation of a specific "outbreak" class, electronic reporting, and modifications to current isolation requirements. The draft rules are posted at www.odh.ohio.gov/rules/drafts/drafts.aspx and ODH requests comments be sent by July 9 to oacbidc@odh.ohio.gov or mailed to:
Ohio Department of Health Infectious Disease Surveillance 246 N. High Street Columbus, OH 43215.
ODH expects to have final rules in place by Jan. 1, 2008.
Please send a copy of your comments to OHA at
ricks@ohanet.org. (Rick Sites,
ricks@ohanet.org)
Wednesday,
June 13, 2007 Comments are due by June 22 and can be sent in writing, by e-mail or online. For more information, call MCH Block Grant coordinator Ruth Shrock, MS, MPH, at 614.644.8686 or e-mail her at ruth.shrock@odh.ohio.gov.
Thursday,
June 14, 2007 The nomination form is available on OGF’s Web site at www.ohiograntmakers.com or can be requested by calling 614.224.1344. Nominations must be postmarked by Friday, June 29. The award will be presented at OGF’s annual conference, Oct. 17-19 in Columbus. Questions can be sent to Jill Young at jyoung@ohiograntmakers.org.
Hospitals’
Heartbeat
Diane
Simon, RN, CEN
A look
inside Diane’s nomination
–
Friday, June 15, 2007 The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) this week released for public comment a draft of its annual informational return for tax-exempt organizations, the Form 990. In the proposed change, the IRS adopted portions of the Catholic Hospital Association and VHA framework for reporting community benefit endorsed by the American Hospital Association. Added questions also will allow hospitals to better communicate the important community benefit work they do – a welcome improvement. However, the the American Hospital Association (AHA) has expressed concerns that some of the questions in the hospital-specific schedule do not appear to relate to hospitals’ tax-exempt activities, are likely to be confusing and may be burdensome. OHA and AHA will analyze those of the series of new schedules released this week that affect hospitals and will continue to work with the IRS to share the views of tax-exempt hospitals. The IRS will accept public comment on the draft until Sept. 14 and plan to use the revised form for fiscal year 2008 returns. (Mary Gallagher, maryg@ohanet.org) Preliminary HCAP Model Now
Available ► Preliminary Assessment Notices Sent to Hospitals
Mid July
Early
August Aug. 27 – Sept. 5 ► Payment 1 sent Sept. 6 – Sept. 14 ► Assessment 2 due Sept. 13 – Sept. 21 ► Payment 2 sent Sept. 24 – Oct. 2 © 2001-2008 OHA. Last updated
January 03, 2008. |
