NHA
releases SCHIP bill summaries and estimated economic impact
The U.S. House and Senate both approved bills last week reauthorizing and
expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The two
chambers will now have to negotiate the significant differences between the two
bills before sending a final bill to President Bush, who has threatened to veto
any expansion of the program.
Yesterday the NHA released a summary of the
SCHIP bills. Included in this summary is the estimated impact to Nebraska
hospitals of the market basket update reductions that are contained in the House
bill. To view the summary provided by
the NHA click here.
Odds
of bridge tragedy in NE are 'very, very slim,' engineer says
Lincoln, NE — Despite "poor" condition ratings for three of the 17 bridges that span the Missouri River along Nebraska's border, the state's top bridge engineer gave remote odds Thursday for a bridge failing here.
Lyman Freemon of the Nebraska Department of Roads expressed confidence in the state's bridges even though six have lower federal sufficiency ratings than the Twin Cities bridge lying in ruins in the Mississippi River.
The deadly rush-hour collapse last Wednesday night of the Interstate 35W bridge between Minneapolis and St. Paul sent shock waves across the country and raised questions about the inspections and safety of other bridges. The Federal Highway Administration alerted states late Thursday to inspect the 756 such bridges nationally with structures similar to that of the I-35W bridge.
Freemon said Nebraska had no such bridges, although at least two — the Veterans Memorial in south Omaha and the Plattsmouth toll bridge — have approaches using a similar design, which he described as "truss arch," with its trusses underneath the roadway.
Read the full article.
— Paul Hammel and Steve Jordon, World-Herald Bureau, August 3, 2007.
West Nile study seeking participants
Omaha, Neb. – Doctors and researchers at The Nebraska Medical Center are working to uncover the mystery of the West Nile virus: why some people become severely ill and others show no symptoms.
The Nebraska Medical Center began enrolling study participants last summer. So far, about 600 Nebraskans have stepped forward to volunteer and have qualified for the study. The enrollment goal is about 850. The medical center is one of several sites for the study that’s being conducted in the United States and Canada.
Read
more.
Richardson
offers health care plan
Des Moines, Iowa (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson on Tuesday called for universal health care, offering a plan that would expand preventive coverage to help offset a package costing more than $100 billion.
The New Mexico governor said he could provide coverage to the 45 million uninsured without raising taxes. Instead, Richardson said preventive care would save the nation billions of dollars and additional money could be diverted from spending on the Iraq war.
"Universal health care is not only a moral imperative, it is also an economic imperative," said Richardson.
Building on the existing health care system, Richardson's plan would lower the age at which Medicare provides coverage to 55, expand health services for the low income and give tax breaks to businesses and individuals who pay for their health coverage.
Read the full article in the Omaha World Herald.
— Mike Glover, Associated Press, August 7, 2007.
Senate introduces LTCH bill
Legislation introduced in the Senate Aug. 2 would establish facility and patient criteria for long-term care hospitals to ensure patients continue to receive the care they need.
S. 1958 contains all of the LTCH provisions included in the House-passed State Children's Health Insurance Program
(SCHIP) reauthorization bill (H.R. 3162), with some changes concerning expanded medical necessity review. The Senate bill calls for Quality Improvement Organizations to perform the expanded medical necessity review instead of Fiscal Intermediaries or Medicare Administrative Contractors.
— AHA News Now, August 7, 2007.
Study: Gaps in children's coverage linked to changes in income
Changes in family income and coverage can cause many children to cycle in and out of eligibility for Medicaid and the State Children’s Health
Insurance Program (SCHIP), according to a study published online
this week by Health Affairs. The study analyzed eligibility dynamics for children in
Medicaid and SCHIP from 1996-2000 using the Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation. It found two-thirds of all children were eligible for Medicaid or SCHIP at some point in the four-year period, and that the programs served many of the same children at different times. “As Congress considers reauthorization of SCHIP, it should consider how policies, in addition to minimizing administrative barriers, will protect children from discontinuous coverage resulting from fluid eligibility,” the authors said.
— AHA News Now, August 7, 2007.
The Nebraska Medical Center
recognized as a ‘100 Top Hospital’
Omaha, NE – The Nebraska Medical Center is among a select few in the nation to receive recognition among the Thomson 100 Top Hospitals: Performance Improvement Leaders. The national list, released August 6, 2007, identifies those U.S. hospitals which are improving the fastest and most consistently in clinical quality and efficiency.
“This recognition is a significant sign of progress as we look at how our organization approaches change and implements improvements,” said Glenn A. Fosdick, FACHE, president and CEO of The Nebraska Medical Center. “Our responsibility to our patients and our staff is at the heart of what we do. We must always challenge ourselves to work better, to work smarter and to set higher standards for our peers in the
health care industry.” Read
the full news release.
Box Butte Hospital is going green
Alliance, NE – Box Butte General Hospital is expanding its focus on health to include the environment.
The hospital will pay more attention to recycling with the help of a $21,000 grant from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, said chief operating officer Jim Parks.
"By nature, a health care facility uses enormous amounts of paper, most of which ultimately ends up in the trash," he said. "Plus, we get a huge quantity of junk mail on a daily basis."
The hospital has formed an employee recycling committee to head the program. Storage containers will be placed throughout the hospital.
Employees will be allowed to bring recyclables from home to the hospital's receptacles.
The grant money also will pay for transportation of the recyclables to a Scottsbluff facility.
The hospital also hopes to reduce paper consumption by encouraging more e-mail and Web page communication among employees.
— The Scottsbluff Star-Herald, August 8, 2007
CUMC is Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence
Creighton University Medical Center (CUMC) has been named a Bariatric Center of Excellence by the American Society for Bariatric Surgery (ASBS). The ASBS Center of Excellence designation recognizes surgical programs and surgeons with a demonstrated track record of favorable outcomes and a complication rate of less than one percent in bariatric surgery. Creighton University Medical Center is one of only two Nebraska hospitals to be designated as an ASBS Center of Excellence.
As part of the designation, for the first time, morbidly obese patients in the Omaha market can now have bariatric procedures covered by Medicare. In February 2006,
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services expanded national coverage of bariatric surgery for all Medicare beneficiaries, but stipulated the surgeries must be performed at a designated Center of Excellence and by a designated surgeon.
“We have nearly 50 Medicare patients we can finally take off the waiting list and perform the weight loss procedures they need,” said Ranjan Sudan, M.D., Medical Director of CUMC’s Bariatric Program.
In addition to the hospital’s designation, Dr. Sudan has been designated an American Society for Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence as an individual surgeon – one of only two Nebraska surgeons to receive the designation.
Read the full news release.
Former NICU patient gives back to Children's Hospital
When he was born 17 years ago, Michael Bebout spent five months in Children's
Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). So, for his Eagle Scout project,
the Millard West High School senior decided to give back to Children's
Hospital's NICU. After several hours of crafting, sanding and varnishing 15
solid red oak foot stools, he proudly delivered the finished stools this
Wednesday.
The NICU will put the foot stools in patient rooms, giving new mothers a
place to rest their feet while holding and feeding their newborn children. Some
of the Children's NICU nurses who cared for Michael 17 years ago still work in
the unit and are expected to attend the event today.
"Children's Hospital and especially our NICU are honored to receive this
truly heartfelt gift from Michael,” said Celia Ferrel, manager of marketing
and public relations at Children's Hospital. "A lot of work went into these
foot stools, and we are grateful to Michael for helping mothers of NICU patients
for years to come.”
— Children's Hospital News Release, August 7, 2007.
Regional West's Sloan is "Pharmacist of the Year"
Scottsbluff, NE – Nancy Sloan, RP, assistant director of clinical pharmacy services at Regional West Medical Center, has been named Health System Pharmacist of the Year by the Nebraska Pharmacists Association (NPA).
The award was conferred on July 21 at the NPA's annual convention. Selection criteria include service to the profession of pharmacy, contributions to pharmacy, cooperation with the entire health team and service to the community.
Read
more.
Hospitals must enroll for payment update by Aug. 15
To receive a full market basket payment update for fiscal year 2008, hospitals must submit by
August 15 a revised Notice of Participation for the inpatient hospital quality reporting program. The form must be signed by the hospital CEO and sent to the state
Quality Improvement
Organization. Hospitals will not need to re-enroll in future years to be considered an active participant. Hospitals that want to withdraw from the program must submit a Withdrawal of Participation form but will receive a 2.0 percentage point reduction to their payment update.
— AHA News Now, August 7, 2007.
Alegent Health Midlands
Hospital featured NHA “Leader in Quality Initiatives”
To help Nebraska’s hospitals achieve the goal of being leaders in quality initiatives, NHA shares with you quality initiatives of our member hospitals. These initiatives are innovative, reproducible models of a health care quality.
The NHA is currently spotlighting Alegent Health Midlands Hospital and their efforts to reduce 'door to balloon' time and reduce mortality by 40 percent.
Click here to read about the featured
"Leader in Quality Initiatives."
HRSA awards grants to train health professionals
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has awarded $18.6 million to support training programs for nurses, physicians and physician assistants. The grants include awards to increase education for racial and ethnic minorities and others who are
under-represented in nursing; support residency programs in family and preventive medicine; and develop and operate programs to train physician assistants.
— AHA News Now, August 7, 2007.
Hospitals
are shutting down burn centers
(AP) - U.S. hospitals are increasingly shutting down their burn centers in a trend experts say could leave the nation unable to handle widespread burn casualties from a fiery terrorist attack or other major disaster.
Associated Press interviews and an examination of official figures found that the shrinking number of beds is a growing cause for concern in this post-Sept. 11 world.
Experts say burn centers are expensive to maintain and often lose money because they are staffed with highly specialized surgeons and nurses and stocked with sophisticated equipment designed to ease patients' excruciating pain, fend off deadly complications and promote healing.
The number of burn centers in the U.S. has dropped from 132 in 2004 to 127, and burn beds have fallen from 1,897 to 1,820, according to American Burn Association records compiled from voluntary reporting by hospitals.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services puts the number of burn beds even lower, at just 1,500. And most of those are already filled, with the number available on any given day variously estimated at just 300 to 500.
Read the full article in the Omaha World Herald.
— Bill Poovey, Associated Press, August 8, 2007.
Hiring
Foreign Born Doctors & Nurses, Webinar
August 22, 2007 – 10:00 to11:30 a.m. CT
With shortages of nurses and U.S. born physicians, hospitals and health care
facilities are turning to foreign born professionals to fill the gap. Hiring
these individuals comes with its own set of intricate issues that are specific
to the health care industry. This program will discuss common immigration issues
specific to health care facilities including issues related to J-1 Waivers
for physicians (including Conrad Waivers); temporary visas for nurses; pursuing
Green Cards for nurses and physicians; and what kind of policies employers may
want to create to manage these situations. The program will also discuss the
impact of legislation affecting the workforce, and what if anything is likely to
fix the immigrant visa backlog.
Nebraska
Society of Healthcare Engineers 2nd Annual Golf Outing & Recognition Lunch
August 23-24, 2007 – North Platte, NE
Switching
Costs: A New Way of Looking at Physician Retention, Webinar
August 29, 2007 – 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. CT
Nebraska Rural Health Conference
September 6-7, 2007 – Holiday Inn Convention Center, Kearney
"Community Connections: Building Leadership for Rural Nebraska"
Kimball Hospital Foundation Golf Classic
September 8, 2007 – Kimball, NE
NHA 2007 Annual Convention and Trade Show
October 31-November 2, 2007 – Cornhusker Marriott Hotel, Lincoln,
NE
"Pathways: Navigating the Nature of Health Care"
Visit the Events page on the NHA Web site for more information on any of the events.
If you have an event you would like listed on the NHA Web site, submit it to
Heather Bullock, marketing and events coordinator, at hbullock@nhanet.org.
NHA Newslink is published by the Nebraska Hospital Association, 3255 Salt Creek Circle, Suite 100, Lincoln, NE 68504-4761. Phone 402/742-8140, Fax 402/742-8191. Christy Rasmussen,
director of communications, at 402/742-8151, or email, crasmussen@nhanet.org.
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