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Methodist
Hospital offers rare mea culpa after death
Watch a new video produced by Methodist Hospital and you'll see Tyler Kahle looking just like he did the weeks before he died: chiseled face, short brown hair and a big smile. Parts of the 20-minute video are a tribute to the young
man, other parts carry messages that legal experts say are surprising and uncommon.
In the video, initiated by Methodist, the hospital's doctors acknowledge the mistakes that Methodist made in diagnosing the medical problem that caused his death. Legal experts say it's rare for doctors and hospitals to publicly acknowledge mistakes after a settlement.
"It's more common that they don't parade around (saying) that we made a mistake," said Craig Dallon, a professor at the Creighton University School of Law. What's also unusual, he said, is that Methodist has posted the video, made in cooperation with Kahle's family, on its Web site and plans to distribute it as a DVD nationally to educate other hospitals and doctors about the aortic dissection that led to Kahle's death.
"It was a way to memorialize Tyler, and we hope to prevent this from happening again," said Sara Juster, a vice president for Nebraska Methodist Health System, whose duties include overseeing the hospital's legal cases.
During negotiations for the settlement with the man's family, Methodist raised the idea of the video and the family backed it, said Juster and Deb McMillan, Kahle's mother. Dr. Anton Piskac, Methodist vice president for quality improvement, said in the video: "We had multiple opportunities to do the right thing and repeatedly neglected to do so."
Dallon, the law professor, said the video may reflect the frustration some doctors and hospitals have with defense attorneys who typically advise not to acknowledge any mistakes. The "I'm sorry" laws in Nebraska and more than 25 other states are another sign, he said. Nebraska's law, approved in the last session, makes a health care provider's expression of apology, sympathy or compassion inadmissible as evidence of liability in a lawsuit.
Read
the full story or watch Tyler's
video.
— Michael O'Connor, Omaha World Herald, August 29, 2007.
Nebraska working to create newborn safe haven law
Nebraska is racing Alaska to avoid becoming the last state in the nation without a law spelling out how a woman can safely and legally abandon a newborn. Forty-eight states have adopted such safe haven laws since 1999, and Alaska appears close to enacting one.
The healthy baby abandoned near an Omaha trash bin in May — now in the process of being adopted — renewed a debate that has been going on for seven years in the Nebraska Legislature. Despite opposition from Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha and others, Sen. Arnie Stuthman of Platte Center said he will continue to try to get a bill passed. He believes that it's a matter of fine-tuning, and he expects Legislative Bill 157 to be taken up again in January.
"I think it will just take some time and persistence to get it passed," Sen. Stuthman said. "We're working to get objections ironed out." He reworked the bill in this year's session to address some concerns raised by lawmakers, but it stalled on the first round of debate. The measure, as now written, would give parents three days to voluntarily surrender a child, rather than the 30 days originally proposed. Police and fire stations have been eliminated as safe havens under the revised bill, which names hospitals as the only safe havens.
Read the full article.
— Kevin Cole, Omaha World Herald, August 26, 2007.
Nebraska may add 18 screening tests for newborns
LINCOLN (AP) — Nebraska is poised to increase the number of diseases for which newborns are screened, but the state plans to keep a policy that forbids parents from opting out of the testing.
The State Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is considering a proposal that would increase from eight to 26 the number of diseases for which newborns are tested. Currently, 41 states screen for more than 20 disorders.
Nebraska is one of a handful of states that doesn't allow parents to decline newborn testing. Some parents object on religious grounds to the tests, which require five drops of blood drawn from a baby's heel.
Parents have recently pushed, to no avail, for lawmakers to give them the same choice to opt out that is offered in most other states. In the past few years, parents have lost two court cases challenging the rule. A bill to repeal the rule fizzled last session in the Legislature.
"The child's protection comes first, and the state has a right and obligation to protect the child," said Julie Miller, manager of the state's newborn screening and genetics program.
Read the
full article.
— Omaha World Herald, August 28, 2007.
Census: 47 million Americans uninsured last year
The number of U.S. residents without health insurance rose by 2.2 million in 2006 to 47 million, fueled largely by a decline in private insurance, according to
data released
this week by the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s 15.8 percent of the population, up from
15.3 percent in 2005 and the highest uninsured rate since 1998. The number of uninsured children increased to 8.7 million
(11.7 percent) in 2006 from 8 million (10.9 percent) in 2005, signaling a growing need to reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance
Program (SCHIP) which is set to expire Sept. 30 unless Congress acts. SCHIP last year covered more than 6.6 million children. “The number of uninsured people in the U.S. today hit a new record high. But how many records do we have to break to understand this is a serious problem that must be addressed?” said AHA President and CEO, Rich
Umbdenstock.
— AHA News Now, August 28, 2007.
Employers urged to cure health system
Congress won't do it. Nor will hospitals, doctors, patients or insurance companies.
It's up to U.S. employers, as the biggest buyers of health care, to reduce
health care costs and improve medical treatment, according to a Boston physician and author.
"Now we've got a situation of unmanaged care," Dr. John Abramson said Tuesday at a seminar in Omaha, one of a series of such presentations he is making nationwide for Wells Fargo.
Costs are out of control, he said, and yet the United States, out of 22 developed nations, pays the most per person for health care and ranks last in having citizens lead long, healthy lives.
Read the full article.
— Steve Jordon, Omaha World Herald, August 29, 2007.
Saint
Francis Medical Center going tobacco-free
Grand Island, Neb.– Effective September 24, Saint Francis Medical Center will
take a proactive step to implement a tobacco-free campus policy for all hospital owned or leased property. The policy will apply to all patients, visitors,
employees, medical staff members and vendors. No tobacco use of any kind will be permitted inside hospital buildings or anywhere
on
the campus, including hospital grounds and parking areas.
“As a healthcare organization, Saint Francis Medical Center’s primary mission is
to protect the health of those in our community while promoting and supporting a
community culture of healthy living,” said Mike Gloor, president and CEO. Read
the full news release.
Related news: The NHA's Tobacco-Free Hospital Campus resource guide is
available online here.
Jefferson
Community Health Center to break ground Thursday
FAIRBURY – Groundbreaking ceremonies will be held at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 30, at Jefferson Community Health Center in Fairbury for the new surgical addition and outpatient and emergency room expansion project.
The 11,000-square foot addition will include a surgical area, an emergency room, outpatient clinic reception area, chemotherapy rooms, and a family room. It will also include renovation of about 700 square feet of current outpatient clinic spaces. The project includes the addition of more parking, as well, to better serve patients, visitors and staff members.
The $4.4 million expansion will be funded by a combination of donations, loans, and operating revenue. The Jefferson Health Care Foundation is seeking to raise $300,000 to support this important project for local health care. A total of more than $256,000 has already been pledged or donated.
The public is invited to the groundbreaking ceremonies. Those attending are asked to meet in the outpatient services area at Jefferson Community Health Center. Following a brief groundbreaking ceremony and viewing of the site for the addition, treats will be available and those attending can view the plans for the addition.
For more information call 402/729-3351.
Back to school time for
pediatric patients at The Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, Neb. – As students prepare to head back to school this month, some children will
be gearing up to attend school where they receive their medical treatments. The Nebraska
Medical Center’s “Too Cool Hospital School” enables long-term care patients to continue their
studies during their stay at the hospital.
“Just because these children are hospitalized doesn’t mean they should miss big events
like their first day of school,” said Eva Meinke, the hospital school teacher.
The K-12 school provides direct instruction, tutoring and coordination with the children’s
home school districts. “We work with school districts all over the nation,” said Meinke. “Some
districts leave it up to me to decide on the curriculum for the student. Other districts will send
their classroom work and assignments.”
Patients who attend the school are children who are in the hospital for an extended period
of time. “Some students may be in the hospital for the whole school year so they attend our
school for a full year,” said Meinke. These students include children with cancer and cystic
fibrosis, children receiving pre and post transplant care and children receiving care through the
medical center’s intestinal rehabilitation program. Read
more.
Children's
Hospital wins award for employing the latest advances
Children's Hospital in Omaha was named recipient of the first President's
Award by the Eclipsys Corporation at an awards ceremony in Scottsdale, Ariz., in
May. Children's Hospital was recognized for using technology to achieve
measurable improvements in patient care quality, patient safety and efficiency.
The Eclipsys Corporation is a computer software company that offers services to
health care organizations to improve clinical, financial, operational and
customer satisfaction outcomes.
"We created the President's Award to single out the organization that
best demonstrated the ability to improve quality of care and achieve other
impressive outcome improvements using Eclipsys solutions," said R. Andrew
Eckert, Eclipsys president and CEO. "From its board of directors to
clinicians to information technology staff, Children's Hospital has a strong
organizational commitment to achieving and measuring outcome improvements. The
organization provides a perfect example of how to align resources to get
incredible value." The use of metrics to gauge success is built into the
formal process improvement and project management at Children's Hospital.
Clinical and operational team members from across the organization use these
measures to review performance and determine where improvements need to be made.
"We are excited to be recognized for our commitment to using technology to
enhance the quality and safety of patient care," says Allana Cummings,
Children's vice president of information technology and CIO.
— Just Kids, July, 2007.
UNMC beats national research funding trends
University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) researchers continue to buck the national trend for diminishing grant funds, bringing in more than $80.2 million during fiscal year 2006-07, an increase over the previous year's record high of $79.2 million.
At a time of declining funds, including cutbacks at the National Institutes of Health, researchers at the state’s only public academic health science center have grown
funding.
“The ability of UNMC researchers to buck the national trend for diminishing grant funding over the past four years has been impressive and is a credit to the success of our scientists,” said Thomas Rosenquist, Ph.D., vice chancellor for research.
Since 2003, the actual number of NIH research awards made nationally has declined 21.5 percent, Dr. Rosenquist said. “During the same period, UNMC researchers have fought for and won an increase of 48 percent in total NIH support,” he said. “It could be argued, therefore, that we have beaten the national index of NIH funding by nearly 70 percent.”
Read more.
NHA
releases summary of the FFY 2008 Medicare Inpatient PPS Final Rule
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released its final rule for inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) hospitals for fiscal year 2008. The NHA has completed a summary and an impact analysis of the IPPS final rule that was recently sent to affected NHA member hospitals. The summary is available on the NHA web site
here. If you have any questions regarding the IPPS final rule, please contact David Burd, NHA's
senior director of finance at 402/742-8144 or dburd@nhanet.org.
NHA issues letter to CMS regarding proposed revisit user fee
program
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed to establish a revisit user fee program for Medicare survey and certification activities that would allow CMS to charge revisit user fees to health care
facilities cited for deficiencies during initial certification, recertification, or substantiated
complaint surveys.
On behalf of our 85 member hospitals and the 39,000 persons they employ, the Nebraska
Hospital Association has submitted comments to the CMS on the proposed rule, addressing the NHA's concerns about the negative impact of this proposed rule on providers, which includes urban and rural hospitals, nursing facilities, and home health agencies.
View
the letter or for more information, contact David Burd, NHA's senior
director of finance at 402/ 742-8144 or dburd@nhanet.org.
Childbirth deaths up for U.S. mothers
ATLANTA (AP) - U.S. women are dying from childbirth at the highest rate in decades, new government figures show. Though the risk of death is very small, experts believe increasing maternal obesity and a jump in Caesarean sections are partly to blame. A change in how such deaths are reported also may be a factor.
"Those of us who look at this a lot say it's probably a little bit of both," said Dr. Jeffrey King, an obstetrician who led a recent review of maternal deaths in New York state. The U.S. childbirth mortality rate rose to 13 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2004, according to statistics released this week by the National Center for Health Statistics.
The rate was 12 per 100,000 live births in 2003 - the first time the maternal death rate had risen above 10 since 1977.
Death from childbirth remains fairly rare in the United States. The death of infants is much more common - the nation's infant mortality rate was 679 per 100,000 live births in 2004.
Read the
full article.
— Omaha World Herald, August 25, 2007.
Grants will expand health center capacity, IT
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has awarded $61 million to establish and expand health centers, and $31.4 million to implement electronic health records
(EHRs) and other health information technology
(IT) at health
centers. More than $36 million will go to create new health centers in low-income counties. Another $21 million will establish 41 new health centers in 25 states, and expand capacity at four existing health centers. The IT grants will help health centers adopt EHRs and other health IT and link with other health centers through a network. HRSA Administrator Elizabeth Duke called the grants “vital to reaching the President’s goal of adoption of electronic health records for most Americans by 2014.”
— AHA News Now, August 28, 2007.
Nebraska Rural Health Conference
September 6-7, 2007 – Holiday Inn Convention Center, Kearney, NE
"Community Connections: Building Leadership for Rural Nebraska"
Kimball Hospital Foundation Golf Classic
September 8, 2007 – Kimball, NE
Eighth Annual Safety Health Care Conference
September 14, 2007 – Sandhills Convention Center, North Platte, NE
Sponsored by the Safety Officers Network and Resources (SONAR), the Nebraska Hospital Association, Community Hospital Health Foundation, Great Plains Health Foundation and Tri-Valley Health System. To register or for more information contact Sue Mulligan, Great Plains Regional Medical Center, at (308)
696-8000.
Multicultural
Training Institute: Cultural Competency for Health Care Professionals Training
September 15, 2007 – Margre Durham Center, Omaha, NE
Hospital
Foundation Directors Seminar
September 17, 2007 – Doubletree Hotel, Omaha, NE
"Capital Campaigns and Planned Giving Programs"
Long
Term Acute Care Hospital Overview Webinar
September 19, 2007 – Webinar
Stark:
A Moving Target Moves Again Webinar
September 20, 2007 – Webinar
Sponsored by the NHA and the Nebraska Chapter of HFMA
NHA Critical Access Hospital Conference on Quality
October 18, 2007 – Holiday Inn & Convention Center, Kearney, NE
For more information contact Monica Seeland, NHA vice president of quality
initiatives, at 402/742-8152 or mseeland@nhanet.org.
NHA 2007 Annual Convention and Trade Show
October 31-November 2, 2007 – Cornhusker Marriott Hotel, Lincoln,
NE
"Pathways: Navigating the Nature of Health Care." The NHA's Annual
Convention is the biggest health care event of the year.
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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