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AHA:
BryanLGH is touted for its strong response to campaign
Brad Sher, BryanLGH Medical Center’s vice president for public policy in Lincoln, NE, moved quickly into action after receiving a notice last month from Nebraska Hospital Association (NHA) President Laura
J. Redoutey, FACHE, about “My Care Counts,” the AHA’s grassroots on-line call to action that urges Congress to reject cuts to hospital services under Medicare and Medicaid. He “felt strongly that this was a simple, solid way to show support for
hospitals in our community with our elected officials.” Sher sent an “all-users” e-mail throughout his organization. It had the My Care Counts link where employees and
community members could simply click on to fill out the form that goes to three elected officials – the local representative and two senators. “We believe this action is important now because major budget and reimbursement decisions will be made between now and the end of the year that could adversely affect hospitals,” Sher said in the email. He also gave a deadline for action, and then sent a follow-up reminder on that day. The hospital also posted information about My Care Counts for volunteers and sent an email to hospital and health system board members.
NHA’s Redoutey touted the hospital’s advocacy efforts. “We are delighted at the overwhelming response from the team at BryanLGH Medical Center,” she said. “At a time when resources are scarce and challenges are mounting, BryanLGH’s efforts send a clear message that cutting funding for hospital services is bad policy for the health of our communities.” She said the state’s hospitals are registering a strong response to NHA’s call to get involved in the campaign.
The NHA conducted a statewide initiative encouraging hospitals to participate in My Care Counts. The association sent a how-to guide to hospitals executives, included My Care Counts information in their newsletter and posted a link on the homepage of their Web site. NHA also adapted an AHA poster for distribution in hospital lobbies. The posters were sent to all hospital CEOs and to nursing organizations. To support the campaign, visit
www.MyCareCounts.org.
— AHA News, September 17, 2007.
$1.6 million
grant to improve flow of patient health information
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Office of Rural Health
announced that Nebraska is one of 16 states to receive a Critical Access Hospital, Health Information Technology (HIT) grant. These grants are funded by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration and the amount of the grant is $1,599,996.
The 18-month grant began September 1, 2007.
The main purpose of the grant is to create an electronic system which will give hospitals and clinics instantly updated patient information. Health care providers can, in turn, make better treatment decisions based on this more up-to-date patient data.
Read more.
— Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, September 13, 2007.
Doctors' plan could include mandatory health coverage
OMAHA, Neb. — Doctors in Nebraska are devising a plan they hope can help reduce unnecessary medical expenses and get medical care to every person in the state.
The proposal could require all Nebraskans who are not covered by Medicare to have a health insurance plan that includes preventive, mental health, dental and long-term care.
Insurance for low-income residents could be subsidized using Medicaid funds. And insurers could have to guarantee they would provide and renew policies, with no rejection for people who develop illnesses.
On Friday, a task force of 25 doctors — members of the Nebraska Medical Association — presented a preliminary report on its work to the association’s house of
delegates at its annual meeting in Omaha. The task force will continue to develop the plan in the months ahead.
The group’s goal is to come up with a plan that provides quality, affordable and accessible health care coverage for all Nebraskans while exploring whether medical practice guidelines can reduce unnecessary expense and create reasonable expectations on the part of
patients. Read more.
— JoAnne Young, Lincoln Journal Star, September 8, 2007.
$35
billion boost in works for kids' health care
Key lawmakers in the House and Senate negotiated into the night Monday on a deal that would expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program
(SCHIP) by $35 billion over the next five years.
That would set up a clash with President Bush, who has promised to veto such a plan. The emerging compromise would bring total enrollment to 10 million children. Congressional aides said it would be funded by an increase in the federal excise tax on cigarettes, which is now at 39 cents a pack. It would also attempt to blunt rules the Bush administration imposed last month that restrict the eligibility of middle-income children.
Read
more.
— Christopher Lee, Washington Post, September 18, 2007.
Report helps hospitals improve behavioral health services
The AHA unveiled recommendations and successful practices to help community hospital leaders meet the growing demand for behavioral health services in the face of inadequate funding. Developed by an AHA task force, the
report provides strategies in the areas of community needs assessment, behavioral health planning, community collaboration, adequate financing, employer practices and advocacy.
“Patients coming into the hospital with physical illness such as heart failure and cancer may also face behavioral health disorders,” said AHA President and CEO Rich Umbdenstock. “While we do a good job of treating the physical illness, oftentimes we don’t adequately address the behavioral health issues that may go hand-in-hand with these conditions.” Almost one in four adult community hospital stays in 2004 involved a mental health or substance abuse-related disorder.
— AHA News Now, September 17, 2007.
The Nebraska Medical Center
wins National Consumer Choice Award
OMAHA, Neb. — The Nebraska Medical Center
earned the 2007 Consumer Choice Award, which represents the voices of thousands of patients across the country.
The National Research Corporation (NRC), an independent research firm based in Lincoln, interviewed more than 200,000 thousand households to find out which hospitals offer the highest quality care.
“The fact that our selection for this award was made by our consumers makes this award especially meaningful,” said Glenn Fosdick, FACHE, president and CEO of The Nebraska Medical Center.
“For four straight years now, families have recognized The Nebraska Medical Center as the best place for
health care whether a loved one is here for a check-up or life-saving surgery.”
This is the fifth time in six years that The Nebraska Medical Center has earned the Consumer Choice Award and the second year that it has won sole honors.
Read
more.
“Tour de Kids” charity bike ride makes Children’s Hospital visit
OMAHA, Neb. – Children’s Hospital hosted the first-ever Omaha stop on the Ace Hardware “Tour de Kids” charity bike ride on Sat., Sept. 15. Cyclists arrived at the hospital just after
3 p.m. to a warm welcome provided by several young patients and their families. The 18-day ride, covering more than 1,100 miles, was an effort to raise $1 million for Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) hospitals across the country. Ace also donated $5,000 to Children’s Hospital during the team’s visit.
“Children’s Hospital is excited to welcome these cyclists. They are giving so much of themselves to raise money that ultimately ensures the best care possible for sick children,” said Roger Lewis, executive director of Children’s Hospital Foundation. “We sincerely thank these riders and Ace Hardware for their ongoing support of Children’s Hospital through the Children’s Miracle Network.”
Read more.
New beds arrive at York General Hospital
Chuck Schultz, CEO of York General Health Care Services
announced that York General Hospital has replaced all beds throughout the
medical and surgical units. The Versa Care Bed is the bed system chosen for York General Hospital because it offers many of the latest innovations in improving patient and caregiver safety while delivering effective wound therapy. Some of the features
include: superior patient safety through enhanced side rail
design; a patient positioning monitor; revolutionary low mattress and bed height; caregiver safety achieved through
turn assist and max inflate, designed to assist patient repositioning; wound care provided with
an 8” multi-zoned air mattress that automatically adjusts to the patient’s weight up to 500
pounds; flex-a-foot to help prevent heel pressure ulcers and foot drop; and it accommodates an individual patient height up to
seven feet tall.
Alegent Health’s Language Access Program removes
barriers
OMAHA, Neb.— Juan Mendoza speaks mainly Spanish but clearly understands what to expect while undergoing treatments for cancer. That’s because each time a nurse or physician comes to take Juan’s temperature or provide a consultation, an interpreter like Ricardo Perez is by his side. Perez is only one of many interpreters who make up Alegent Health’s Language Access Department and help eliminate language barriers between patients and their physicians.
Commitment from interpreters like Perez makes it possible for Alegent Health to provide high quality, individualized care for the body, mind and spirit of every patient, no matter what language
patients speak. Mendoza speaks a little English, but is reassured to have an interpreter with him during all of his appointments with a doctor. “I feel safe because someone who speaks my language will be with me,” Mendoza said.
Alegent Health’s Language Access Department is able to provide in-person interpreters for 15 different languages and has access to professionals who are able to interpret more than 150 languages via phone. From Spanish to Somali, the Language Access Department is able to provide patients with interpreters who can help them understand the decisions they need to make concerning their health care. Language Access services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for patients and families who do not speak English as their first language.
Read
more.
NHA
issues outpatient PPS comment letter to CMS
The Nebraska Hospital Association (NHA) last week submitted comments to the Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on the proposed rule for the calendar year (CY) 2008
hospital outpatient prospective payment system (PPS).
While the NHA is supportive of many of the provisions in the proposed rule, the association has
concerns regarding the proposed packaging rules including observation services, the requirement
to bill pharmacy overhead costs separately, the timeline for reporting outpatient quality
measures, and the requirement for provider-based facilities that are operated by a Critical Access
Hospital (CAH) to be at least a 35 mile drive from the nearest hospital. Click here to view the letter or for more information contact David Burd,
senior director of finance, at 402/742-8144 or dburd@nhanet.org.
CMS issues final rule on revisit survey user fees
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
(CMS) yesterday published its final rule on the establishment of revisit user fees for Medicare survey and certification activities. The rule establishes a system for CMS to collect fees from providers for revisit surveys for the remainder of fiscal year 2007. It allows health care providers to request a reconsideration of the revisit user fee only in cases in which the provider believes an error of fact has been made. However, CMS extended the deadline for requesting reconsideration of a revisit user fee to 14 days from seven and agreed to process requests for reconsiderations in a “timely manner.” The agency also said it would “issue a credit toward any future revisit surveys conducted” if a reconsideration is found in a provider’s favor. If CMS judges that a significant amount of time has elapsed before a credit is used, the agency said it will refund the assessed revisit user fee amount.
— AHA News Now, September 19, 2007.
Ads urge Congress to stop IPPS cuts
In an ad this week in various Capitol Hill publications, the Coalition to Protect America’s Health Care urges Congress to prevent $20 billion in payment cuts that threaten vital hospital services for the elderly. The cuts are included in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’
(CMS) inpatient rule for fiscal year 2008, which takes effect Oct. 1. While 269 representatives and 63 senators signed letters opposing the cuts, and more than 400 members of the House voted for an amendment preventing CMS from implementing the cuts, the administration and CMS “have ignored the will of Congress,” the ad notes. “Now, Congress must pass legislation by October 1 to stop these cuts.” The ad is scheduled to appear in The Hill, Roll Call, CQ Today and Congress Daily.
CMS proposes mandatory reporting on financial relationships with physicians
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
(CMS) recently issued a proposal
mandating the reporting of financial relationships with physicians in a
Disclosure of Financial Relationships Report (DFRR). This is a new data collection instrument that will obtain information to analyze each hospital’s compliance with the physician self-referral laws, and represents a revision to the DFRR originally published for comment on May 18 in the Federal Register. It would initially be issued to 500 hospitals, with the potential of expansion to the entire field. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 directed CMS to consider the annual disclosure of information on physician ownership and investment interest in “specialty hospitals.” In addition to collecting information on physician ownership and investment, the DFRR extends reporting requirements to compensation arrangements at all types of hospitals. “We continue to believe that CMS should focus its efforts on addressing the Deficit Reduction Act’s concerns about physician investment in ‘specialty hospitals’ rather than launching an expansive and extremely burdensome review of community hospitals,” said AHA Executive Vice President Rick Pollack. The DFRR is subject to the approval of the Office of Management and Budget, which will accept comments on the proposed information collection for 30 days.
— AHA News Now, September 14, 2007.
Nebraska
emergency rooms to install automated check-in systems
Consumers are faced with plenty of self-serve options, whether they're renting a movie, paying for groceries or checking in for airline flights.
Now they may see self-serve check-ins at the hospital. Within the next year, Creighton University Medical Center plans to install touch-screen computers in its emergency room. When checking in, patients would enter their medical history and information about their symptoms.
Methodist Health System plans to begin offering self-serve registration kiosks as a trial program in 2008. If it's successful, Methodist intends to offer the system as an option throughout its hospitals and clinics, including a new women's hospital planned for
West Omaha.
Alegent Health and Children's Hospital are considering offering self-serve registration kiosks as an option, as well. Next year, Alegent plans to offer self-serve registration on a trial basis at the outpatient diagnostic center at Midlands Hospital in Papillion.
Hospitals nationwide have installed multiple self-serve kiosks, aimed partly at shortening waits and, in some cases, improving medical care. Methodist, for example, says the system may reduce personnel costs, a savings that could be passed along to patients.
The kiosks are the latest example of how hospitals are increasingly using technology to try to be more consumer-friendly. Other options include online pricing of medical services or waiting-room screens that provide updates to family members of surgery patients.
Read more.
— Michael O'Connor, Omaha World Herald, September 19, 2007.
OIG issues health care quality guidance for boards
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General and American Health Lawyers Association have published a
resource to help health care boards of directors carry out oversight responsibilities in the quality area. They said the document is intended to help directors ask knowledgeable and appropriate questions related to health care quality requirements, measurement tools and reporting requirements, and establish and demonstrate that they have followed a reasonable quality oversight process.
— AHA News Now, September 14, 2007.
Electronic newborn hearing screening system benefits patients and providers
On January 1, 2007, birthing hospitals began to electronically report the results of all newborn hearing screenings to the Nebraska Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program (NE-EHDI) using a new data system that is a module of the birth certificate/vital records system. With just a few keystrokes, authorized hospital staff can create the basic hearing record from the completed birth certificate.
Read
more.
What's
good for GM is good for your health
The exodus of workers from the auto industry is leading to more workers in the medical profession, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Big 3 auto companies are currently negotiating a new contract with the Union of Auto Workers (UAW), and are hoping to use this period to reduce the number of younger workers on their staff. Part of the strategy includes a buyout that offers up to $15,000 per year for educational costs, in addition to health benefits and half their annual salary for four years.
Ford Motor Co. told the Journal that 40 percent of its former workers are now studying in a medical field, with the most popular being nursing, radiology, dental hygiene and pharmacology. The other companies do not keep track of where their former employees go. However, UAW has stated that many of these workers are now applying for a health-related program. The popularity of the health field stems from salaries that are comparable to those earned in the auto field and jobs that are less sensitive to economic downturns and outsourcing.
— Wall Street Journal.
AONE to launch certification program for nurse leaders
The American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE)
announced plans to launch a certification program for nurse executives in fall 2008. The program will include an exam based on the AONE Nurse Executive Competencies, a set of skills commonly used by the health care field to design job descriptions, set expectations and evaluate nurse leaders. A steering committee of experts from the academic, clinical and health care administration arenas will work with testing and certification leaders to develop eligibility requirements, regulations related to test administration, standards of conduct for certificants and program renewal requirements. “This program will solidify, in a credible way, the professional standing of the nurse executive,” said AONE President Linda Everett. AONE is a subsidiary of the AHA.
— AHA News Now, September 18, 2007.
Medicare
Severity DRGs
October 2, 2007 – Cornhusker Marriott Hotel, Lincoln, NE
The program will provide the necessary information for hospitals to understand
and make appropriate adjustments in coding, billing and auditing activities to
account for the CMS severity adjustments to DRGs and the associated changes that
may take place with other third-party payers using DRG type payment systems. Keeping
Up with APCs
October 3 2007 – Cornhusker Marriott Hotel, Lincoln, NE
This program will review APC, CPT and HCPCS for CY2008. Community
Responses to Childhood Obesity
September 27, 2007 – Boys Town Music Hall, Omaha, NE
End-of-Life
Issues Across the Healthcare Continuum
October 10, 2007 – University of Nebraska East Union, Lincoln, NE
The Nebraska Hospice and Palliative Care Partnership (NHPCP) will a hold workshop for professionals that work in or with hospice, hospitals, home health care, end stage renal disease, developmental disabilities, assisted living, or nursing homes.
The workshop will involve reviewing current regulations and best practices specific to end-of-life care in the above areas of healthcare.
Exploring
the Challenges for Tax-Exempt Organizations
October 11, 2007 – Omaha, NE
Sponsored by the Omaha Community Foundation and Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP
National Depression Screening Day
October 11, 2007
The American Association of Suicidology, Suicide Prevention Action Network USA, the Suicide Prevention Resource Center and the National Hotline are collaborating to promote National Depression Screening Day. Register now for
the event held nationwide on October 11 by going to
www.mentalhealthscreening.org.
National Framework and Preferred Practices for Quality Palliative Care: Raising the Bar
October 16, 2007 – Audioconference
Sponsored by the Center to Advance Palliative Care
York
General Health Care Services Breast Cancer Survivor Night Out
October 16, 2007 – York General Hospital
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.
York
General Health Care Services Diabetes Fair
November 1, 2007 – York Medical Clinic
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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