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NHA 2007 Annual Convention on the horizon
Measuring quality of care, providing community
benefits, receiving fair payment for services and finding and retaining a
quality workforce are among the paths virtually all hospitals are navigating today. The
2007 NHA Annual Convention will help you chart your course for future success.
The 2007 NHA Annual Convention brings together hundreds of health care
professionals to gain insights on leadership, industry trends, quality
excellence and motivation. The 2007 theme “Pathways: Navigating the Nature of
Health Care,” highlights how Nebraska's health care professionals are committed to delivering
exceptional care, while overcoming an array of challenges.
Nationally recognized speakers' presentations include:
- Fred Lee, author of If Disney Ran Your
Hospital– 9 1/2 Things You Would Do Differently, "Learning from Disney:
For It’s Not All About Service or Satisfaction”
- Jamie Cleverley, principal, Cleverley &
Associates, “Establishing Defensible Pricing in Transparent Times”
- Jim Nelson, director, Clark Consulting –
Health Care Group, “Executive Compensation: Trends & Issues”
- Kent Bottles, MD, accomplished author and
health care futurist, “What the Public Really Wants from Hospitals &
Physicians: Quality, Kindness, and Accountability”
- Chip Madera, leadership development
authority, “Radical Leadership-Radical Change”
- Garrison Wynn, nationally renowned
marketer and business consultant, “The Truth About Success: Being the Best
vs. Being Consistently Chosen”
The NHA is delighted to offer the
Cornhusker Marriott Hotel in Lincoln as the site for the outstanding
programming. Discover dozens of helpful new services and products at the NHA
Tradeshow, featuring more than 85 hospital business partners.
NHA member hospitals, affiliate members,
sponsors and allied health care organizations will soon receive the NHA 2007
Annual Convention registration book. Online registration is available now. Find your
way to Nebraska’s largest health care event of the year— the NHA 2007 Annual
Convention, October 31-November 2. For more information, please see the
NHA Web site or contact Jon
Borton, sr. director of education at 402/742-8147 or
jborton@nhanet.org or
Heather Bullock, marketing and events coordinator, at 402/742-8148 or
hbullock@nhanet.org.
Lincoln city leaders call for Safe Haven Law
The city of Lincoln may get behind a safe haven
law in Nebraska. It's one more voice on an issue that's sure to get attention in
the state legislature next session. But attention may not necessarily mean
action. Nebraska is one of only two states that doesn't have some type of safe
haven law.
"The sad thing about Nebraska is you kind of have
the stereotype of the covered wagons," says Lincoln City Council member Robin
Eschliman. "You have to be the last state to enact something that everyone else
sees a value in." That's why Eschliman drafted a resolution asking the state
legislature to make a safe haven law a priority. Such a law would allow mothers
to drop their babies off at designated safe locations without facing charges.
Earlier this month prosecutors decided not to
charge an Omaha mother for leaving her newborn at Bergan Mercy Medical Center.
But in July, a Lincoln mother was charged. The safe haven law has been proposed
in the Unicameral a number of times, but some senators fear it would encourage
parents to abandon newborns. Even supporters of the bill have some concerns.
Carly Runestad, director of health policy for the
Nebraska Hospital Association says some concerns include children never knowing
their family medical histories, women hiding their pregnancies, and the
possibility of babies being abandoned by disgruntled family members. "There are
some concerns that we feel need to be addressed before this legislation is
enacted," says Runestad. "But again we certainly support any legislation that is
going to allow a mother to take her child to a safe location."
Read
the news release from the Lincoln City Council.
— KPTM, September 26, 2007.
Poll: Nebraskans worry about health care
Worries about health care loom over rural
Nebraskans' retirement dreams, a University of Nebraska rural poll shows. The
12th annual University of Nebraska at Lincoln poll asked 6,400 residents of 84
rural counties questions about retirement plans, including health care.
Eighty-six percent of respondents cited health care as an important retirement
issue, including 81 percent of those ages 19 to 29.
"Nineteen is pretty young to start worrying about
your health in retirement, but they are," Sociologist Randy Cantrell said. "Most
Americans are scared to death of finding themselves in poor health and without
sufficient health insurance." Also, 74 percent cited nearness to health care
providers as a factor in decisions about where to live in retirement. Seventy percent of respondents count on Medicare for
most of the funding of future health care costs. Forty-six percent of 19 to 29-year-olds expect Medicare to
be a major source of support.
Read
more.
— George Lauby, North Platte Bulletin, September
24, 2007.
Congress votes to add 4 million children to SCHIP
WASHINGTON (AP) – Congress approved legislation
Thursday that would potentially add 4 million children to a popular health care
program, setting up a veto fight that President Bush probably will win. Eighteen
Republicans in the Senate lined up with Democrats in voting 67-29 to increase
spending on the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) from about $5
billion to $12 billion annually for the next five years.
The vote was enough to override a promised Bush
veto. But supporters in the House, which passed the bill Tuesday, are about two
dozen votes shy of an override. Both chambers would have to muster two-thirds
majorities to win a veto showdown. Overall, spending for SCHIP would increase to
$60 billion over five years in the unlikely prospect the bill becomes law —
double what President Bush recommended.
Senator Nelson (D-Omaha) was Nebraska’s only
federal delegate to vote in support of the Children's Health Insurance Program
Reauthorization. The bill provides Nebraska with a critical increase in funding
for its SCHIP, Kids Connection, and the opportunity to provide basic health care
services including dental and vision care, doctor visits, hospitalization,
outpatient services and mental health to 34,000 uninsured children in the state.
View the USA Today article or read more on the
NHA Web
site.
— USA Today, September 27, 2007.
UNMC and statewide partners offer free Mini-Medical School on
type 2 diabetes
The University of Nebraska Medical Center and
co-sponsors in 29 communities across Nebraska invite the public to participate
in UNMC Mini-Medical School, a free health education series titled, “Type 2
Diabetes: A Spreading Epidemic." The series, which will be held Oct. 16, 25 and
30, will focus on type 2 diabetes – who’s at risk, treatment
options and new therapies in development.
The series will be broadcast live from the UNMC
Durham Research Center in Omaha, via satellite to: Alma, Atkinson, Broken Bow,
Chadron, Columbus, Fremont, Grand Island, Hastings, Holdrege, Imperial, Kearney,
Lexington, Lincoln, Lynch, McCook, Neligh, Norfolk, North Platte, O’Neill,
Pender, Red Cloud, Rushville, Scottsbluff, Sidney, Tecumseh, Valentine, Wayne
and West Point. Read
more.
Program helps breast cancer survivors with recovery
FREMONT, Neb. – Women in the Fremont area who
have been treated for breast cancer are invited to participate in a new 12-week
rehabilitation program designed to help them regain their physical, emotional,
and spiritual health. The program, offered at no cost by Fremont Area Medical
Center (FAMC), is called “A Time to Heal” and takes a holistic approach –
focusing on treating the whole person.
Small groups meet once a week to discuss
topics such as nutrition, regaining strength, coping, relationships, femininity,
happiness and exercise techniques. The program is free to women who have gone
through breast cancer treatment. Registrations are due by October 26, with group
sessions beginning January 16, 2008, at Fremont Area Medical Center’s Health
Park Plaza. Participants do not need to have received their treatment at FAMC.
To register or for more information, call FAMC’s Rehabilitation Department at
402/727-3329.
The Nebraska Medical Center plans Cancer Center in West Omaha
OMAHA, Neb. – Responding to the health care
needs of rapidly growing communities in west Omaha and western Douglas County,
The Nebraska Medical Center and UNMC physicians will open a new outpatient
Clinical Cancer Center next year on the southeast corner of 180th Street and
West Dodge Road, just west of the Village Pointe shopping area. The new center
will offer cancer patients the greatest variety of outpatient treatment options
and comprehensive cancer care services in one convenient location.
“Increasing demand for our services at The
Nebraska Medical Center’s nationally-accredited cancer center requires us to
expand our facilities. We feel there is no better place to do that than in west
Omaha,” said Glenn Fosdick, FACHE, president and CEO of The Nebraska Medical
Center. “We want to make sure the highest level of cancer resources is available
and convenient to this community.”
Alegent Health Mercy Hospital carries on mission for 120
years
Alegent Health Mercy Hospital has been
operating in the Council Bluffs area for 120 years. Though its mission to help
heal the community has remained the same, its name, location and appearance have
undergone several changes over the years.
The Sisters of Mercy, Mary Vincent McDermott
and Mary Magdalen Bennett, opened the hospital in September, 1887, in a rented
house on the corner of Fourth Street and Ninth Avenue in Council Bluffs.
Recently, Alegent Health Mercy Hospital officials announced a $25 million
capital improvement project that will allow the facility to better meet area
health care needs. Design work is slated for completion in January 2008.
Officials expect to break ground in the spring 2008 and finish the project in
three phases from January to May 2009. The project will increase the capacity of
Mercy's intensive care unit, upgrade operating rooms and improve the hospital's
infrastructure.
Read the full article or the
news
release.
— Nicole Weis, SW Iowa News, September 23,
2007.
National expert to speak on childhood obesity at Boys Town
OMAHA, Neb. – One in three Nebraska students K-12
is overweight or faces the risk of being overweight due to a combination of
unhealthy eating habits and a lack of physical exercise. Alegent Health, Boys
Town Pediatrics, the Douglas County Health Department and Our Healthy Community
Partnership are partnering to help curb these staggering statistics by
organizing a community program entitled “Community Responses to Childhood
Obesity.” The featured speaker for the special presentation is nationally
recognized expert William Dietz, M.D., Ph.D., the Centers for Disease Control &
Prevention (CDC) director of nutrition, physical activity and obesity. Dr. Dietz
will discuss the national epidemic of childhood obesity and a local panel of
Omaha experts will also report on the local community response at a free seminar
taking place Thurs., Sept. 27 at Boys Town Music Hall located at 13715 Flanagan
Boulevard in Omaha, Neb., beginning at 7 p.m.
During the community program, Activate Omaha
Kids and other Omaha experts will report on the local response to childhood
obesity. The community program on childhood obesity is free and open to the
public. Please RSVP to
droberts@alegent.org.
Read
more.
HHS
issues long-range plan to personalize health care
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
last week issued a long-range plan for achieving more individualized care for
patients, especially using genetic information and health information technology
(IT). The
report describes challenges and pathways to more personalized medicine and
related programs underway at HHS to identify genetic elements in disease,
translate scientific discoveries into clinical practice, share data on the best
treatments, and develop standards to securely exchange electronic health data.
“Where once physicians had to practice medicine much like an art form, using
macroscopic tools to alleviate symptoms, personalized health care will provide
molecular tools and information technology support to deliver care with greater
precision, confidence and individualization,” the report says.
— AHA News Now, September 20, 2007.
Comments sought on care environment standards
The Joint Commission is accepting comments through Oct. 31 on changes proposed
for 2009 to its Environment of Care standards, which focus on activities that
make the care setting safe. The proposed revisions apply to the organization’s
accreditation programs for hospitals, ambulatory care, home care and
office-based surgery. To review the proposed changes and submit comments, visit
the Joint Commission Web
site.
— AHA News Now, September 20, 2007.
Report: Health care quality improving
A report from the National Committee for
Quality Assurance shows that the quality of medical care of more than 80 million
insured Americans enrolled in 767 health plans improved last year.
Read more.
— Orlando Business Journal, Sep 26, 2007.
Senate passes mental health parity bill; House bill
advances
Last week the Senate unanimously passed the
Mental Health Parity Act (S. 558), which would require group health plans to
provide mental health benefits on par with medical and surgical benefits. The
following day, the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee voted 10-3 to pass a
separate mental health parity measure, the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and
Addiction Equity Act (H.R. 1424). AHA Executive Vice President Rick Pollack
called the Senate vote “an important step towards improving health care for
millions of Americans. As this bill goes to conference, we urge Congress to put
patients first and ensure equitable health care coverage for Americans with
mental and substance use disorders.”
— AHA News Now, September 19, 2007.
Hospitalist program to begin Oct. 1 at Beatrice hospital
Beginning Oct. 1, many patients at Beatrice Community Hospital (BCH) will be
cared for by hospitalists, doctors employed by the hospital to care for patients
admitted to its facility. A hospitalist program entails a hospital employing a
team of physicians who are based in the hospital, and focus on the medical care
of hospitalized patients. The team provides patients with round-the-clock
coordination of care during their stay in the hospital. The physicians follow
patients’ progress, order tests and treatments as needed, answer patient and
family questions, consult with specialists and communicate with primary
physicians.
Hospitalist programs are not common in critical
access hospitals, but BCH Chief Executive Officer Tom Sommers says it is a
program that will have many benefits both for patients and local physicians. He
said starting a hospitalist program became a priority in the hospital’s
strategic plan following an extensive community survey conducted in 2005.
“Hospital patients will get the benefit of having a doctor available at all
times to care for their changing needs,” Sommers said, “and primary care doctors
will be able to continue to see patients in their clinics knowing their patients
who must be admitted to the hospital are getting the best care possible.”
The use of hospitalists in medical facilities throughout the country is a
growing trend. Today, there are more than 15,000 hospitalists and 40 percent of
the nation’s 5,000 hospitals employ hospitalists, according to the Society of
Hospital Medicine.
Read
more.
Funding opportunities
New Health Resources and Services
Administration (HRSA) funding opportunities and grants are available for a
variety of health related professions. For additional information and
application instructions, access the HRSA Funding Opportunities Web site at
http://www.hrsa.gov/grants/default.htm.
Grants awarded to increase providers in shortage areas
The Health Resources and Services
Administration (HRSA) has awarded $8.8 million to increase the number of primary
care and behavioral health providers in shortage areas. Most of the grants ($7
million) will help states administer educational loan repayment programs for
primary care providers who serve in federally designated shortage areas. The
rest will help universities and medical facilities train psychologists for
behavioral and mental health work in medically underserved areas. The University
of Nebraska Medical Center received a Graduate Psychology Education Program
Award for
fiscal year 2007 in the amount of $94,530. For a complete list of grant
recipients, see the
HRSA news
release.
— AHA News Now, September 24, 2007.
Health systems top list of best employers for workers over 50
Nearly half of the organizations making AARP’s
list of “50
Best Employers for Workers Over 50” this year are hospitals or health
systems, including five of the top 10. The annual AARP list recognizes
organizations with exemplary practices for older workers in areas such as
recruiting, training and career development; workplace accommodations; flexible
scheduling, job sharing and phased retirement; and health and pension benefits.
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.
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 hold a 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.
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Interpreting Specialty Workshop
October 15, 17, 22 and 24 – Omaha, NE
Center for Transcultural Learning
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
Fall Workers' Compensation Seminar
October 17, 2007 – Great Plains Regional Medical Center, North Platte, NE
October 18, 2007 – Farm Bureau Office, Lincoln, NE
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.
Clinical Spanish Communication
October 18, 2007 – Omaha, NE
For clinical or administrative health care professionals with intermediate level
Spanish speaking skills. Sponsored by the Center for Transcultural Learning
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.
Contact Christy Rasmussen,
director of communications, at 402/742-8151, or email, crasmussen@nhanet.org.
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