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LINCOLN, Neb.— Gov. Dave Heineman delivered his State of the State address to
the Legislature Tuesday, outlining proposals designed to continue building
economic vitality throughout Nebraska. The address focused on reshaping Nebraska
by expanding property tax relief, creating high-paying jobs and maintaining a
prudent cash reserve.
Gov. Heineman also acknowledged that changes need to be made in the health care
sector. He calls for a federal-state partnership with the private sector. "Our
country needs a secure electronic health care system," he said. The Governor
recognized the pilot project for Hebron and Thayer County to better coordinate
patient records. Other Nebraska hospitals are working to develop a sustainable
model for electronic health records. In 2005, a regional health records
collaboration in Western Nebraska was awarded an estimated $1.5 million grant
from the Federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to implement
a regional health information exchange among a collaboration of hospitals,
clinics, and other providers across a remote 14,000-square-mile area in
Nebraska’s panhandle. Recently the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
awarded a $19 million grant to the Rural Nebraska Healthcare Network in Western
Nebraska to upgrade a patchwork of T-1 lines to fiber optic cable network
that will further facilitate the development of health information technology.
The Governor promoted consumer driven health care, with a focus on prevention
and wellness, citing the fact that Nebraska has an alarming rate of childhood
obesity. Many to most of Nebraska's hospitals offer preventative health-related
education programs and resources for their workforce and their communities. Alegent Health in Omaha is part of a community-based, community-wide coalition
called Activate Omaha Kids
to combat childhood obesity. Additionally, hospitals such as Saint Francis Medical
Center in Grand Island and Tri-County Hospital in Lexington have partnered with
their local schools to offer nutrition screening, education for students
and parents, and "walk to school" programs to increase physical activity.
Nebraska's hospitals offer free- or reduced-cost health screenings at
community-wide health fairs. Many of these screenings detect the early stages of
diabetes, heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis and more.
Gov. Heineman also calls for the creation of more higher-paying jobs in the
state. Nebraska's hospitals continue to collaboratively work with education
providers to recruit a health care workforce and create their own innovative
workforce recruitment and retention strategies. Hospitals continue to partner
with the Area Health Education Centers
(AHECs) to offer career fairs and science camps to rural area youths. Studies
show students who are raised in rural areas and pursue a degree in medicine are
more likely to practice medicine in an underserved rural area. Thus, Box Butte
General Hospital in Alliance proactively builds a future workforce by involving
local students in a Health Professions Club. Health Professions Club introduces
its student-members to a new health profession each month and offers students an
opportunity to tour major health care facilities. The program, now in its
fourth year, has been such a success that the state of Washington has indicated
that it will adopt the program and implement it in its school systems.
In fiscal year 2006, Nebraska's hospitals provided over $44 million to assist with
the training of doctors, nurses and other health professionals. This includes the
unreimbursed costs of clinical settings, residency education, scholarships and
tuition reimbursement to non-employees and volunteers, job shadowing and
mentoring programs for high school students and recruitment of underrepresented
minorities.
Nebraska’s hospitals have an enduring commitment to fostering innovation,
creating an adequate number of highly-qualified health professionals; providing
safe, quality patient care; and creating better, healthier communities.
Click here
to read the Governor's full State of the State address.
— Christy Rasmussen, director of communications, January 16, 2008.
Nearly nine in 10 U.S. adults said their vote in this year’s presidential
election will be influenced by candidates’ views on health care reform,
according to a
survey released today by the Commonwealth Fund. Eight in 10 respondents
believed employers should provide or contribute financially to health care for
their workers, while nearly seven in 10 favored requiring everyone to have
health insurance. Two-thirds of the survey’s respondents thought the government,
employers and individuals should share the cost of health insurance for all. A
related
report analyzes the health care proposals of presidential candidates Hillary
Clinton, John Edwards, Rudolph Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Dennis Kucinich, John
McCain, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. The AHA has produced a
brochure to help hospital leaders and others ask the candidates about their
health care proposals.
— AHA News Now, January 15, 2008.
OMAHA, Neb.— There is little argument that America’s health care system is in
crisis. America’s upper class knows it. The middle class feels it. The working
class lives it. Health care reform is the topic of discussion from the board
room to the ballot box. Amid the rhetoric comes action in the form of a plan
designed, piloted and proven by Alegent Health, a faith-based health care system
with nine hospitals in Nebraska and Iowa. On Jan. 15 and 16, executives and
decision makers from nine U.S. health care systems joined analysts, technology
experts and policy makers in Omaha, to look at real tactics that are showing
real results.
“Health care reform is going to happen,” said Alegent Health CEO Wayne Sensor.
We, as an industry, can either lead the way or accept what is dealt to us. I
prefer to lead.” Under Sensor’s direction, Alegent Health moved quickly to the
forefront of health care providers making real headway against the challenges
facing America’s health care system. At the heart of Alegent Health’s strategy -
the patients. Alegent's initiatives include reporting quality indicators to the
public on its Web site; giving patients an online tool to help them estimate
their out-of-pocket expenses and providing employees with a consumer-driven
health plan that offers free preventative health coverage, health savings
accounts and catastrophic medical coverage.
Read
the full article or
view a fact
sheet of Alegent's "Power to the Patient" program statistics.
OMAHA, Neb.— Creighton University Medical Center’s “Center for Blood
Conservation” is now one of 12 accredited blood conservation programs in the
United States. The Association for Blood Conservation accredited CUMC in
December 2007 after surveyors visited November 25-26. “This accreditation
formalizes what we already knew to be true- that our program is specially
designed to provide state-of-the-art transfusion-free care," said Mark Eldredge,
Manager of CUMC’s Center for Blood Conservation, “Our patients have come to rely
on CUMC for this unique service.” The Association for Blood Conservation (ABC)
is the primary formal resource for developing and implementing blood
conservation programs.
Read
more.
In pursuing the Nebraska Hospital Association's vision statement, NHA
collaboratively works with partners to create a state that is home to healthy
communities where hospitals are known as leaders of quality initiatives. Health
care sets the standard for service excellence and Nebraska’s hospitals foster
innovation.
To help Nebraska’s hospitals achieve these goals, NHA shares with you new or
ongoing quality initiatives from Nebraska's hospitals. Each example is an
innovative, reproducible model of a health care quality initiative.
This month we feature Providence Medical Center's (Wayne, NE) commitment to
worksite wellness.
Providence Medical Center conducted a health risk assessment (HRA) of its staff
and implemented a program to increase the health and lifestyles of its
employees. After the initial assessment, 79 percent of the employees documented
inadequate exercise; during the second survey this number dropped dramatically
to 17 percent. The number of employees who improved their diets also
improved significantly, with year two results showing that only eight percent had a
diet low in fruits and fiber, compared with 90 percent who had poor diets on the
first survey.
Read about their success story and how you can create a healthier workforce at
your hospital.
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) reports that thousands of
hospitals, both national and international, have joined its campaign against
preventable complications that require the adoption of "bundles." Bundling
joins scientifically grounded elements that reduce the risk of serious
complications, such as pneumonia or central-line infections, according to the IHI.
Read the full article.
— USA Today, January 16, 2008.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) recently called for a new approach to
pandemic preparedness to protect personal liberty and privacy. Among other
recommendations, the group said preparedness plans should focus on illness
prevention rather than law enforcement and national security; ensure fair and
efficient distribution and rationing of vaccines and medications; emphasize
voluntary social distancing measures rather than mandatory quarantines; require
transparent communication of accurate information among government and the
public; provide procedural protections to individuals proposed for detention or
travel restrictions; and hold public and private entities legally accountable
for their actions. For more, see the group’s
report.
— AHA News Now, January 14, 2008.
Smoke-free
Lobby Day
January 22, 2008 – Lincoln, NE
NHPCP Cahaba GBA Hospice
Regulatory Updates Workshop and Legislative Luncheon
January 23, 2008 – Cornhusker Marriott Hotel, Lincoln, NE
Alegent Health Infant Memorial Service
Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008, 2 p.m. – Alegent Health Bergan Mercy Medical Center
Chapel
Preventing Health Care Associated Infections Webinar
January 29, 2008
Recent Stark II Developments Impacting Hospitals - Reporting and
Phase II Webinar
January 31, 2008
The Joint Commission Medical Staff Standards: 2008 Update Webinar
January 31, 2008
Center for Biopreparedness Education Hospital Incident Command Center Instructor
Training
March 6 -7, 2008 – Embassy Suites, Lincoln, NE
Click here for a list
of upcoming NHA audioconferences and webinars.
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 in Newslink or on the NHA Web site,
submit it to Heather Bullock, marketing and events coordinator, at
hbullock@nhanet.org. Send news items to Christy Rasmussen, director of
communications, at crasmussen@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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