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LINCOLN — Gov. Dave Heineman today signed LB 895, the Nebraska Super
Advantage, into law. The bill was created to help communities take the next step
in advancing economic development and business recruitment efforts throughout
the state.
“With today’s bill signing, we are taking a quantum leap forward in our
efforts to create quality jobs in Nebraska,” Gov. Heineman said. “By creating a
new tier of incentives that encourage companies to bring higher-paying jobs here
to our state, we are increasing our competitiveness and increasing opportunities
for Nebraskans, especially our young people.”
LB 895 modifies the state’s existing set of business incentives by adding a
new layer of incentives to the five tiers that comprise the current Nebraska
Advantage. The Nebraska Super Advantage is focused on attracting companies ready
to create higher-paying jobs in the state.
Click here to read the article in full.
— Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman, News Release, April 17, 2008.
LINCOLN — Nebraskans continue to report receiving phone calls from persons
identifying themselves as Medicare representatives and asking the beneficiaries
to provide or “verify” personal information, including the beneficiaries’ bank
account numbers.
According to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, residents
from Seward County and Box Butte County reported receiving such calls and
refused to provide information.
Some Nebraskans reported the caller became insistent or intimidating. It is
important to keep in mind that receiving an unsolicited call demanding a
personal bank account number indicates it’s a scam.
Click here to read the full article.
— North Platte Telegraph, April 17, 2008.
The AHA, Federation of American Hospitals, and Coalition of Full Service
Community Hospitals urged Congress to ban self-referral to new physician-owned
hospitals. “Including a provision in the farm bill [H.R. 2419] – or any bill –
to ban self-referral would protect patient access to vital health care services,
as well as ensure fair competition in health care,” the groups said in a
statement. They noted that the farm bill provision would not close
physician-owned hospitals, but simply stop physician self-referral to new
facilities. “The government’s own Congressional Budget Office found that banning
self-referral to new facilities would reduce Medicare spending by $2.4 billion
over 10 years, so taxpayers will win,” they said. “In short, these facilities
siphon off the resources that full-service hospitals need to provide the range
of services needed in everyday emergencies as well as in times of community
crisis.”
— AHA News Now, April 18, 2008.
The 2007-08 U.S. flu season may be the most severe since 2003-04, the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
reported
this week. Flu activity peaked in mid-February with widespread activity in 49
states. As of April 5, just six states reported widespread activity:
Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont. Early results
from a study to measure the effectiveness of this season’s flu vaccine show an
overall effectiveness of 44 percent, suggesting the vaccine provided substantial
protection even though some of the viruses circulating differed from the strains
in the vaccine, CDC said.
— AHA News Now, April 18, 2008.
FALLS CITY — Sunday afternoon Community Medical Center (CMC) held a ground-breaking ceremony in a field
just north of town that over the course of the next 18 months
will steadily grow into a 56,000 square foot medical facility. A $21 million
hospital structure, that is perhaps worth much more than that awesome dollar value to
this community and the people who live here. Remarkably, the new CMC represents
the fourth major multi-million dollar construction project undertaken in Falls
City within the past five years, following Thomas Track & Field inside Jug Brown
Stadium, the Library and Arts Center and the Aquatic Center. It could be argued
that any one of those is better than another, but the new hospital project,
which is privately funded, is by far the biggest and most expensive of the
bunch.
Falls City Mayor Rodney Vandeberg, in addressing a large crowd at Sunday’s
ceremony, called it “the greatest project which has ever occurred in Falls City.
“We haven’t built many $21 million structures in Falls City and we probably
won’t build many more in the future; however, as important as the issue of
health care, is the potential economic impact the project will have on our
community,” he said. A one-story facility providing 24 patient rooms, a
state-of-the-art surgery center, private specialty clinics, two delivery rooms
with maternity suites, and Family Medicine Clinic will sit on 70 acres of
CMC-owned land west of Old Highway 73. A road providing direct access from
Highway 73 to the hospital campus will also be constructed. The projected grand
opening date will be in November 2009.
Click here to read the full
article and view photos.
— Jason Schock, Falls City (NE) Journal, April 23, 2008.
FREMONT — The majority of people who smoke wish they could quit, but the
intense addiction to nicotine makes it very difficult. If it’s time for you or
someone you know to kick the habit – cigarettes, cigars, or chew – Fremont Area
Medical Center’s (FAMC) Tobacco Cessation Program can help. Class is free for
the first ten registrants.
Taught by Certified Tobacco Treatment Specialist and FAMC Pharmacist Ken
Saunders, the program follows the American Lung Association’s guidelines and
provides confidential, expert instruction to help make quitting easier. The
class meets for five sessions: May 7, 14, 16, 21, and 28, from 11:30 a.m.–12:30
p.m.; and June 4, 11, 13, 18, and 25, from 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Classes are
held on the third floor of FAMC’s Health Park Plaza, located at 450 East 23rd
Street.
Regular cost for the program is $50. Discount coupons for nicotine replacement items and all learning
materials are provided. For more information on FAMC’s Tobacco-Cessation Program
or to register, call (402) 727-3882.
— FAMC, News Release, April 21, 2008.
KEARNEY — Parents, caregivers, and child safety advocates from across the
state are invited to Hilltop Mall for the 2008 AAA Strollerthon.
Participants are invited to walk to five stations inside the mall to learn
how to keep children safe in and around cars.
Click here to read
the full article.
— Good Samaritan Health System, News Release, April 17, 2008.
HASTINGS — A Hastings hospital is moving forward with a $30 million expansion
project. The Mary Lanning Memorial construction and renovation project is being
funded in part through tax-exempt bonds, recently approved by the Adams County
Board of Supervisors. Plans include adding a new seven-story tower to the north
and adding two new floors to the south side of the building.
Windows throughout the hospital will also be replaced, and all patient rooms
would become private. The project is expected to start this summer and take
about 3 1/2 years to finish.
— Associated Press, April 18, 2008.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in the next few weeks will
release a final report on the overall outcome of the Medicare recovery audit
contractor (RAC) demonstration, CMS officials told the AHA recently. Following
the report, the agency plans to announce the permanent RACs for the nationwide
rollout. According to CMS, the permanent RACs will conduct outreach and
education efforts prior to starting claims audits. Congress in 2006 made the
program permanent and required CMS to operate RACs in all 50 states by 2010.
RACs review old Medicare claims, and receive a percentage of the improper
payments they identify – both overpayments and underpayments. AHA vice president
for policy Don May said, "While the changes CMS has made to improve the RAC
program based on the demonstration are good, much more needs to be done to
ensure that these programs operate properly and fairly." For information on how
to prepare for the RAC program and the legislative campaign to slow down the
national rollout, visit
www.aha.org.
— AHA News Now, April 17, 2008.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
announced new data reporting options for its voluntary Physician Quality
Reporting Initiative in 2008. As an alternative to submitting quality data as
part of their Medicare claims, the program will allow physicians and other
eligible professionals to submit the data through a medical registry, which will
report the data to CMS. They also can choose to report data on individual
measures, or on group measures that capture multiple data elements about common
care processes for diabetes, kidney disease and preventive medicine. Those who
report using groups of measures can start reporting this July and still be
eligible to earn an incentive payment in 2008, CMS said. The reporting changes
were authorized by Congress late last year. More than 100,000 physicians
submitted quality data at least once in 2007, more than half of which are on
track to receive an incentive payment, the agency said.
— AHA News Now, April 17, 2008.
The country’s wave of 78 million baby boomers may soon face a challenge that
could make building their careers and raising kids seem easy. A new report says
baby boomers will face a health care system significantly unprepared to meet
older Americans’ health needs.
A shortage of geriatric doctors and nurses and inadequate training for family
caregivers are among problems that must be addressed, according to the report.
It urged that all health care workers be trained in basic geriatric care and
that schools increase training in the treatment of older patients.
Click here to read the full article.
— Michael O’Connor, Midlands News Service, April 14, 2008.
National Hospital Week 2008 will be observed May 11-17, 2008. This year's theme
is "Where Healing Happens Every Day."
Click here
to go to the AHA sponsored Web site to order promotional materials.
Minority Health
Month activities planned for week of April 20-26
Rebuilding
Lives in Nebraska: 2nd Annual Brain Injury Conference
April 24 - 25, 2008 – Midtown Holiday Inn, Grand Island, NE
Nebraska Association of Medical Staff Services
(NeAMSS) 2008 Education Conference
April 25, 2008 – Georgetown Club, Omaha, NE
Alegent Health April Events Calendar
April 1-30, 2008
FAMC’s Annual Health and Wellness Fair
May 3, 2008- Fremont, NE
2008 Nebraska Healthcare Quality Forum
May 13, 2008 – Embassy Suites, Lincoln, NE
Seward Diabetic
Support Group
May 20, 2008
“Use it or Lose It” 55PLUS Community Education
Lunch and Learn
May 30, 2008
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.
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 Kim Larson, editor, at 402/742-8143 or email,
klarson@nhanet.org.
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