|
This weekend, families across Nebraska will celebrate our independence day with bright and colorful fireworks displays. While some families gather at community parks or organized events to view professional fireworks shows, many families choose to hold their own festivities in their neighborhoods or backyards.
Unfortunately, many of these celebrations, intended to be exciting and fun, can quickly turn into a nightmare. The Nebraska State Fire Marshal’s office reported a total of 147 cases treated in Nebraska emergency rooms from mid-June to mid-July last year. St. Elizabeth’s Regional Medical Center’s Burn Center reported 22 fireworks-related injuries treated during the Fourth of July holiday in 2007, and the Burn Unit at The Nebraska Medical Center
reported that it typically treats more than a dozen fireworks-related injuries during that time.
Read more.
Beginning July 1, newborns in Nebraska will be required to receive all 28
available screenings for serious physical conditions, such as cystic fibrosis,
the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services announced. Last year,
regulation revisions were made that change the previously supplemental or
"optional" newborn screening panel to mandatory.
View the regulations.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services yesterday began its competitive bidding program for Medicare durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies. The program will operate competitive bidding in 10 metropolitan statistical areas and for 10 of the top product areas, including power wheelchairs, oxygen equipment and supplies, and hospital beds and accessories. CMS plans to expand the program to 70 more MSAs in 2009 and to additional areas and items in 2010. Established by the Medicare Modernization Act, the program requires suppliers to submit competitive bids to furnish items in particular areas. While the House passed legislation (H.R. 6331) to delay the program for 18 months, the Senate failed to take up the measure before this week’s congressional recess.—
AHA News Now,
July 1, 2008
Survey: Large employers offering wellness programs, incentives
Seventy-seven percent of large employers offer health and wellness programs, and 48% offer disease management programs, according to a new survey by the ERISA Industry Council and National Association of Manufacturers. Seven in 10 respondents with health and wellness programs offer incentives for employees to participate, with the average incentive valued at just under $200. Gift cards were the most popular incentive, followed by premium reductions, cash, merchandise and health account contributions. Many large employers without health and wellness programs planned to add them in the next year.
— AHA News Now,
July 1, 2008
LINCOLN — Nebraska Hospital Association (NHA), the influential voice of Nebraska’s hospitals, has added
Director of Health Data Cindy Vossler, Director of Communications Kelley Porter and
Advocacy Coordinator Cora Micek to its staff.
Vossler, a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has almost 15 years of charge and claim development and experience maintaining a compliant billing system as compliance specialist/charge description master coordinator at Alegent Health. Named as the director of health data at NHA, Vossler is responsible for the Nebraska hospital information system.
Porter holds a bachelors of arts from Doane College and has more than seven years of marketing and communications experience. She most recently served as the marketing and development manager for the Nebraska Restaurant Association. As the director of communications, her responsibilities include managing the promotion of the mission and serving as the media contact for the organization.
Micek will focus on state and federal legislative issues concerning the healthcare field, including overseeing the Policy Development Committee. She recently earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in political science with minors in English, history and human rights/human diversity. Micek has held internship positions with both the Nebraska Unicameral and Senator Hagel’s
office in Washington D.C.
OMAHA — The University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Board of Counselors elected officers for 2008 at its recent annual board meeting.
Rick Kolkman, president, First National Bank of North Platte, will serve as
chairman, while Don Goldstein, with Penske Truck Leasing in Omaha, will serve as
vice chairman. The group welcomed 10 new board members at the meeting held at
the Durham Research Center in the Scott Amphitheater.
Read
more.
— UNMC,
July 1, 2008
OMAHA — Hard on the heels of being recognized as a national leader in quality of patient care and topping the list of America’s hospital networks in a study conducted by The Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI), Alegent
Health today announced that its hospitals have also been named top performers in
a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Premier healthcare alliance
pay-for-performance (P4P) project. This project rewards hospitals for delivering
higher quality care in five key clinical areas.
Read more.
—
Alegent Health,
June 20, 2008
In a
report issued yesterday,
the Government Accountability Office urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services to issue a final rule implementing the Medicaid disproportionate share
hospital (DSH) payment reporting and auditing requirements of the Medicare
Modernization Act. The GAO also recommended that CMS develop a strategy to
identify all supplemental payment programs established in state Medicaid plans
and a consistent process to ensure those funds are spent for Medicaid purposes.
CMS in 2005 issued a proposed rule implementing the MMA’s Medicaid DSH
requirements, which the AHA
said
made substantive policy changes not required by the statute.
— AHA News Now,
July 1, 2008
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services yesterday began its competitive bidding program for Medicare durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies. The
program will operate competitive bidding in 10 metropolitan statistical areas and for 10 of the top product areas, including power wheelchairs, oxygen equipment and supplies, and hospital beds and accessories. CMS plans to expand the program to 70 more MSAs in 2009 and to additional areas and items in 2010. Established by the Medicare Modernization Act, the program requires suppliers to submit competitive bids to furnish items in particular areas. While the House passed legislation (H.R. 6331) to delay the program for 18 months, the Senate failed to take up the measure before this week’s congressional recess.
—
AHA News Now,
July 1, 2008
Employers welcome compromise on ADA
The House of Representatives last week overwhelmingly approved a revised bill that would expand the scope of the Americans with Disabilities Act, allaying the business community’s concerns about a previous version of the bill.
Major employer groups had opposed the
earlier bill, the ADA Restoration Act, fearing it would make ADA protections too
broad. But after months of discussions with groups representing the disability
community, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of
Manufacturers and other business organizations threw their support behind a
revised plan.
Read more.
— Workforce.com,
June 30, 2008
As many of you know, the Nebraska Supreme Court decided in Roseland v. Strategic Staff Mgmt., 272 Neb. 434 (Oct. 2006), that employers must pay to employees any and all earned and unused vacation at the time of separation of employment. Following this decision, the Unicameral passed, and the Governor signed into law in March of 2007, an amendment to the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act adopting the Roseland court's finding regarding vacation pay out at separation. Although the amendment requires employers to pay out any earned and unused vacation to employees, the same amendment allows employers discretion to determine by policy or contract whether they wanted to pay earned and unused sick leave at separation.
Read more.
—
Berens & Tate, June 30, 2008
On July 17, the Hospital Compare Web site (www.HospitalCompare.hhs.gov) will be
updated to contain new and refreshed information on several conditions. For the first time,
30-day mortality data for pneumonia patients will be available and, for some hospitals, two
clinical measures on pediatric asthma will be added to the other clinical data already
displayed on the Web site. In addition, information on 30-day heart attack and heart
failure mortality rates will be updated for the first time since the outcome measures were
unveiled last year.
Read more.
—
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, June 30, 2008
Tractor Ride Against Cancer
July 3, 2008 - Omaha
Proactive Connections: Lessons Learned from Mt. Sinai's Experience with the
California Nurses Association
July 9, 2008 - Kearney
July 10, 2008 - Omaha
York General Health Care Services Auxiliary Charity Golf Tournament
August 1, 2008 - Omaha
Jefferson Health Care Foundation Charity Golf Tournament
August 8, 2008 - Fairbury
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.
NOTE: The Nebraska Hospital Association will be changing over to a new email
database. If you do not receive Newslink in the following weeks, please notify
us at 402/742-8140.
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 Kelley Porter, director of
communications, at 402/742-8151 or email,
kporter@nhanet.org.
Click here
to Subscribe to Newslink
Click
here to Unsubscribe
Click here to
change your email address
or call Vicky Pfeiffer, administrative assistant, at 402/742-8145.
Please include the individual's name, title and email address.
Back To Main
|
