ACROSS THE STATE

New Medicaid Identification Card effective Aug. 1

AHA RAC tool now available

Nebraska receives $1 million, four-year traumatic brain injury grant

IN THE NATION

Don't act hastily on health care fix

Health care spending disparities stir a fight

Decision makers differ on how to mend broken health system

MEMBER NEWS

NHA member hospital CEOs receive graduate degrees

How to become an employer of choice is subject of NHA Mid-Year Meeting

Clinical trial holds hope and potential for pediatric organ transplant patients

Gary Honts named CEO of Creighton University Medical Center

Henderson Health Care Services names Brown as CEO, Myers as COO

REGULATION WATCH

Senate panel announces health reform legislation

Heineman: Poor economy could force special session

EVENTS
 

New Medicaid Identification Card effective Aug. 1

A new Medicaid Identification Card will be issued at the end of July 2009 and will be effective August 1, 2009. This is a one-time issuance unless special circumstances require the reissuance of a card.

Providers are asked by Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Medicaid and Long-Term Care, to review a recent provider bulletin, outlining the changes and use of the identification card.

To verify Medicaid eligibility with the new identification card, providers are asked to have each client show the Medicaid Identification Card at each health care appointment. The card does not guarantee eligibility. The provider determines Medicaid eligibility via the telephone or computer using any of these eligibility information access resources:

• Access client eligibility and claims status through the Internet. Separate login IDs and passwords are required for each person accessing the site. For enrollment forms, go to Internet Access for Providers, www.dhhs.ne.gov/med/internetaccess.htm or call the Medicaid EDI Help Desk at 866-498-4357 (in Lincoln, 471-9461)
• Call the automated Nebraska Medicaid Eligibility System (NMES).
• Call the Medicaid Inquiry at 877-255-3092.
• Work with your electronic data interchange (EDI) clearinghouse to set up electronic Health Care Eligibility Benefit Inquiry (ASC X12N 270/271).

— Nebraska Dept. of Health and Human Services, June 1, 2009

 

AHA RAC tool now available

The Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) Program in Nebraska is getting closer and efforts to schedule provider education with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and HealthDataInsights, Inc. (HDI) are currently underway.

Although the American Hospital Association (AHA) is urging CMS and Congress to make further changes to the Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) Program, the AHA and the Nebraska Hospital Association (NHA) are advising hospitals to prepare for RAC reviews now. Hospitals should assemble an internal team to plan and implement process improvements to reduce RAC vulnerabilities. A self-audit to identify risks is an important first step. Read more.

 

Nebraska receives $1 million, four-year traumatic brain injury grant

Nebraska will receive $250,000 each year for the next four years for traumatic brain injury services. Nebraska was one of 16 states awarded a new federal Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Implementation Partnership Grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration. Read more.

— Nebraska Dept. of Education, June 3, 2009

Don't act hastily on health care fix

The United States faces significant health care challenges. Private insurance costs are unaffordable to many, and government health programs like Medicare are financially unsustainable.

Some say that a single-payer, bureaucratic health care system is the answer. Yet, we know the current American system saves more lives than the one-size-fits-all health care plans of Europe and Canada.

For example, it's estimated that this year American health care providers will save 145,565 more fathers and husbands from cancer than the average European country. That's 145,565 fathers still at the dinner table—867 of them would be Nebraskans. Americans also spend about half the time waiting to receive care than do patients in Canada and Britain, where the wait for treatment can be more than a year.

Our goal should be threefold: decrease costs, increase accessibility and maintain quality. The solution may be complex and will require thoughtful, thorough debate. We must avoid distracting rhetoric that doesn't address the problem. Read more.

— By Senator Mike Johanns, Omaha World-Herald, June 10, 2009
 

Health care spending disparities stir a fight

WASHINGTON—As part of the larger effort to overhaul health care, lawmakers are trying to address the huge geographic variations in Medicare spending per beneficiary. Research suggests that the higher spending does not produce better results for patients but may be evidence of inefficiency. Members of Congress are seriously considering proposals to rein in the growth of health spending by taking tens of billions of dollars of Medicare money away from doctors and hospitals in high-cost areas and using it to help cover the uninsured or treat patients in lower-cost regions. Read more.

— New York Times, June 9, 2009

 

Decision makers differ on how to mend broken health system

For more than a decade, researchers have documented the inequities, shortcomings, waste and dangers in uncoordinated medical services that consume nearly one-fifth of the U.S. economy. Exorbitant medical bills thrust too many families into bankruptcy, hinder the global competitiveness of U.S. companies, and threaten the government's long-term solvency. But the consensus on the issue breaks down on the question of how best to create a coordinated, high-performing, evidence-based system that provides the right care at the right time to the right people, according to this article from the Washington Post. Read more.

— Washington Post, June 9, 2009


 

NHA member hospital CEOs receive graduate degrees

The Nebraska Hospital Association (NHA) would like to extend their congratulations to three of its member hospital chief executive officers who have or will receive their graduate degrees this year. All are recipients of the NHA Research and Educational Foundation Graduate Studies Tuition Aid Scholarship Program.

• Joyce Beck, CEO of Thayer County Health Services in Hebron – Master of Healthcare Administration, Bellevue University.
• Don Naiberk, CEO of Administrator of Butler County Health Care Center in David City – Master of Healthcare Administration, University of Minnesota.
• Diane Newman, Administrator of Johnson County Hospital in Tecumseh – Master of Healthcare Administration, University of Minnesota.

The NHA applauds these individuals for their hard work, personal drive and commitment to providing excellence to their respective hospitals and to their communities.

 

How to become an employer of choice is subject of NHA Mid-Year Meeting

NORFOLK—Hospital administrators and managers gathered in Norfolk on June 4-5, 2009, to learn more about measures to become the employer of choice. Jointly sponsored by the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) and the Nebraska Hospital Association (NHA), the Mid-Year Meeting presentations examined the challenges of successfully leading a hospital, what it takes to be the hospital of choice, and how to hardwire for a successful service culture transformation.

Panelists for the ACHE Category I “In-a-Box” Session, The Future of Health Care Financing included facilitator Tom Sommers, CEO at Beatrice Community Hospital & Health Center; Glenn Fosdick, CEO and President at the University of Nebraska Medical Center; Vic Lee, President and CEO at Boone County Health Center in Albion; and Doug Wismer, Controller at Faith Regional Health Services in Norfolk.

The NHA Mid-Year meeting was sponsored by:

• LaMair-Mulock-Condon Company (LMC)
• HDR Architecture
• Union Bank & Trust
• Baird Holm
• Bellevue University
• CAH Networks: Alegent Health Network, CAH Link, Central Nebraska CAH Network and Heartland Health Alliance
• Combined Insurance
• Credit Management
• COPIC Insurance
• The Harry A. Koch Company
• HBE
• Humana
• JE Dunn Construction
• The MMIC Group
• Olson Group
• Stinson Morrison Hecker
• Visions in Architecture
• Beckenhauer Construction Inc.
• Bio-Electronics
• Dicon
• Davis Design

The Mid-Year Meeting was followed by NHA’s annual golf tournament at Eldorado Hills Golf Club in Norfolk. The first place team included Neil Hilton, Jeff Efaw, Bryan Vandersnick and Andy Kloeckner. Dan Griess, Dana Dowler, Wade Stange and Roger Thompson were part of the second place team. The third place team included Ron Briggs, Lee Handke, Brian Zabloudil and Kevin Conway. Thanks to many generous sponsors, several golfers received wonderful flag and door prizes.

Clinical trial holds hope and potential for pediatric organ transplant patients

OMAHA—It is a medical Catch-22; the nutritional supplement necessary to keep children with failing intestines alive can also damage another vital organ. “Children with short intestines have a very difficult time absorbing sufficient nutrition by mouth to survive and grow,” explained David Mercer, MD, PhD, director of the Intestinal Rehabilitation Program at The Nebraska Medical Center and assistant professor of Surgery at The University of Nebraska Medical Center. Dr. Mercer is hopeful about a new clinical trial which just began at The Nebraska Medical Center. Omegaven, a lipid preparation made from fish oil could be far less toxic to patients’ livers than TPN. Read more.

— The Nebraska Medical Center press release, June 11, 2009

 

Gary Honts named CEO of Creighton University Medical Center

OMAHA—Creighton University Medical Center (CUMC) has announced Gary Honts as acting chief executive officer. Honts joins CUMC from Community Hospital of Los Gatos in Los Gatos, California, where he recently served as chief operating officer. Honts brings more than 20 years experience in both the community hospital and academic medical center settings, having held positions as chief operating officer at Hilton Head Regional Medical Center in South Carolina, as well as Atlanta Medical Center. His background further includes a rich history with Omaha, having served as chief operating officer at St. Joseph’s Hospital (now CUMC) in the late 1990s. A native of Des Moines, Iowa, Honts holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Nebraska and a master’s degree in health administration from the College of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois.

— CUMC press release, June 8, 2009

 

Henderson Health Care Services names Brown as CEO, Myers as COO

HENDERSON—Cheryl Brown was recently named administrator of Henderson Health Care Services, Inc (HHCS). Brown has been serving as the Long Term Care administrator of HHCS since January 2007, where she oversaw the operations of Henderson Care Center, Rosewood Court Assisted Living and Prairie Garden Estates. Brown's primary responsibilities will include the total management of the facility, focusing on development, design, operation and improvement of the systems that deliver the facility's services. Jill Myers was named Chief Operations Officer of HHCS. In addition to her duties as the current CFO, Myers will manage day-to-day operations.