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Nebraska Medicaid provider bulletins available online
LINCOLN—Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services
(DHHS) publishes provider bulletins online. Many recent provider bulletins are related to National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) edits and identify potential areas of compliance risk for providers.
The NHA encourages health care providers to regularly review bulletins on the
DHHS Web site.
— NHA, November 4,
2011
Nebraska's Healing on the Homefront
program to be aired this month
LINCOLN—Over the course of the last several months members of the Veterans Brain Injury Task Force have been working on a program with Nebraska Educational Television (NET) and V2 Content called
Healing on the Homefront. This program follows three veterans and their families returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and their experiences as they struggle to understand their loved ones' new world of brain injury.
This television special will air on NET2
Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, November 13, 2011 at 1 p.m.
— NHA,
November 4,
2011
DHHS recognizes Nebraska sentinel
physicians
LINCOLN—The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) recently
recognized the volunteer sentinel physicians and staff who participate in the U.S.
Outpatient Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network (ILINet), a collaborative
effort between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state
and local health departments. DHHS’ goal is to recruit and maintain a minimum of
21 providers, one per local public health department (LPHD).
— DHHS,
November 3,
2011
HRET receives contract to help hospitals reduce catheter-associated infections
WASHINGTON—The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
(HRET) Wednesday
awarded the AHA’s Health Research & Educational Trust a $4 million contract to help hospitals across the country implement protocols to reduce catheter-associated urinary tract infections, the most common type of health care-associated infection. Twelve states currently participate in the AHRQ-funded program, which seeks to reduce CAUTI rates by at least 25
percent. State hospital associations and patient safety leaders will help
hospitals participating in the national expansion implement effective prevention
strategies and unit-based safety programs.
Click here to learn more about the
Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program.
— AHA News Now, November 2,
2011
Providence Medical Center announces new CEO
WAYNE—The Providence Medical Center Governing Board recently announced the appointment of Thomas J. Lee as Chief Executive Officer.
Lee is currently CEO of Palo Alto County Health System in Emmetsburg, Iowa, a 25-bed hospital, 22-bed long-term care facility, with 10 employed providers, 3 regional clinics and over 220 employees. He received his Bachelor of Science in Health Care Management in 1988, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Creighton University in 1992, and a Master of Public Administration in Health Care Management from UNO in 2001. He has over 20 years of experience in the health care industry. He replaces Mike Hammond, who has served as the interim administrator/CEO for the past six months.
— Providence Medical Center news release, October 24, 2011
Five Nebraska hospitals
listed as Top 100 CAH
LINCOLN—The following five Nebraska hospitals were recently named one of the Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) in the country: Avera
St. Anthony's Hospital in O'Neill; Brodstone Memorial Hospital in Superior; Memorial
Community Hospital in Blair; Ogallala Community Hospital in Ogallala; and St.
Francis Memorial Hospital in West Point. The Top 100 CAHs scored best among critical access hospitals on the iVantage Health Analytics’ Hospital Strength Index™. In this first-ever comprehensive rating of CAHs,
the results recognize the Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals that are the safety
net to communities across America—measuring them across 56 different
performance metrics, including quality, outcomes, patient perspective,
affordability and efficiency. More information can be found
online.
— NHA, November 4, 2011
Margaret Woeppel named
regional services consultant
LINCOLN—The Heartland Health Alliance recently named Margaret Woeppel, MSN, RN
as the regional services consultant and CAH coordinator for BryanLGH Health System,
replacing Stacy Cerio. The Alliance is a network of rural and urban Nebraska hospitals dedicated to enhancing the delivery of rural health care.
It is organized to ensure each hospital's local control and autonomy, while providing support to address managed care issues and other changes in the health care environment.
— NHA, November 4, 2011
Members of Congress sign bipartisan letter to protect rural hospitals
WASHINGTON—The Nebraska Hospital Association would like to
applaud Nebraska Representatives Adrian Smith and Jeff Fortenberry who joined 66
other Members of Congress in signing the bipartisan
letter
from Representatives Ron Kind (D-WI) and Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) urging the Joint
Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to protect rural hospitals from
devastating cuts.
— NHA, November 4, 2011
CMS releases three final rules for CY 2012
WASHINGTON—On Tuesday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
released three final rules for calendar year (CY) 2012: the
outpatient
prospective payment system (OPPS) and ambulatory surgical center (ASC) rule,
the physician fee
schedule (PFS) rule and the
end-stage renal
disease (ESRD) PPS rule.
The final OPPS rule updates payments by 1.9 percent and extends the period of non-enforcement of the direct supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services for critical access hospitals and small rural hospitals.
While the PFS rule implements a multiple procedure payment reduction to the professional component of advanced imaging services, it applies a 25
percent reduction for CY 2012 rather than the 50 percent reduction the agency proposed.
— NHA, November 4,
2011
CMS releases final 2012 home health rule
WASHINGTON—Medicare payments to home health agencies will decrease by about 2.31
percent in calendar year 2012 under the
final rule updating Medicare home health prospective payment system rates, released last night by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The 2012 net decrease includes a 2.4
percent market basket update, a 1 percent cut mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a wage index update, and a 3.79
percent coding offset to adjust for changes in case mix. The 2012 coding offset is the first of two installments that total 5.06
percent. Hospital-based agencies will receive a net update of approximately 0.53
percent. Among other changes, the rule allows hospital and post-acute care physicians to satisfy the home health requirement for a face-to-face encounter by informing the certifying physician of their encounters with the patient.
— AHA News Now, November 1,
2011
Preventing Hospital Readmissions (CL)
November 8, 2011 - Webinar
Nebraska’s 15th Women’s Health Symposium
November 9, 2011 - Lincoln
CAH Conference on Quality
November 10-11, 2011 - Kearney
Medical Disaster
Response in Action: The Joplin Story
November 15-16, 2011 - Omaha
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, Member Services and Events
Manager, at
hbullock@nhanet.org. Send news
items to Kelley Porter, Director of Communications,
kporter@nhanet.org.
NHA Newslink is published by the
Nebraska Hospital Association, 3255 Salt Creek Circle, Suite 100, Lincoln, NE
68504-4778. Phone (402) 742-8140, Fax (402) 742-8191. Contact editor: Kelley
Porter, Director of Communications, at (402) 742-8151, or e-mail,
kporter@nhanet.org.
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