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LINCOLN—The Nebraska Hospital Association (NHA) hosted another very successful Advocacy Day
Tuesday, with more than 200 health care advocates filling the Cornhusker Marriott
in Lincoln.
The group heard remarks from Governor Heineman and Kerry Winterer, CEO,
Department of Health and Human Services. Bruce Rieker, NHA Vice President,
Advocacy, briefed advocates on the issues of the day and AHA Regional Executive
Paul Muraca provided the attendees with the latest federal update.
Advocacy Day is important for Nebraska hospitals as it connects advocates
one-to-one with their legislators and reminds legislators of the issues
hospitals face while providing quality care to their communities.
A special thanks to the event's Premier Sponsor LaMair-Mulock-Condon Company; Platinum Sponsor HDR; and
the 2010 Advocacy Champion Sponsor Baird Holm Law Firm. The NHA 2010 Advocate sponsors
included
COPIC Insurance; Good Samaritan Hospital; and Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP.
Legislative Luncheon sponsors included Alegent Health; Cassling;
Creighton University Medical Center;
Holland Basham Architects;
Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital;
Midlands Choice; MMIC Group;
The Nebraska Medical Center; Pinpoint Communications;
and
Visions in Architecture. Contributor sponsors included Cada Frocheiser Cada &
Hoffman;
The Olson Group; Radcliffe & Associates; and Ruth Mueller Robak LLC.
— Nebraska Hospital Association, March 10, 2010
WASHINGTON—The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) part of the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, features an audio podcast series
of concise 60-second audio news programs in English and Spanish that concern research on important health care topics. Healthcare 411 gives clinicians and patients
free information they can use for health care decision making.
Nebraska hospitals are encouraged to place a link to AHRQ’s Healthcare 411 site on their Web sites or make the podcasts available for download on the
Healthcare 411 site. For additional information or assistance, contact: Healthcare411@ahrq.hhs.gov.
— ASHE Web site, March 3, 2010
WASHINGTON—Due to scheduled maintenance, Internet-based Provider Enrollment,
Chain and Ownership System (PECOS) will be unavailable from Monday, March 29,
2010 through Monday, April 5, 2010. Internet-based PECOS allows physicians,
non-physician practitioners, providers, and other suppliers
to enroll or make a change to their existing Medicare enrollment information
over the Internet.
If you would like to enroll or make a change to your existing Medicare
enrollment record, you can either use
Internet-based PECOS prior to March 29, 2010 or after April 5, 2010, or complete and submit the paper Medicare provider enrollment application(s) (CMS-855) along with any required supporting documentation and mail the application(s)
to the appropriate Medicare carrier, fiscal intermediary or A/B MAC. The CMS-855
forms are downloadable from the CMS
forms page.
— CMS news release, March 9, 2010
WASHINGTON—Following a successful first quarter roll-out, the American Hospital Association
(AHA) is taking its RACTrac survey nationwide in April. AHA developed RACTrac in response to the lack of data and information provided by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and its Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) on the impact the program is having on America's hospitals. RACTrac is the only nationwide initiative collecting RAC experience data for advocacy purposes. Beginning in April, RACTrac will be open to all hospitals nationwide to report their RAC experience on a quarterly basis.
Read more.
— AHA news release, March 3, 2010
 LINCOLN—The
Nebraska Hospital Association (NHA) presented Columbus Community Hospital with
the NHA 2009 Advocacy Team of the
Year award at the NHA 2010 Advocacy Day on Tuesday, March 9 at the Cornhusker
Marriott Hotel in Lincoln.
Chief Executive Officer Mike Hansen and his knowledgeable team of officers,
physicians and nurses have been health care leaders at both the state and federal level. the Columbus Community
Hospital advocacy team is in regular contact with their elected officials, including Senator Stuthman, Congressman Smith and U.S. Senators Johanns and Nelson, advocating for Nebraska’s hospitals and other health care-related legislation.
In addition to this continued correspondence, Columbus Community Hospital has hosted elected officials to give them a first hand look at the complex health care delivery and finance system.
The NHA congratulates the Columbus Community Hospital advocacy team on this accomplishment.
—
Nebraska Hospital Association, March 10, 2010
 LINCOLN—The American Hospital Association (AHA) annually recognizes an individual from Nebraska as the AHAPAC’s Most Valuable PAC Player. The award recognizes individuals within each state hospital association who have participated in PAC fundraising beyond merely writing a check. The award is for those who have worked hard amongst their peers and/or individual hospital communities to spread the word and increase the intensity of political advocacy on behalf of the entire hospital community.
The 2009 Most Valuable PAC Player award was presented to Glenn Fosdick, CEO and President of The Nebraska Medical Center, during the NHA
2010 Advocacy Day on March 9. The NHA
congratulates Fosdick for his hard work and dedication in helping to raise money
for lawmakers who will advocate on behalf of Nebraska hospitals during critical
health care debates in Washington, D.C.
—
Nebraska Hospital Association, March 10, 2010
LINCOLN—A controversial bill re-creating the state's prenatal care program for
all unborn babies moved to the full Legislature Tuesday on a 6-1 committee vote.
The bill would assure that all low-income pregnant women receive prenatal care.
Read more.
— Lincoln Journal Star, March 9, 2010
LINCOLN—A Nebraska legislative committee has advanced a proposal to put a
two-year freeze on construction of new hospitals so that a study can be done on
issues such as the impact of new facilities on health care costs. LB 999 is
particularly controversial in Kearney.
Read more.
— Omaha World-Herald, March 11, 2010
WASHINGTON—House Speaker Nancy Pelosi concedes that Democrats allowed the
health care reform debate to be “hijacked” by insurance companies and other
interests set on killing the bill. Pelosi, in the second part of an interview
with PBS’s Charlie Rose that aired Wednesday, said that early Democratic
messaging attempts were plagued by the fact that the House and Senate had yet to
come to any agreement about what would be in the bill.
Read more.
— Politico, March 11, 2010
EMTALA on Call Physician Update: Ensuring CMS Compliance (CL)
March 18, 2010 – Webinar
HFMA Nebraska Chapter 2010 Annual Meeting
March 24-26, 2010 – Omaha
Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF)
Clinical Seminar
March 25, 2010 – St. Louis, MO
2010 NHPCP Annual “Living a Good Life…at the End of Life” Conference
March 30 - April 1, 2010 – Lincoln
Disney’s Approach to Quality Service for Healthcare Professionals
April 6, 2010 – Omaha
Medical Technologists
2010
SPRING MEETING
April 7-9, 2010 – LaVista
Grant Writing Workshop
April 8-9, 2010 – Lincoln
9th Annual ASHE Region 6 Education Conference
April 22 & 23, 2010 – Mankato, MN
Crucial Conversations Training
April 27-28, 2010 –
Lincoln
SAVE THE DATE:
2010 Lifespan Health Services Conference
May 11-12, 2010 – Kearney
Click here
for a list
of upcoming NHA audio-conferences 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 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 Kelley Porter, Director of
Communications, at 402/742-8151, or email,
kporter@nhanet.org.
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