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AHA chart compares Senate health reform bill, president's plan   03/09/2010
The AHA has compiled a document summarizing the Senate's health reform bill and noting elements that President Obama has suggested changing as part of a final reform package. The president on Feb. 22 released a summary of his reform plan, based on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590), which passed the Senate Dec. 24. The White House noted that the changes "reflect policies from the House-passed bill and the president's priorities." Last week, the president also announced he would consider several Republican ideas, including: proposals to provide an additional $50 million in grants for medical liability demonstrations; ways to increase doctor reimbursement if Medicaid is expanded; allowing high-deductible health plans to participate in the health insurance exchange; and using "medical professionals to conduct random undercover investigations of health care providers that receive reimbursements from Medicare, Medicaid and other federal programs." The chart is available at www.aha.org.
AHA: WellPoint rationale for premium hikes 'at odds with the facts'   03/09/2010
In a letter today to WellPoint Inc. President and CEO Angela Braly, the AHA said the insurer's assertion at a recent congressional hearing that "provider consolidation" is a key driver of increased health care premiums "is at odds with the facts." The letter notes, "Despite years of intense scrutiny, neither federal antitrust agency has challenged as anticompetitive any hospital simply because it became part of a system or participated in system-wide contracting. In fact, the benefits of both horizontal and vertical integration are well documented by the federal antitrust agencies." The letter concludes, "Improving the affordability of care will take an effort by everyone - insurers, hospitals, businesses, physicians, nurses, employers and individuals. Hospitals are committed to doing our part and challenge all those involved to address the real cost drivers:  rising rates of chronic disease, a labor shortage that is driving up wage rates, skyrocketing costs for new technologies and pharmaceuticals and excessive administrative costs due to unnecessary complexity."   
Michigan health plans abandon merger after DOJ threatens antitrust suit   03/09/2010
Blue Care Networks of Michigan, a subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, has abandoned its attempt to purchase Physicians Health Plan of Mid-Michigan after the U.S. Department of Justice informed the companies that it would file an antitrust lawsuit to block the acquisition, the DOJ announced yesterday. Under the merger, DOJ said Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan would have controlled nearly 90% of the commercial health insurance market in the Lansing area and been able to control physician reimbursement rates in a manner that could harm the quality of health care delivered to consumers.
Sebelius to address AHA annual meeting next month    03/09/2010
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has informed AHA leadership that she intends to accept the association's invitation to speak at its Annual Membership Meeting. The secretary would speak during the closing plenary session on April 27. For more on the AHA meeting, April 25-28 in Washington D.C., or to register to attend, visit www.aha.org.
Medicare provider enrollment system will be down for maintenance   03/09/2010
The online system that health care providers use to enroll in the Medicare program will be unavailable from March 29 through April 5 due to scheduled maintenance, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced today. Providers wishing to enroll or make changes to their enrollment information while the online Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System is down can complete and mail a paper Medicare provider enrollment application to their Medicare administrative contractor, carrier or fiscal intermediary. For additional information or assistance, providers should contact the Medicare fee-for-service contractor serving their state.
Hospital departments can apply for environmental services award   03/09/2010
Health Facilities Management magazine and the American Society for Healthcare Environmental Services are accepting applications through June 4 for the 2010 Environmental Services Department of the Year Award. The annual award recognizes hospital environmental services/housekeeping teams for outstanding performance in 13 critical areas. The winning department will be profiled in Health Facilities Management and recognized at the ASHES Annual Conference Sept. 26-30 in Nashville. "Environmental services/housekeeping departments are on the front lines of a hospital's success in patient satisfaction, infection prevention and safety," said ASHES Executive Director Patti Costello. "Nationally recognizing the contributions made by ES departments makes a strong statement to the important and critical role the ES staff plays during a patient's visit to a hospital." ASHES is an AHA personal membership group. Health Facilities Management is published by the AHA's Health Forum subsidiary.
Proposed 'meaningful use' rule would hinder IT adoption, AHA tells CMS    03/08/2010
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposes too high a bar for achieving “meaningful use” of electronic health records and an unrealistically short transition time that will “severely limit hospitals’ ability to access the financial resources” Congress has provided for adopting EHR systems, the AHA today wrote CMS. In comments on the agency’s proposed definition of EHR meaningful use, the AHA expressed “fear that the ultimate impact could actually be the opposite of the goal of an e-enabled health care system, as those hospitals that are furthest behind may well be discouraged by the steep adoption curve.” The AHA’s letter also recommends expanding eligibility for EHR incentive payments to more physicians who work in hospitals and to make separate incentive payments to hospitals that share the same provider number. Rather than CMS’ “all-or-nothing” approach of requiring hospitals to meet all 23 of its proposed requirements by 2011 to be deemed a meaningful user of EHR, the AHA recommended allowing hospitals to meet 25% of the list of the objectives by next year, with that percentage increasing over time. Released in late December, the IT rule specifies proposed requirements to qualify for EHR incentive payments from Medicare and Medicaid beginning in fiscal year 2011 and avoid significant payment penalties in FY 2015. Comments on the proposed rule are due to CMS by March 15.
AHA surveying hospitals to share their challenges with Congress   03/08/2010
The AHA today sent all community hospitals its annual "Telling the Hospital Story" survey, which asks questions about the many pressures hospitals face, including the ongoing economic downturn, the workforce shortage, capacity constraints, disaster readiness and physician on-call coverage challenges. New this year are questions regarding hospitals' top quality and safety priorities, their strategies for serving an aging and changing demographic patient population and employee and community strategies to promote wellness. "We are most effective on your behalf when we can the stories - your stories - about the way you stretch scarce resources and the difficulties you care on a daily basis in delivering the care that patients and the public expect," AHA President and CEO Rich Umbdenstock said in a letter accompanying the survey. Hospital leaders are asked to complete the survey online or by fax by March 26. For questions about the survey, or to obtain your user name and password, contact AHA Member Relations at (800) 424-4301.
Slight increase in home births reverses 15-year trend   03/08/2010
After a steady 15-year decline, the percentage of U.S. babies not born in a hospital rose 5% in 2005 and held steady in 2006, according to a March 3 analysis in National Vital Statistic Reports, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2004, out-of-hospital births represented 0.87% of total U.S. births, rising to 0.9% in 2005 and staying at that level in 2006. That year, 38,568 births occurred out of a hospital, including 24,970 at home and 10,781 in a free-standing birth center. The proportion of out-of-hospital births in 2005-2006 varied among states, from more than 2% in Vermont and Montana to 0.2% in Louisiana and Nebraska, according to the report, which suggests that such factors as weather, proximity to a hospital and attitudes toward home birth among women and local doctors might play a role in state-by-state differences.
Sponsors of mental health conference call for abstract   03/08/2010
Sponsors of the Nov. 17-19 “Sixth World Conference on the Promotion of Mental Health and Prevention of Mental and Behavioral Disorders” in Washington, DC, are calling for abstracts by April 30. Among other topics, the meeting focuses on exploring social and economic connections to mental health, protecting human rights, preventing discrimination and promoting diversity and recovering from harmful experiences and trauma. The Clifford Beers Foundation, the World Federation for Mental Health and the Carter Center and Education Development Center, Inc. are sponsoring the conference. For more information, visit http://wmhconf2010.hhd.org.







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