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Hospitals urged to complete EHR survey 01/21/2010
The AHA is surveying hospitals and health systems to demonstrate the potential implications of proposed regulations implementing the electronic health record incentive programs included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Hospital and health system CEOs today were mailed instructions for completing the survey online by Feb. 4. The survey responses will inform the AHA's comments on the regulations and build the case for changes required to ensure hospitals receive EHR incentive payments and avoid financial penalties proposed to begin in 2015. The ARRA included Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments to help hospitals recoup some of the costs of installing and maintaining EHRs. The proposed regulations, recently released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, set the criteria for hospitals to achieve "meaningful use" of EHRs in order to receive the incentive payments, but also include significant reporting requirements and penalties for hospitals that do not meet the meaningful use requirements by 2015. For more on the EHR survey, contact AHA Member Relations at (800) 424-4301.
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Supreme Court strikes limits on political advertising by corporations 01/21/2010
The U.S. Supreme Court today struck down the federal prohibition on corporations making independent expenditures to influence federal elections. Ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Court said that corporations may now use treasury funds to sponsor advertisements that support or oppose candidates or address political issues, as long as those expenditures are undertaken independently of a candidate. However, corporations may still only contribute to federal candidates and political parties through a corporate political action committee. The opinion can be found on the Supreme Court Web site.
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Medicare issues hospital wage index survey 01/21/2010
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released the Medicare hospital wage index occupational mix survey for 2010. The survey will collect occupational mix data for all pay periods ending in calendar year 2010, instead of July through June as in prior years, a change suggested by the AHA. Survey responses are due by July 1, 2011, and will be used to calculate the hospital wage index for fiscal year 2013.
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States receive planning funds for EHR incentives program 01/21/2010
Four more states have been granted federal matching funds to plan for administering electronic health record incentive payments to Medicaid providers, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced today. The states and approximate amounts are: Alaska, $900,000; Kentucky, $2.60 million; South Carolina, $1.48 million; and Wisconsin, $1.37 million. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act established Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments for the "meaningful use" of certified EHR technology, and a 90% federal match for state planning activities to administer the payments. Since November 2009, 12 states and the Virgin Islands have been granted the federal matching funds.
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AHA long-term care/rehab section names 2010 leaders 01/21/2010
James Prister, president and CEO of RML Specialty Hospital in Hinsdale, IL, is 2010 chair of the AHA's Section for Long-Term Care and Rehabilitation. As chair Prister will lead the section's governing council, which advises the AHA on public policy issues of concern to post-acute and continuing care providers. Michelle Bellantoni, M.D., medical director of the Johns Hopkins Geriatric Center in Baltimore, was named chair-elect and will become chair in 2011. For more on the section and its governing council, see the AHA news release.
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SHCA names new president-elect, board members 01/21/2010
The Society for Healthcare Consumer Advocacy, an AHA personal membership group, has named as its president-elect for 2010 Amy Wellington, director of patient and guest relations at Boca Raton (FL) Community Hospital. Elected to serve two-year terms on the SHCA Board of Directors beginning in April were Tammy Miller, patient relations manager at Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, IN; and Pamela Segura, director of patient relations at SE Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth, TX. For more on the society, visit www.shca-aha.org.
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