Citing the need to reduce the spread of the swine flu virus, Stanford and Lucile Packard Children's hospitals in California announced plans to bar children under the age of 16 from visiting patients, including family members. Officials from Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland said the hospital has already starting banning visitors under 18. Stanford Hospital officials said they restricted visitations at their hospitals because children are more likely to get swine flu and they can be infectious for longer periods of time, even after symptoms are gone. The policy will remain in effect throughout the flu season.
Struggling to improve its difficult financial situation, Miami-based Jackson Health System is planning to hire a firm of high-priced consultants. James R. Malone, managing partner of Qorval consulting services, will serve as Jackson's interim chief operating officer at a rate of $595 an hour for the next nine months. Barry Dubin will become chief restructuring officer, at $425 an hour. Altogether, Qorval could get up to $1.8 million for the services of three to six consultants in the next nine months. The contract was approved unanimously by a committee of the Public Health Trust and is expected to be accepted by the full trust board at its meeting later this month.
Nashville hospitals have started to receive shipments of the injectable version of the H1N1 vaccine, which can be taken by people who aren't eligible for the nasal spray. Baptist Hospital received 600 of the 3,000 shot doses it ordered, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center also got about 2,500 doses. Like the H1N1 FluMist nasal spray, the shot will be given to healthcare workers first. Any remaining doses probably will go to hospitalized patients.
California has ousted Blue Shield from the state's high-risk medical insurance pool because its premiums were too high. The pool, known as the Major Risk Medical Insurance Program, or MRMIP, insures more than 6,700 Californians who have been shut out of the private health insurance market because of pre-existing conditions. Through MRMIP, such people are able to buy coverage from private insurers at premiums that are supposed to be 25% higher than the market rate for a comparable policy. The state reimburses the insurers for any losses they incur, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center did not tell all 206 patients who received radiation overdoses during CT scans of the hospital's error, according to the accounts of four people who said they only came to understand what happened to them through news reports. In a statement last week, hospital officials said all the patients had been contacted "in the interest of keeping them informed." But in interviews with the Los Angeles Times, four people said that although they were called and questioned by Cedars-Sinai radiologists, the doctors neither acknowledged any error nor explained that the patients had been exposed to eight times more radiation than necessary.
Paula Mattis, New Hampshire Hospital director, told employees that a unit for brain injury patients will close by Oct. 30. Patients will be discharged or transferred, and workers will be laid off or reassigned, she said in an e-mail. The program is the only one of its kind in state, and the director of the Brain Injury Association of New Hampshire said the unit's patients may have to leave New Hampshire.
About 800,000 doctors are being warned that business and personal information such as Social Security numbers, addresses, and certain identification numbers may be open for a possible breach after an insurance trade group employee's laptop was stolen from a car in Chicago. The Chicago-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association confirmed an employee "broke protocol and transferred to a personal laptop" information that was later stolen in late August.
Premiums that seniors pay for Medicare Advantage plans will increase an average of 25% next year, largely because insurers, in response to new federal requirements, are canceling many plans that carry no premiums. The average premium will increase to $39 a month for all Medicare private plans from about $32 this year, said Timothy Hill, deputy director for the Center for Drug and Health Plan Choice at the federal agency that manages Medicare. Insurance companies had signaled there would be an increase in premiums, citing the government's decision to cut payments to Medicare Advantage by 4.5%, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Potomac Hospital has executed a contract to merge with Norfolk-based Sentara Healthcare, a move hospital officials said is needed to ensure that quality healthcare remains available in Prince William County, VA. Potomac Hospital officials have been searching for a partner since February, sorting through 29 organizations before settling on Sentara. A letter of intent between the two hospitals was signed in June, and the last step is to get approval from the Virginia attorney general.
Although it may be perceived as a chore, there's a sizeable payoff to executives meeting with frontline clinicians now to assure them of their safety during an H1N1 swine flu outbreak.
Health First, Inc., based in Rockledge, FL, has begun conducting 30-minute "rap sessions" with employees at its various locations, during which top managers explain preparations and other information related to H1N1 response plans.
James Kendig, MS, CHSP, CHCM, HEM, LHRM, vice president of safety and security at Health First, is joining the system's infection control manager for 12 scheduled sessions, which are occurring throughout October.
"We believe a better informed employee will come to work [during an outbreak]" Kendig said, who will also present at HCPro's "Emergency Management Coordinator's Workshop" in Atlanta on October 26.
Other employee-based initiatives Health First has taken include:
Developed a continuing medical education offering about H1N1 for medical staff members
Created an online H1N1 toolkit, which includes information about prevention steps authored by Health First's infection control office, a PowerPoint presentation, and the system's vaccination plan
Research points to pandemic absenteeism
In a study published in the July 2009 issue of online scientific journal PLoS One by Daniel Barnett, MD, MPH, researchers surveyed more than 1,800 workers in public health departments in three states about their willingness to respond to a pandemic. The results may translate somewhat to hospitals: One in six respondents was unlikely to show up for work in a pandemic outbreak, regardless of severity.
Researchers categorized workers by their concerns for the community and confidence in their roles as effective caregivers. Employees who are concerned and confident are 32 times more likely to show than employees who aren't, and influencing that could be a key to getting your employees to show up for work, Barnett said.
"If they feel, first of all, that the threat is a significant enough one that they're needed—and that concern is coupled with a sense they can do what's being asked of them and it will make a difference—they are far more willing to respond," Barnett said.
Stick with the facts
Barnett offered the following tips for hospital CEOs based on his survey's respondents:
Avoid giving false assurances about the level of employee protection against H1N1 or downplaying the threat. Give accurate, up-to-date information backed up by sources, such as local public heath officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Tell workers in detail what their job assignments would be should an outbreak occur. Respondents frequently indicated in the survey that they knew they'd have some role, but not specifics.
Show employees the measures your hospital is taking to keep them safe (e.g., priority access to vaccines for workers and their families and adequate supplies of personal protective equipment).
Health First has also introduced a new visitor policy designed to limit the spread of H1N1 and keep employees safer within its buildings, Kendig said. Children ages 5 and under are not allowed to visit patients for the time being, and people with flu-related symptoms are asked to not come to the hospital unless they are seeking treatment.
