Doctor's offices and hospitals have slowly started the difficult switch from outmoded paper records to sophisticated electronic systems in a bid to improve care and cut costs. Complicating matters, though, is that the industry still has to figure out how to ensure the records don't get locked into just one healthcare provider's computer network and can instead follow patients as they move around, reports the Associated Press.
A federal court in Miami has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a lesbian who was not allowed to visit her dying partner at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Janice Langbehn's partner, Lisa Pond, suffered a fatal brain aneurysm on Feb. 18, 2007. At Jackson, Langbehn said, a social worker would not let her visit Pond because Florida is "an anti-gay state." Jackson countered that Langbehn was not discriminated against and defended social worker Garnett Frederick, who denied making the comment. Langbehn sued the hospital.
It appears likely that nurses and other unionized healthcare professionals at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia will stage a three-day strike. About 1,500 employees of the hospital are due to walk out on October 2, two days after the current contract is set to expire. Union members have overwhelmingly rejected what management labels its final offer, which calls for no wage increase this year, but 2% raises in each of the next three years.
Sanofi-Aventis SA delivered its first shipment of swine-flu vaccine to the U.S. government on Sept. 29, according to a spokeswoman. Last week, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the first doses of an H1N1 vaccine should become available about Oct. 6. The company cautioned that the shots may not become immediately available for administration because they will have to work their way through government distribution channels.
The battle over proposed cuts to private Medicare plans is heating up, as the liberal group Americans United for Change released a Halloween-themed ad protesting what it called Republican "fear mongering" over proposed cuts in Medicare Advantage amounting to $100 billion over a decade. The ad takes on Humana Inc. Chief Executive Michael B. McCallister and GOP leaders who oppose the spending cuts and the Medicare agency's effort to stop Humana from enlisting seniors in its fight.
Senate Finance Committee members rejected two amendments to create a public option, dealing a crippling blow to the hopes of those seeking to expand the federal role in health coverage, according to the Washington Post. But supporters of the public option vowed to press on, expressing confidence that backing will grow as lawmakers consider the implications of relying on private insurers to bring about far-reaching reform.
The Senate Finance Committee, on the fifth day of hearings on its healthcare reform package, turned down two separate public insurance option amendments proposed by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY).
The Rockefeller amendment, named the Consumer Choice Health Plan, was defeated in an 8-15 vote following more than five hours of debate. The amendment called for creation of private plans that would pay providers based on Medicare rates for two years and would be administered by an office within the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Schumer amendment, introduced afterwards on Tuesday afternoon, was defeated 10-14. Schumer's amendment differed from Rockefeller's in that it would have "no legislative advantage." Specifically, provider rates would be established competitively, and there would not be another "infusion of federal dollars" if a plan did not make it the first time around.
Rockefeller, who admitted that he knew the votes were not there for passage, aimed sharp criticism at the insurance industry-especially, he said, over their willingness to take $483 billion in new subsidies as outlined in the proposed healthcare reform bill without being asked to do much in return.
Opponents of the amendment, including Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), both said that the public option was a route toward a single-payer system.
Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), chairman of the Finance Committee, agreed with many of the points raised by Rockefeller, but said in the end, he could not vote for the amendment. He compared the health legislation in the committee as a cornerstone to healthcare reform, but adding the public option at this time "would jeopardize that cornerstone."
Schumer said that "we are going to keep at this [the public option]...until we succeed, because we believe in it so strongly." He said that while there may not be 60 votes now in the Senate, he expected that as the debate went on, the public option would attract more support.
The Senate Finance Committee turned down a public insurance option as part of a healthcare reform bill on Tuesday.
The 15-8 rejection is a setback for public option supporters, including the House of Representatives, who see a public option as competition against private insurers.
Sen. Max Baucus, D-MT, was pleased with his committee's rejection of the public plan because he is trying to devise a bill that he thinks will get 60 votes and a reform package with a public plan would not gain enough support of the Senate, he said.
This past summer, nurses Mary Cohn and Annette Bargmann of Anne Arundel Medical Center (AAMC) in Parole, MD, visited patient rooms armed not with medication, but with acrylic paint.
AAMC is undergoing a series of renovations that have necessitated many windows in the acute care pavilion being covered with a film to darken the windows to shield patients from the occasional glare of the construction equipment and provide more privacy. This film has replaced the natural light flooding into patient rooms and has created a gloomy atmosphere.
Cohn and Bargmann decided to put their artistic abilities to the test and decorate the windows covered by the films. They wanted to use images and designs that would not only cheer up the patients, but the nurses as well. Scenes with animals, sailboats, and lighthouses, in keeping with the city's maritime heritage, provided a more cheerful atmosphere for the patients and staff members.
Cohn and Bargmann used acrylic paints for their window art and worked whenever they had a spare minute. At times a passing physician or nurse would be asked to help, or if Cohn started a piece, Bargmann would finish it, or vice versa.
The window paintings are located on the sixth-floor special care unit, the third-floor critical care unit, and other floors with covered windows are requesting some window art of their own.
Staff, patients, and family members have all said the window paintings have been successful in improving the atmosphere.
Ever feel like navigating the world of CMS changes is an uphill battle? You are not alone. Survey coordinators across the country face this challenge every day, and few have mastered the ability to track every major and minor change that comes from this government agency.
To help navigate this sometimes murky and often confusing task, we spoke with Sue Dill Calloway, RN, MSN, JD, director of hospital risk management for OHIC Insurance Company, The Doctor's Company, in Columbus, OH, who has provided her top five steps to track CMS changes.
Step One: Look at the hospital Conditions of Participation (CoP) Web site
"It's interesting—last year they weren't updating them at all, and the site was really outdated, and this year they've been posting [announcements] there first," says Calloway.
Each Appendix is a separate file that can be accessed directly from the SOM Appendices Table of Contents, as applicable.
The appendices are in PDF format, which is the format generally used in the IOM to display files. Click on the red button in the "Download" column to see any available file in PDF.
To return to this page after opening a PDF file on your desktop, use the browser "back" button. This is because closing the file usually will also close most browsers.
Step Two: Visit your state survey and certification Web site
"This is the next place we tell hospitals they should go," says Calloway. "We've told everyone to go in once a month and check. [for updates]."
This page contains CMS survey and certification memoranda, guidance, clarifications and instructions to state survey agencies and CMS regional offices. It is searchable by date and keyword, as well.
Step Three: Look at CMS transmittals
"They'll have transmittals that are just important issues," says Calloway.
According to the CMS Web site, program transmittals are used to communicate new or changed policies and/or procedures that are being incorporated into a specific CMS program manual. The cover page (or transmittal page) summarizes the new changed material, specifying what is changed.
Step Four: The hospital center
"If you're working in a hospital setting, this is another good place to check for updates," says Calloway.
A quick check of recent updates to this page show that most of the announcements in 2009 have been related to payment systems, but other, more accreditation-related, changes are also announced here.
Step Five: The EMTALA Web site
On this page, you will find changes and updates to regulations, manuals, and appendices, and also links back to transmittals related to EMTALA and EMTALA survey and certification letters. There is also a series of links with related and helpful material.
