Rich hospital, poor hospital divided by politics and a river

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-wp-blm-health-states-972aeae8-7a71-11e6-8064-c1ddc8a724bb-20160914-story.html

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When hospital executive Jeanette Wojtalewicz visits CHI Health’s Mercy Council Bluffs facility across the Missouri River in Iowa, she sees the new clinics and doctors’ offices partly paid for by the state’s decision to expand Medicaid to thousands of residents.

Back on her side of the river is CHI Health’s Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, a state that opposed making more low-income people eligible for the government health-insurance program. While Mercy thrives about seven miles away, Creighton is cutting 250 beds to raise efficiency amid slumping financial results.

“There’s not a big geographical difference, but because of the regulations, there are big differences in the numbers,” said Wojtalewicz, chief financial officer at CHI Health, a 15-facility, nonprofit hospital system.

President Barack Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is as divisive as ever six years after its passage, with Republicans including presidential candidate Donald Trump vowing to repeal it. Yet as critics focus on the legislation’s insurance mandates and penalties, the biggest impact has come from Medicaid expansion, a decision made at state level.

Thinking Creatively To Fill Gaps In The Health Care Work Force

Thinking Creatively To Fill Gaps In The Health Care Work Force

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Like many states, Texas faces shortages of doctors and other health workers. A conference at the Texas Medical Center explored the research behind several possible solutions, such as “grand-aides” and dental therapists.

 

 

Geisinger to add 1,500 new jobs

http://www.dailyitem.com/news/local_news/geisinger-to-add-new-jobs/article_2109a3ec-7050-5062-adb7-4fdd6da657e9.html

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Following a decade of unprecedented growth, Geisinger Health System has launched a nationwide recruitment effort to increase its workforce 5 percent, by hiring more than 1,500 physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses and support staff.

And that recruiting “will certainly continue to include many positions in the central Pennsylvania region, where Geisinger was founded and has its corporate headquarters,” according to an early evening statement released by Geisinger.

“Caring for more than 3 million patients every year takes a team,” said Julene Campion, vice president of talent management at Geisinger, in a prepared statement. “Every day, our 30,000 employees strive to improve that care. This responsibility has motivated Geisinger to push the boundaries of geography and healthcare innovation, grow its medical specialty and subspecialty offerings, and recruit the best and the brightest for more than 1,500 critical healthcare positions to better care for our patients in the communities we serve.”

Geisinger is seeking candidates for all levels of employment, including administration, clerical, environmental services, food services, laboratory services, information technology, marketing, occupational therapy, pharmacy and research.

In the past year, Geisinger President and CEO Dr. David Feinberg has also instituted a $10 minimum wage across the health system.

Failure to Improve Is Still Being Used, Wrongly, to Deny Medicare Coverage

For months, physical therapists worked with Mrs. Kirby, a retired civil servant who is now 75, trying to help her regain enough mobility to go home. Then her daughter received an email from one of the therapists saying, “Edwina has reached her highest practical level of independence.”

Translation: Mrs. Kirby wouldn’t receive Medicare coverage for further physical therapy or for the nursing home. If she wanted to stay and continue therapy, she’d have to pay the tab herself.

Medicare beneficiaries often hear such rationales for denying coverage of skilled nursing, home health care or outpatient therapy: They’re not improving. They’ve “reached a plateau.” They’re “stable and chronic,” or have achieved “maximum functional capacity.”

Deanna Kirby wasn’t buying it. “I knew they couldn’t refuse you, even if you’re not improving,” she said.

She’s right. A federal judge last month ordered the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to do a better job of informing health care providers and Medicare adjudicators that the so-called improvement standard was no longer in effect.

 

5 Reasons Nurses Want to Leave Your Hospital

http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/nurse-leaders/5-reasons-nurses-want-leave-your-hospital?spMailingID=9509032&spUserID=MTMyMzQyMDQxMTkyS0&spJobID=1001087312&spReportId=MTAwMTA4NzMxMgS2

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Your nurses have one eye on the door if you do any of the following.

Are your nurses engaged, committed employees? Or are they biding their time until they can go somewhere better?  Job opportunities for RNs and APRNs abound, and even nurses who appear content may be planning their exit strategies.

To predict whether you face an exodus, take a look at the following five reasons why your nurses want out.

The Ultimate Battle Against MRSA

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-ultimate-battle-against-mrsa-1473699288

An electron micrograph image of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA (the purple spheres).

Hospitals give ICU patients germ-killing baths and antibiotic nose ointment upon admission

8 Things Providers Don’t Know About Debt Collection and Cell Phones

http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/health-plans/8-things-providers-dont-know-about-debt-collection-and-cell-phones?spMailingID=9509032&spUserID=MTMyMzQyMDQxMTkyS0&spJobID=1001087312&spReportId=MTAwMTA4NzMxMgS2

8 Things Providers Don't Know About Debt Collection and Cell Phones

Now that the FCC has clarified rules for contacting patients about payments, hospitals and health systems are risking multi-million dollar settlements by failing to take the law seriously.

A California hospital chain is learning the hard way that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), clarified by federal authorities last year, creates new hurdles for health systems that want to use cell phones as part of their debt collection efforts.

CFOs and revenue cycle managers must now ensure that they are in strict compliance with the limitations on cell phone calls, or declare a moratorium on all such calls until they can be sure, experts say.