MHA's Executive Briefing

Mental health funds sought

On September 19, Randy Hendrix, head of the state's Department of Mental Health, asked the Legislative Budget Committee for a minimum increase of $28 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Approximately 25% of the funds are needed to help fund 15 community mental health centers that have seen an increasing number of uninsured patients.

MHA Fact Sheet: Profitability of Mississippi hospitals

Statistics on the profitability of Mississippi hospitals have been circulating on the radio talk-show circuit in Mississippi. We have heard statements ranging from Mississippi is the most profitable state for hospitals in the nation to our state is in the top five most profitable states. They state that American Hospital Association (AHA) data is the source for their numbers. We have created the fact sheet attached below to show that these numbers are not accurate.

These profit margin numbers were collected for us by DataGen and are straight from Medicare cost report data. If you have any questions, contact Shawn Lea at (800) 289-8884, (601) 368-3237 or slea@mhanet.org.

Download MHAfactsheet-profitability.pdf

Budget hearings begin today

The 14-member Legislative Budget Committee, which consists of Speaker Billy McCoy, D-Rienzi, Lt.Gov. Amy Tuck and other key House and Senate members, began the process of hearing from agency heads this afternoon. In the past, the budget hearings have gone on for a better part of a month. This year the hearings have been shortened to less than two weeks.

After the hearings are completed, the committee will meet with the governor and adopt a revenue estimate of the amount of money expected to be collected during the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1. Barbour and the Budget Committee will then submit separate budget recommendations. 

There has been a strong uptick in revenue collections, caused in large part, experts say, because of the Katrina recovery effort. Still, Barbour said for the Budget Committee "the most important thing we need to be conservative in our spending."

Michael Bailey will be attending the meetings on behalf of the Mississippi Hospital Association. For more information or an update, contact Michael at (800) 289-8884, (601) 368-3208 or mbailey@mhanet.org.

Report examines capital trends, outlook for hospitals

More than half of U.S. hospitals and health care systems walk the line between financial success and failure, according to a new report by the Healthcare Financial Management Association. To survive and cultivate broader access to capital, experts interviewed for the report say organizations need to identify their areas of distinct competence and focus capital spending.

While hospitals face intense competitive pressure, increasing uncertainty about the future of government-based payments, and the financial strain of high debt loads and expenditures, they say the overall outlook for capital access and spending for the nation's hospitals is moderately improving. The report is the sixth from HFMA’s Financing the Future II series, issued in partnership with GE Healthcare Financial Services and Kaufman, Hall & Associates.

[ via AHA News Now ]

Bill would make full Medicare data set available for quality reporting

Legislation introduced Sept. 14 by Sen. Judd Gregg, R-NH, would authorize the release of Medicare data to qualified organizations to develop reports on health care cost and quality for the public. The Medicare Quality Enhancement Act, supported by AHA, would require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to provide Medicare enrollment, claims, survey and assessment data to private Medicare Quality Reporting Organizations and enable health care providers and others to request reports from the MQROs.

AHA Executive Vice President Rick Pollack said the association strongly believes that “clinical measures based on data obtained from individual patient records represent the most reliable method for assessing the performance of individual hospitals. However, administrative data, such as the Medicare billing data, can be used to assess the quality of care across the entire health care delivery system and point toward areas where further investigation is likely to lead to the identification of improvement opportunities.”

[ via AHA News Now ]

Senate committee considers ways to sustain Medicaid

The Senate Special Committee on Aging on Sept. 13 heard proposals from state and corporate officials for keeping the Medicaid program sustainable. Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano appeared at the panel’s “roundtable” via satellite to share “best practices” from her state’s Medicaid program. She said the state has reduced Medicaid costs by contracting with private-sector managed care organizations and enrolling all long-term care and Medicare-eligible beneficiaries in managed care plans, and is working to develop a statewide health information exchange system within five years.

General Motors Corp. CEO Richard Wagoner Jr. spoke more generally about health care, discussing the company’s efforts to contain costs while improving care for 1.1 million employees, retirees and dependents. Wagoner said 75% of its employees and many retirees have used its “wellness” program, and that it has saved millions of dollars by emphasizing the value of generic drugs. He called on Congress to pass health information technology legislation and for better public-private efforts to address high-cost cases.

[ via AHA News Now ]

Health care transparency bill introduced in House

American Hospital Assocation-supported legislation introduced Sept. 13 by Rep. Michael Burgess, R-TX, would require states to publicly report hospital charges for certain inpatient and outpatient services, and insurers to give patients an estimate of their expected out-of-pocket expenses on request. “America’s hospitals are working hard to share useful information, including information about hospital prices, that helps patients and consumers when making choices about their care,” said AHA Executive Vice President Rick Pollack. “That’s why we strongly support the Health Care Price Transparency Act of 2006.”

In addition, the bill would require the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to study what type of health care price information consumers would find useful and how it could be made available in a timely and understandable form. “This research is essential if we are to reach the goal of providing useful information that helps people make informed decisions about their care,” Pollack said.

[ via AHA News Now ]

'Tug of war' between specialists, hospitals spurs on-call pay increase

Roughly 78 percent of healthcare organizations that provide on-call coverage at their facilities pay at least some of their physicians for call duty, according to the Physician On-Call Pay Survey 2006. The median daily rate of on-call physician pay for all combined specialties was $1,700 for restricted call (i.e., physician remains on the premises) compared to $500 for unrestricted call (i.e., physician responds to a call within a specified amount of time), according to the survey. Unrestricted call is more common, but facilities generally reimburse more for restricted call because it requires a greater commitment. The survey also found a significant variance in pay rates by specialty.

Read the full article from HealthLeaders Media.

AHA chair testifies before Senate Finance Committee

Kevin Lofton, chairman-elect of the AHA's Board of Trustees and president and CEO of Catholic Health Initiatives, testified September 13 before the U.S. Senate Committee on finance on "Taking the Pulse of Charitable Care and Community Benefits at Nonprofit Hospitals." In concluding his testimony, Lofton said, "In order for not-for-profit hospitals to continue meeting the tremendous demands and challenges they face, while at the same time reaching out to improve health in ways that benefit entire communities, it is critical that the community benefit standard be protected and preserved in its current form."

Read the full testimony of the AHA before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance.

A Strategic Approach to Quality

“It’s the right thing to do.”

Has this been the reasoning behind your hospital’s decision to adopt a state-of-the-art, multimillion dollar technology system? Well, if your board members buy this, more power to you.

The majority of cash-strapped hospitals aren’t so fortunate. Justifying these high-priced projects to the board means creating--and then meeting--specific benchmarks and performance goals. But this process would be a lot easier if it was possible to link the technology’s impact to strategic goals and actually deliver on those results.

For the full story from Health Care's Most Wired magazine, click here.