The Board of Commissioners of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) voted at its November 18-19 meeting not to sell performance measurement data analyses to private third-party payers. In a statement, JCAHO said that "accreditation contract language consistent with this latter intent will be drafted and made available to any accredited organization" wishing to incorporate it into its JCAHO contract. The JCAHO Board also underscored its commitment to the Hospital Quality Alliance, "and to the creation of a single collection system for hospital performance data." The Board’s actions follow concerns expressed by hospital leaders about JCAHO’s intent to sell analysis of data submitted for accreditation purposes. "This is a very positive step by the commissioners," said AHA President Dick Davidson. "We look forward to working collaboratively with the Joint Commission on the many data issues before us and the field," he said, adding that the JCAHO’s "continued strong support for the Hospital Quality Alliance is vital, and welcomed."

As we enter the season of thanks, the WHA Foundation would like to thank those organizations and individuals who have already contributed almost $40,000 to this year’s campaign. Additionally, the Foundation would like to recognize All Saints Healthcare System, the most recent Champion Donor.

In that same vein, as we enter the season of giving, the Foundation asks those who have not yet contributed to consider making a contribution to its annual fundraising campaign.

The funds raised through WHA Foundation’s 2005 annual fundraising campaign, its first fundraising effort since 2001, will be used to fund the WHA Foundation Scholarship Program at the state’s 16 technical colleges, the Nurse Leadership Succession Project, the Global Vision Community Partnership Award, and other statewide initiatives that support hospitals throughout Wisconsin.

All Saints Healthcare System, Racine
Aspirus – Wausau Hospital, Wausau
UW Hospital & Clinics, Madison
WHA Financial Solutions, Inc., Madison

Contributions from Organizations

Black River Hospital, Black River Falls
Flambeau Hospital, Park Falls
Holy Family Hospital, New Richmond
Lakeview Medical Center, Rice Lake
Memorial Medical Center, Ashland
Mercy Health System, Janesville
Saint Joseph’s Hospital, Marshfield
SSM Health Care of Wisconsin, Madison
St. Vincent Hospital, Green Bay

Contributions from Individuals

Steve Brenton, Wisconsin Hospital Association
Daniel Fischer, in honor of Mrs. Lillian Fischer’s 85th Birthday
Jennifer Frank, Wisconsin Hospital Association
Dan Hymans, Memorial Medical Center
John Landdeck, Beaver Dam Community Hospital
John Marnell, Hudson Hospital
Tom Plantenberg, Friends of Froedtert

"November proved to be quite the busy month for the HEAT program," said Jenny Boese, WHA’s VP of External Relations & Member Advocacy, as she discussed her travels across the state to present on the HEAT program. When asked what she tries to impart at each presentation, Boese had this to say: "I hope each individual takes away that he or she can play a positive role in the legislative process—one letter, one phone call, one email can make a difference—and also that WHA has a program especially designed to facilitate their grassroots efforts."

The goal of HEAT is to be the grassroots voice of Wisconsin hospitals to the Legislature on issues of importance. Are you wondering why this would be so important to WHA? The answer is as simple as this: "I’ll be frank, there was nothing I did to get the veto override on nursing homes. It was your [hospitals’] grassroots efforts that made this happen." Rep. Michael Huebsch (R-West Salem)

Rep. Huebsch told this to hospital representatives after the Assembly successfully voted to override the Governor’s veto of a 1.4 percent increase in nursing home reimbursement.

"What it boils down to is this: when a constituent/voter speaks, their legislator listens," said Boese. "HEAT is the program that helps all Wisconsin hospitals do so with a unified voice."

Recent HEAT visits and presentations in November:

St. Marys Hospital Medical Center (Madison)
Baldwin Area Medical Center
Hudson Hospital
St. Elizabeth Hospital (Appleton)
Mercy Medical Center (Oshkosh)
Bellin Hospital (Green Bay)
Tomah Memorial Hospital

Upcoming HEAT presentations include:

Wilkinson Medical Clinic (Oconomowoc)
Sacred Heart Hospital (Eau Claire)
Stoughton Hospital

Do you know what month "Talk About Prescriptions" falls in? How about National Nutrition Month? The Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development of the American Hospital Association has produced a complete calendar featuring the date or month of hundreds of observance days or months that are related to health care. The 2006 health observances and recognition days calendar sells for $30 to AHA members and $40 for non-members, and it can be ordered by calling 1-800-AHA-2626.

Seeking data to refute the auto industry’s push to bring back Certificate of Need (CON) after a 20-year hiatus, the Indiana Hospital and Health Association commissioned Price Waterhouse Coopers to do an analysis based on an earlier study the accounting firm did for the American Hospital Association.

North Dakota                 $2,229

Pennsylvania                 $1,925

South Dakota                 $1,867

Minnesota                      $1,804

Indiana                           $1,750

Wisconsin                      $1,710

The results are hardly a testament to the efficacy of capital regulation. And while the chart also fails to make a strong case for "free market competition" as defined by the absence of capital expenditure regulation, perhaps the real message here is that hospital/health care cost drivers are many and varied and that simple, sound bite solutions are simply that…

Steve Brenton
President

Plan now to participate in the 2006 WHA Employee Pride Program and then attend the recognition night on May 4 at the Blue Harbor Resort in Sheboygan. The Pride program recognition dinner is described by honorees as the "best night of their career." For those who attend with the honored employee, it is a heart-warming reminder of what makes those who work in health care "special."

Pride program materials will be sent to all hospital public relations and human resource departments, as well as to the CEO, in January 2006. If you have questions, contact Judy Warmuth, jwarmuth@wha.org, or call 608-274-1820.

January is the month that the highest number of newborns are abandoned in Wisconsin. Safe Place for Newborns of Wisconsin is encouraging hospitals to help raise public awareness about Wisconsin’s law that provides that a parent may confidentially leave his/her unharmed newborn with any hospital, police, or EMT in the state. A parent can even call 911, no questions asked, no prosecution.

In late December or any time in January, Terry Walsh, executive director of Wisconsin’s Safe Place for Newborns, urges hospitals to consider running a public awareness campaign. Informational tools, such as brochures, posters and cards, even window clings that designate hospitals as a "Safe Place for Newborns" are available from Safe Place for Newborns at www.safeplacefornewborns.com, or by contacting Walsh at 608-225-5544.

When the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) writes out bonus checks for a total of $8.85 million, two Wisconsin hospitals will be among the 123 hospitals receiving checks. Results from the first year of the three-year project that rewards hospitals for quality were released by CMS on November 14 exclusively to Modern Healthcare Magazine. Among the hospitals receiving the highest rankings in the CMS pay-for-performance demonstration project, which is being coordinated by the hospital alliance Premier were: Aurora Medical Center, Two Rivers, which achieved a 88.78 percent rating for measures associated with community acquired pneumonia; and, Aurora Sheboygan Memorial Medical Center that had a 98.47 percent rate in measures related to hip and knee replacement.

University of Wisconsin Hospital & Clinics President and CEO Donna Sollenberger has been elected by the AHA Board of Trustees as a delegate to the Section for Metropolitan Hospitals. Sollenberger will continue to serve on the AHA’s Regional Policy Board 5.

Berlin Memorial Hospital has been approved as a Critical Access Hospital by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS).  For a complete list of all CAHs in Wisconsin, visit the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health’s Web site at www.worh.org.

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