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AzHHA Names New President and CEO
The Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association (AzHHA) Board of Directors has announced that it has named Laurie Liles as its new president and chief executive officer, following an extensive national search. Liles, who now leads AzHHA’s legislative and regulatory advocacy team, will begin her new role on September 7.
Currently senior vice president of public affairs, Liles joined AzHHA in 1991. Through her successful implementation of AzHHA’s strategic advocacy agenda, Liles has positively influenced public policy on behalf of the state’s hospitals and healthcare community.
Liles will succeed John Rivers, who has served as AzHHA president and CEO since 1986. Rivers will be available in a consulting role until his retirement becomes official in January 2011.
For more information, visit AzHHA’s Web site.
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AzHHA Congratulates Emerging Leaders
Congratulations to the following individuals for being selected to participate in AzHHA’s 2010-2011 Emerging Healthcare Leaders program:
- PJ Geraghty, Director, Organ Recovery Services, Donor Network of Arizona
- Tori Gilliland, Surgery and Cath Lab Director, La Paz Regional Hospital
- Joseph Nunes, Director, Respiratory and Neurodiagnostic Services, Tucson Medical Center
- Brian Smit, Vice President, Revenue Operations, John C. Lincoln Health Network
- Lori Throne, Director of Nursing, Women and Children’s Services, University Medical Center
- Jeffrey Zyla, Manager, Business Planning, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center
This year-long leadership development experience is designed to arm Arizona’s emerging healthcare leaders with the tools necessary to lead a hospital or other healthcare organization. The participants will begin the program in August 2010 and graduate in October 2011. Please join us in congratulating this next group of Emerging Leaders!
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Regents Approve UMC/UPH Integration
On June 11, the Arizona Board of Regents approved, subject to amendments, an integration proposal submitted by University Medical Center (UMC) and University Physicians Healthcare (UPH), both of Tucson. The integration is expected to be completed once approved by the UMC and UPH Boards later this month with the actual process of integration completed by June 2011. A comprehensive market research and branding effort is underway to develop the brand of the new enterprise to position the company among the top academic healthcare organizations.
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Yuma Regional Names New CEO
Pat Walz has been named as president and CEO of Yuma Regional Medical Center (YRMC). Walz has served as interim president and CEO since February. A certified public accountant, Walz began his career at YRMC in 2005 as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO). He holds a masters degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix and has a combined 28 years of experience as CEO, CFO and chief operating officer at hospitals in Iowa, Texas and Arizona.
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Arizona Hospitals Receive National Attention
- Arizona Healthcare Facilities Among Nation’s Best Places to Work—Banner Health System, based in Phoenix, and University Medical Center, Tucson, have been named among the 100 Best Places to Work in Healthcare by Becker’s Hospital Review. Both were lauded for excellence in providing a work environment that promotes teamwork, professional development and quality patient care.
- Arrowhead Hospital’s Cardiac Surgery Program Receives Highest National Ranking—For the third year in a row, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) has awarded Arrowhead Hospital’s Cardiac Surgery program with its highest national 3 Star ranking. Less than 12 percent of hospitals nationwide received this year’s STS 3 Star rating.
- KRMC Emergency Department Awarded for National Excellence in Healthcare—Professional Research Consultants (PRC) has recognized the Kingman Regional Medical Center (KRMC) Emergency Department with two National Excellence in Healthcare Awards. The Platinum PRC Achievement Award was given to KRMC for dramatic improvements in patient satisfaction. Additionally, KRMC was named as a 2010 PRC 4-Star Hospital for patient perception of emergency care.
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CMS News
- CMS Delays Joint Commission Telemedicine Standard—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has delayed until March 2011 the effective date of The Joint Commission's revised telemedicine credentialing and privileging requirements for hospitals, citing proposed changes to Medicare's conditions of participation that would be less disruptive to accredited hospitals and critical access hospitals. Effective July 15, Section 125 of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 requires the commission to secure CMS approval of its standards in order to confer Medicare deemed status on hospitals. The Joint Commission had revised its telemedicine credentialing and privileging requirements to meet the current CMS conditions of participation.
- Medicare to Begin Hospital Enrollment Revalidation in July—Beginning July 4, hospitals that bill Medicare but do not have a record in the program's online enrollment system will be asked by their Medicare contractor to revalidate their enrollment information, according to a new CMS transmittal. This includes any hospital that has not updated its Medicare enrollment information in the past six years. Affected hospitals will have 60 days to submit a Medicare enrollment application (CMS-855) by mail or online through the Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System. CMS has instructed Medicare administrative contractors and fiscal intermediaries not to revoke billing numbers for hospitals that do not comply with the revalidation request, but to report the hospitals to CMS for further action. Hospitals participating in the Medicare program are required to revalidate their enrollment information every five years.
- OIG Recommends CMS Review Hospital-Based IPD Claims—In a new report, the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General (OIG) recommends that CMS review calendar year 2006 and 2007 claims for Medicare patients admitted to a hospital-based inpatient psychiatric facility (IPF) on discharge from the acute-care section of the same hospital. Based on its review of a sample of those claims, OIG estimates that Medicare contractors may have overpaid hospital-based IPFs $1.7 million due to incorrect source-of-admission coding. The agency also plans to edit its claims-processing file to prevent and detect claims with incorrect source-of-admission codes and to encourage recovery audit contractors to consider the report's findings as they decide what claims to review.
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Last Chance to Register for AzHeC Forum
Arizona Health-e Connection is still accepting registrations for its Forum on Healthcare Informatics and its Relationship to Meaningful Use. The forum will be held from 5:30 to 8 pm on June 23 at the Arizona Medical Association, 810 W. Bethany Home Rd., Phoenix. Arizona healthcare experts on the panel include:
- Cara Christ, MD, MS, Medical Director, Bureau of Epidemiology and Disease Control, Arizona Department of Health Services
- Robert Greenes, MD, PhD, Arizona State University Department of Biomedical Informatics
- Shez Partovi, MD, Chief Medical Information Officer, St. Joseph’s Hospital & Medical Center
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In Other News
- Joint Commission: Violence on the Rise at Healthcare Facilities—A new Joint Commission Sentinel Event Alert warns that healthcare facilities today are being confronted with steadily increasing rates of crime. The report urges greater attention to the issue of violence and to controlling access to facilities to protect patients, staff and visitors, noting that assault, rape and homicide are consistently in the top 10 types of serious events reported to The Joint Commission. The Alert cautions that the actual number of violent incidents is significantly under-reported and advises organizations to mandate the reporting of all real or perceived threats.
- Study: Most Hospital Patients with Psychiatric Disorders Treated in Specialty Units—More than 93 percent of patients admitted to community hospitals with psychiatric disorders are treated in psychiatric units, according to a new federally sponsored study. The 7 percent of patients treated in general medical beds were more likely to be older and on Medicare, admitted from the emergency room or another facility and have shorter stays. The study was sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
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Upcoming AzHHA Education Events
Looking for cost-effective and timely educational opportunities? Visit AzHHA’s Educational Events Calendar.
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Look for Your Next AzHHA Insider on July 9
The AzHHA Insider will not be published on July 2 due to the holiday weekend. The next issue will be released on Friday, July 9. Have a safe and happy Independence Day!
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