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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT HIGHLIGHTS

March modules room block now open
Online education offerings include ‘Confidentiality’
Listserv helps ASHRM members connect and share
CPHRM Exam Prep Course scheduled for Indy, Houston
News and notes from ASHRM’s chapters

RISK MANAGEMENT NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

AHRQ issues final rule for patient safety organizations
Joint Commission annual report shows improvement
Hospital records coming under added federal scrutiny 

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

March modules room block now open
The first 2009 modules of the Barton Certificate Program in Healthcare Risk Management will be held March 2-4 (Essentials and Advanced Forum) and March 4-6 (Applications) in Chicago. Essentials and Applications registration fees are $600/$700 member/non-member early-bird, $650/$750 regular; Advanced Forum fees are $675/$775 member/non-member early-bird and $825 member/non-member regular (no increases over 2008 fees). Registration will open in mid-December. The room block is open at the InterContinental Chicago, 505 N. Michigan Ave., where the ASHRM discounted nightly room rate is $189 plus tax (less than in 2008). Call (800) 628-2112 by Feb. 9 and request the ASHRM rate. Click here for additional program dates. More information about the modules will be released in December.

Online education offerings include ‘Confidentiality’
"Introduction to Confidentiality" is the most recent addition to ASHRM's online education offerings. The self-paced learning course provides an overview of the fundamental concepts and issues of confidentiality. Topics include HIPAA compliance and Protected Health Information, penalties associated with violations of privacy standards, Joint Commission Standards related to privacy and confidentiality, and more. Click here for details on this and ASHRM's “Fundamentals of Healthcare Risk Financing” online course.

Listserv helps ASHRM members connect and share
ASHRM’s listserv helps members easily and quickly share risk management tips and challenges. Recent member-driven e-mail exchanges centered on hand-off communications and medication variance benchmarking. The ASHRM listserv is a member benefit; enrollment is open only to current members who are registered with ASHRM’s Web site and are logged in. For details, visit the Listerv Frequently Asked Questions page. 

CPHRM Exam Prep Course scheduled for Indy, Houston
Risk management professionals who want to take the CPHRM examination or are eligible for renewal and need a refresher may benefit from ASHRM’s CPHRM Examination Preparation Course. This overview of material corresponds to the content areas of the exam (detailed in the CPHRM Candidate Handbook) and can help test-takers concentrate on areas for further study. The prep course will be offered Jan. 30 by the Indiana Society for Healthcare Risk Management at Wishard Health Services in Indianapolis (contact Crissy Lough at crissy.lough@wishard.edu) and Feb. 26 by the Greater Houston Society for Healthcare Risk Management (register with Amanda Mount at amanda_mount@ajg.com). To learn how your chapter or company can host a local CPHRM Exam Prep Course, visit the ASHRM Web site (Education page).

News and notes from ASHRM chapters
The Maryland Society for Healthcare Risk Management will meet Dec. 1 at Turf Valley Country Club in Ellicott City. "Medical Malpractice Liability and Tort Reform" will feature speakers Pegeen Townsend, JD, senior vice president of legislative affairs, Maryland Hospital Association; Henry E. Dugan Jr., Dugan, Babij & Tolley; and Michael S. Hull, Hull, Henricks & MacRae. Contact Monica Cooke at (301) 442-9216 or monicacooke@qualityplussolutions.com. … The Philadelphia Area Society for Healthcare Risk Management will hold a holiday breakfast Dec. 5 at Williamson's in Horsham, PA.  Visit www.pashrm.net for details.

Send chapter news to Nancy Neff at nneff@aha.org.

RISK MANAGEMENT NEWS

AHRQ issues final rule for patient safety organizations
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality on Nov. 21 issued a final rule outlining the requirements for becoming a patient safety organization and how the agency will enforce confidentiality protections. Though the AHRQ finalized much of the proposed rule, it made changes to certain provisions and added new requirements, including broadening the list of excluded entities and increasing flexibility in how PSOs can store patient safety work product and how component PSOs maintain separation between themselves and their parent organizations. PSOs voluntarily collect, aggregate and analyze patient safety data from providers to improve health care quality. The rule takes effect Jan. 19, 2009. ASHRM submitted comments on PSOs to AHRQ in April 2008, many of which were addressed in the final rule.

Joint Commission annual report shows improvement
The Joint Commission this week released Improving America’s Hospitals: The Joint Commission’s Annual Report on Quality and Safety 2008. According to the report, accredited hospitals have steadily improved the quality of patient care in some critical areas over a six-year period of data collection. The report, an analysis of National Patient Safety Goal compliance and hospital quality measures related to heart attacks, heart failure, pneumonia or surgical conditions, provides scientific evidence of improved patient care. Improvements included providing discharge instructions to heart failure patients (from 30.9 percent to 77.5 percent) and providing pneumococcal screening and vaccination to pneumonia patients (from 30.2 percent to 83.9 percent).

Hospital records coming under added federal scrutiny
In the next 18 months or so, four different sets of auditors will be scrutinizing the medical records at hospitals. It's all part of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) Medicare Integrity Program initiative, mandated by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which seeks to eliminate waste and abuse in Medicare claims. In addition to the Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) program, hospital records also will be subject to audits from Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs), which will take over and expand the audits previously performed by quality improvement organizations (QIOs); Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) auditors, who identify areas where high error rates occur and analyze data from specific providers to determine if the provider is billing in error; and Zoned Program Integrity Contractors (ZPICs), auditors with broad powers that extend to Medicare managed care and Medicaid claims.
(Source: AHC Newsletters, Nov. 22, 2008)

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