JUNE 17, 2005
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IN THIS ISSUE: Clickable Calendar / Health Care Risk Management Week / ASHRM Interest Networks / Education Update / Risk Management in the News / Legal, Regulatory & Compliance Update / Chapters Update / Risk Management Resources
CLICKABLE CALENDAR
HEALTH CARE RISK MANAGEMENT WEEK
'Make Your Mark' by celebrating risk management values
Next week, June 20-24, marks Health Care Risk Management Week. It's the ideal time to celebrate the ways health care risk management professionals contribute to safe and trusted health care. A special Webcast on Wednesday will cover the topic of "Mandatory vs. Voluntary Reporting: Same Vision, Different Views." The ASHRM Web site also has a number of additional suggested local activities, including a proclamation that can be shared with local officials, available at www.ashrm.org.
ECRI to provide free medical staff credentialing report
In honor of Health Care Risk Management Week, ECRI is providing health care risk managers and the general public free online access to its new report, "Medical Staff Credentialing." The report will be posted on ECRI's Patient Safety Center Web site next week. This Healthcare Risk Control System risk analysis report takes a proactive approach on the medical staff credentialing and privileging process. Sample forms and other tools to tailor to the needs of individual facilities are included. To download a free copy of "Medical Staff Credentialing," visit www.ecri.org during the week of June 20-24 and click on "Patient Safety Center." Then, click on the link located in the left navigation bar. For details now, visit www.ecri.org.
ASHRM INTEREST NETWORKS
Interest Networks meet specialized professional needs
ASHRM's new Patient Safety Interest Network and Risk Financing & Claims Administration Interest Network deliver timely content and resources tailored according to risk managers' primary needs, whether they are focused on patient safety efforts or on traditional risk management issues of risk financing and claims administration. Current ASHRM members may choose to supplement their regular ASHRM membership with either or both of the ASHRM Interest Networks for an annual membership fee of $25 for each Interest Network. Join by using the ASHRM membership form and selecting the Interest Network options near the bottom. For details, visit www.ashrm.org.
EDUCATION UPDATE
Sept. 12 health care track to open Bermuda Captive Conference
A program titled "Growing Your Health Care Captive" on Sept. 12 will focus on the roles of risk managers and brokers and provide reinsurance perspectives on identifying and evaluating captive options. This health care track, presented by ASHRM, its Risk Financing & Claims Administration Interest Network and ASHRM's Bermuda chapter, will kick off the first Bermuda Captive Conference. The conference will be held Sept. 12-14 at the Fairmont Southampton Hotel in Southampton, Bermuda. For details, visit www.bermudacaptive.bm.
Time to make plans for Annual Conference & Exhibition, Oct. 23-26
Details about ASHRM's "Silver Celebration" Annual Conference & Exhibition set for Oct. 23-26 in San Antonio, TX, are posted on www.ashrm.org. The Web page includes details about keynotes, education sessions and instructions on how to reserve hotel rooms. This year, housing reservations are not being made by calling the hotels but rather via the ASHRM Housing Bureau Web page. Using the Web page is strongly recommended to help assure preferred accommodations.
Conference to cover safety, compliance and risk issues
A new health care safety conference covering "Safety, Compliance and Risk Issues" is set forSept. 26-29 in Kansas City, MO. A faculty of government officials, industry experts and hospital safety and security professionals will help participants prepare for Certified Healthcare Safety Professional (CHSP) certification; get answers to pressing compliance issues through Q&A sessions; and stay abreast of new standards and regulations to avoid costly mistakes. Among the speakers will be Troy Collins, who was featured in ASHRM's April 19 "Performance Initiatives in Patient Safety" audio conference. For details about "Safety, Compliance and Risk Issues," visit www.tfilearning.com or call (508) 614-1234
RISK MANAGEMENT IN THE NEWS
Med mal report sees 'a turn in financial losses'
The medical malpractice liability insurance market may be emerging from crisis, according to a June 9 report. In "Medical Malpractice: New Opportunities Emerging? Or the Eye of the Hurricane? 2005," Conning Research & Consulting Inc. reports that last year's medical malpractice results "suggest the beginning of a turn in the financial losses, at least with respect to the core reporting insurance segments." State tort reforms and some moderation in medical inflation costs could bolster the line. "Our current forecast of financial results for the industry point to an operating ratio potentially reaching profitability by 2006," wrote Conning. "This is based on assumptions including a sustained rate environment, successful defense of current tort reform efforts, and an improving interest rate environment." For details, visit www.conning.com.
(Source: Business Insurance Risk Management News Alert, June 10, 2005)
New project aims to help reduce common surgical complications
The Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP), led by the Veteran's Administration (VA) and the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and tested in three states, will soon be made available to all hospitals nationwide. The project provides evidence-based educational and clinical management tools that reduce the most common surgical complications - wound infections, blood clots, post surgery heart attack and pneumonia. SCIP focuses on process measures, such as the appropriate use of antibiotics near the time of surgery and the use of beta-blockers, to prevent cardiovascular events and reduce complications. The national partnership promoting SCIP believes that if America's hospitals adopt SCIP, these complications could be reduced by 25 percent. The partnership includes the AHA, ACS and VA and others. This partnership will officially launch SCIP in late July at the AHA/Health Forum Leadership Summit in San Diego. For details, visit www.medqic.org.
Hospitals probe hydraulic fluid, soap mixup
Duke University Health System has sent off hydraulic fluid that was accidentally used to wash surgical instruments at two of its hospitals for analysis to "determine any potential impact," Duke's chief patient safety officer (PSO) told ABC-TV's "Good Morning America" on June 15, adding that there was no reason to believe the patients operated on in November and December with the tools are at risk. The fluid, similar in appearance to soap used to clean instruments, was drained from an elevator system and put into 15-gallon soap containers and recapped without new labels. The health system has monitored infection rates for the period in which the hydraulic fluid was used and "the information we do have to date gives us no evidence to suggest that our patients are at risk," the PSO said in a June 15 Associated Press report.
LEGAL, REGULATORY & COMPLIANCE UPDATE
AHA submits comments on HIPAA enforcement rule ...
In a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services, the AHA on June 14 expressed concern that the proposed Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) enforcement rule increases the potential liability exposure of all covered entities and may result in civil money penalties that significantly exceed the statutorily permitted maximum penalty. The AHA said the rule's proposed methodologies for determining HIPAA violations and the amount of any penalty are hard to understand and do not provide covered entities with sufficient information to predict and limit their liability. It said "provisions imposing liability on a covered entity for the violations incurred by individuals and organizations over whom the covered entity may be able to exercise little real control inappropriately expands the liability exposure of all covered entities."
... while DOJ issues opinion on scope of criminal liability under HIPAA
In a June 1 opinion requested by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel said that covered entities, including hospitals, might be prosecuted for criminal violations under HIPAA. The "knowingly" element of the offense requires the government to prove only that the violators had knowledge of the facts that constitute the offense, but not that they knew their conduct violated the law, the opinion adds. Depending on the case facts, directors, officers and employees of covered entities may be directly liable for HIPAA violations in accordance with general principles of corporate criminal liability. In addition, the opinion says, others who may not be directly liable may be prosecuted under principles of aiding and abetting and conspiracy.
(Source: AHA News Now, June 14, 2005)
New FAQ addresses privacy rule concern
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights has added a new "frequently asked question" to its Web site to clarify that covered entities are permitted under the HIPAA Privacy Rule to disclose protected health information to state-designated protection and advocacy systems where the disclosure is required by law. FAQs can be accessed from the "What's New" column at www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa.
("FAQ on Disclosing PHI to P&A Systems")
CHAPTERS UPDATE
Arizona
TheTucson group of the Arizona Society for Healthcare Risk Management will meet from 8:30-11 a.m. July 8 at UPI in Tucson. For details, contact Susan Corsey at (520) 877-3131 or corseys@coramhc.com.
South Carolina
The South Carolina Chapter of ASHRM will hold an educational workshop from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. July 14 at SCHA Headquarters in Columbia. The program will include sessions on enterprise risk management and statistical process control in health care. To register, contact Karl Pfaehler at (803) 744-3526 or kpfaehler@scha.org.
Send chapter news to Nancy Neff, Project Specialist for Chapter and Member Services, at nneff@aha.org.
Recruitment campaign with $1,000 prize ends July 31
ASHRM is offering its affiliated chapters a chance to help ASHRM grow and to earn valuable incentives for their chapter with its 2005 Chapter Recruitment Campaign. For each local chapter member who joins the national organization Jan. 1-July 31, 2005, the chapter will receive a $25 rebate in honor of ASHRM's 25th anniversary in 2005. In addition, the chapter that attracts the most new members (as a percentage of the chapter's size) to ASHRM during the campaign will be awarded $1,000. For details, visit www.ashrm.org.
RISK MANAGEMENT RESOURCES
Personalized info service is a member benefit
Need information, but don't know where to find it? Or don't have the time? The AHA Resource Center can help, and it's one of your member benefits. The Resource Center is a centralized source of information on a broad range of health care issues. A staff of experienced information professionals with access to a wide range of resources - books, journals, electronic databases, personal contacts, and other tools - is available to assist you. The Resource Center can provide a quick fact or referral, a specific article, or more extensive research. Members receive discounted rates on these personalized information services. Contact AHA Resource Center at (312) 422-2050, e-mail rc@aha.org, or visit www.aha.org/resource.
AHA campaign urges Americans to put end-of-life wishes in writing
The AHA, with support from ASHRM, has launched a national education campaign to encourage Americans to document end-of-life preferences in advance directives while they are still healthy and able to make decisions. A new AHA Web site provides easy-to-use information in English and Spanish, including links to advance directive forms for every state, answers to common questions, and a downloadable wallet card that alerts health care workers that the carrier has an advance directive. The campaign also includes a public service announcement urging people to talk with family, friends and caregivers about their wishes, and to sign an advance directive. For details, visit www.aha.org.
Updated job listings posted for registered members
Job listings may be accessed in the Members Services section at www.ashrm.org. To view these listings, ASHRM members must log in with their username and password. Members who do not have a username or password can register for them anytime. Registration is simple and requires minimal information including membership ID number. (ID numbers are printed on membership cards and mailing labels.) To register, visit www.ashrm.org and click on the Register Now! link in the Login box. With questions on registering on the site, contact ashrm@aha.org.
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© 2005 American Society for Healthcare Risk Management of the American Hospital Association. Reprints should credit the source as "e-News: This Week at ASHRM."
