Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

Study: Non-profit community benefit programs growing

Anne Zieger — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:32:03 -0400

Despite some major challenges, community benefit programs at not-for-profit health systems are growing, according to a recent survey by the Catholic Health Association and VHA. The survey, which polled more than 200 attendees of a joint CHA/VHA conference on the subject, found that three-quarters of respondents had expanded community benefit programs during the past three years--and that they expect to keep expanding such programs for at least three more years. Just fewer than 10 percent said that subsidized medical care and outreach levels fell during the past three years--but none of the respondents expected such programs to shrink in the near future.

When asked which programs delivered the most impact, improving access to care ranked first with respondents, followed by health education, and promotion and management of chronic conditions. Medical and health professional education, meanwhile, was ranked as least beneficial.

However, there are challenges involved in continuing to grow community benefit programs, of course. When polled on their biggest concerns, the number one challenge named by respondents was limited staffing to implement such programs, following by confusion over how community benefits fit into a health system's larger priorities. Financial constraints ranked third.

To learn more about the survey:
- read this Modern Healthcare article (reg. req.)
- read this CHA press release

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SPOTLIGHT: Not-for-profits' challenges and solutions

Sterling Meyers — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:01:03 -0400

According to a survey by the Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA) and consulting firm VHA Inc., a limited staff poses the most problems for not-for-profit hospitals. Two hundred respondents at a recent community benefit conference sponsored by the organizations said that aside from a limited staff, confusion in priorities with tax-exempt health systems and financial constraints were secondary and tertiary concerns. To improve community benefit efforts, 21 percent of respondents said they added new staff, 25 percent reported that they made new partnerships, and 24 percent added new programs. The study is completed every two years. Article (reg. req.) Press Release

TX hospital may stop cancer care for indigent illegals

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 06:59:54 -0500

A Texas cancer center is considering what must be a difficult move: it's thinking about ceasing to offer cancer care to indigent and undocumented immigrants. The hospital, the University of Texas Medical Branch, set aside $12 million of its $1.4 billion annual budget to care for indigent cancer patients, but with that budget under pressure, execs are trying to find ways to stretch it. Even if it does follow through with this plan, it won't stop treating those already in its care, administrators said. Meanwhile, no ne knows exactly how many undocumented, indigent cancer patients it sees, so it's not clear what the financial impact of such a policy would be anyway.

To learn more about the controversy:
- read this Associated Press piece

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HHS gives health centers an anti-kickback break

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 06:59:57 -0400

HHS is giving federally-qualified community health centers a bit of a break. It has loosened up its its anti-kickback rules in a way which should make it easier for them to partner with hospitals, vendors or other providers. Under the new rules, the centers can accept some services, donations or loans from qualified parties under some circumstances. To qualify, the arrangements must be detailed, and the benefits available to all patients, whether they can pay for services or not. In the past, health centers who made vendor or hospital partnerships might have faced anti-kickback penalties.

To find out more about the new rules:
- read this Modern Healthcare piece

Related Article:
VHA: Stark issues more common than execs think. Report

Read more on: kickbacks in healthcare

Study: Hospitals struggle with infection control

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 06:59:58 -0400

The vast majority of hospitals don't take all of the recommended steps needed to prevent hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), according to a new survey by Leapfrog Group. To draw this conclusion, group surveyed 1,256 hospitals, asking about three common infections and how the facilities handled those infections. All told, 87 percent of hospitals failed to comply with protocols for preventing all three forms of HAI.

Leapfrog concluded that 38.5 percent of hospitals followed all guidelines for avoiding aspiration- and ventilator-associated pneumonia, 35.4 percent for central venous catheter-related bloodstream infection, and 32.3 percent for surgical-site infection. (Meanwhile, 35.6 percent of hospitals met hand-hygiene standards, and 30.7 percent vaccinated staff against the flu.)

To learn more about the survey:
- read this Modern Healthcare article

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N.Y. plans fight against hospital-acquired infections

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 06:59:56 -0400

Officials with the State of New York said this week they'd decided to mount a new initiative to fight hospital-acquired infections. The move fits in with a growing movement by states to fight HAIs, which can prove both costly and harmful to the patient.

The Hospital-Acquired Infection Prevention Project is being managed by the New York State Department of Health, which already requires all acute-care hospitals in the state to turn over data including the incidence of certain HAIs. The DOH is asking non-profit healthcare organizations interested in helping with the fight to apply for their piece of a $1 million fund.

To learn more about New York's plans:
- read this piece from The Business Review of Albany

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MA hospital-acquired infections cost millions

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 06:59:57 -0400

Hospital-acquired infections in Massachusetts add as much as $473 million a year to healthcare costs, according to a state-funded study, leading to a recommendation Massachusetts require hospitals to report infection data for hip and knee replacements, and for central venous catheters in intensive-care patients, the Boston Globe reports.

The report, required by a comprehensive healthcare reform law, includes 135 recommendations for preventing the spread of germs and details the estimated financial consequences of hospital-acquired infections.

To learn more:
- Read the Globe Article

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IL hospital must prove community benefit, or else

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 20:01:38 -0400

Of late, state and federal regulators have been challenging non-profit hospitals to prove they deserve their tax exemption. Hospital associations, health systems and individual facilities have responded by aggressively touting their estimates of the community benefit and levels of uncompensated care that they provide.

This exercise is important for all U.S. non-profits, but there's even more at stake for Mokena, Ill.-based Provena Health. The Catholic hospital chain has been fighting to keep its state property tax exemption in the face of claims it hadn't done enough. State's Department of Revenue Director Brian Hamer contends Provena Covenant Medical Center's 2002 charity care level, which he said represented less than 1 percent of its revenue, wasn't enough to merit its tax exemption. The Champaign County Board of Review pulled the property tax exemption in 2003, arguing the facility had been too aggressive in collecting money from indigent patients.

This year, Provena hopes to turn perceptions around. The chain says its community benefit efforts had $61.7 million in total impact on the 750,000 people served by its six hospitals and affiliated facilities. That includes $17 million in free care, $38.9 million in "non-reimbursed" services to Medicaid patients and $5.7 million in community services, hospital officials said. Now, let's see how this report goes down. If officials don't buy it, Provena could be in worse trouble.

To find out more about Provena's situation:
- read this Chicago Tribune piece

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Wisconsin moving ahead with hospital tax plans

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 20:01:36 -0400

Nearly all of Wisconsin's hospitals--a full 95 percent--are not-for-profits that enjoy a state property tax exemption. Despite resistance from the hospitals, the state is continuing to look at recouping some of that revenue with a separate hospital-specific tax. State governor Jim Doyle (D) wants to impose an 0.8 percent tax on the state's 109 non-profit hospitals, which he says will generate $418 million in revenues for the state over the next two years. The proposal has been posted by a report suggesting that the non-profits had excess revenues of $837 million in 2004. Like its brethren in other states considering hospital taxes, the Wisconsin Hospital Association characterizes the proposed tax as a "sick tax" which will end up hurting patients.

To find out more about the tax proposal:
- read this Associated Press article

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PA hospitals oppose infection reporting plan

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 20:01:37 -0400

Pennsylvania's hospitals are fighting to sideline a bill which would make them report on hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) through a single statewide electronic system. Establishing such a system is one of a group of health reform initiatives Governor Ed Rendell (D) is trying to implement. Rendell has said that HAIs generated $3.5 billion in charges last year. According to the state's Health Care Cost Containment Council, 19,000 patients suffered from HAIs in 2005, or about 1 percent of the patients studied. While the state's hospitals don't object to efforts focused on cutting HAIs, implementing the electronic reporting system will be too expensive for small facilities, according to the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania.

To get more information on the controversy:
- read this Associated Press piece

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