Spring Into Health Fair

Don't miss this great opportunity!

Huntington Hills Center for Health and Rehab in conjunction with Cold Spring Hills are hosting this great event!  There will be music, free raffle gifts, as well as a designated children’s corner with face painting and coloring books with crayons, free fingerprinting and photo ID’s for children and seniors. In addition there will be free health screenings such as mini physicals, pneumonia shots, blood pressure screenings, eye exams, cholesterol screenings and more. Spread the Word!

Walgreens Offers New Services

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57577954/walgreens-expands-care-for-chronic-conditions/

Here's a news article from CBS News about Walgreens adding new services to diagnose and treat patients. What do you think about this recent addition of services by Walgreens? Do you think this might decrease ER admissions? I think it's a great idea!

Cold Spring Hills Hosts Mechanical Ventilation Seminar

Here's an opportunity for Continuing Education from one of our members! Hope you can make it and  share with us what you learned!

Bundled Payments Fact Sheet

http://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/bundled-payments/

What's all the fuss about bundled payments? I found this article on cms website that explains what it entails... read up and tell us what you think. How do you think this will affect you organization?

Skype or not to Skype?

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/02/28/skype-revolutionizing-mental-health-care/

http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/skype-successful-home-care-infants/2013-02-11

This is the second article I came across with this month using skype to communicate with patients. One article showed using skype in a home care setting for pediatric population. They both brought in positive reactions from the users (the patients and the providers). Do you think skype is a the new trend in communicating with the health care providers? What to do you think?

Primary Care Medical Home and Joint Commission

http://www.jointcommission.org/joint_commission_to_offer_pcmh_certification_hospitals_critical_access_hospitals/

I found this article which I thought was interesting model of care. It seems that with this model, patients have better access to care, thus increases their satisfaction. This is a nice follow up article on how to improve your scores with patient satisfaction. According to Joint Commission website, this add on certification is now available for accredited hospitals.

Long Island Hospitals and Patient Satisfaction

http://www.newsday.com/news/health/li-hospitals-can-ill-afford-low-patient-satisfaction-scores-1.4553813?p=879862

With patient satisfaction tied in to reimbursements, many hospitals are working towards improving their scores. Check out where your hospital ranks and let us know how you are doing it!

A Chance To Be Heard

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2013/02/01/irs-releases-proposed-regs-for-health-care-law-whos-covered-whos-exempt-and-what-happens-if-you-dont-want-to-pay/

The IRS is inviting all taxpayers to comment on the proposed regulations for Health Care Law until May  2, 2013. These regulations are expected to take effect in 2014. Read the article and send in your public comments!

Should the Nurse Who Refused To Wear Masks Be Fired?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/08/flu-mask-termination/1817571/

What a controversial issue! First, I thought she was fired for refusing the flu shot. But when I read the article, it said she was fired for non-compliance with her hospital's policy of wearing a mask if you refuse the flu shot. It makes sense if you put it that way. On the other hand, it is very difficult to work with a masks on all the time. My patients can't even hear me with them on, especially if you're soft spoken and your patient is hard of hearing. Do you think requiring the employees to wear a mask is a way to get you to take the flu shot? Let us know what you think?

Are You Feeling the Changes Yet?

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/04/health/obamacare-2013/index.html

Every year I set aside money to my FSA (Flexible Spending Account). I really think I save a lot in taxes by putting money into it. So, I wasn't happy  to find out it is now limited to $2,500/annually. That's is just a minor change that has taken effect so far. I found this article that outlines what we expect to see.Did you know breast pump is now a covered DME?  Surprise, surprise! I wonder though if this will keep patient longer in the hospital because they are waiting for an authorizations to come through for their pumps? What do you think?