In May of 2007 the Washington Legislature passed SB 5930 providing for the creation of a new Strategic Health Planning Office in the Office of Financial Management (OFM). The purpose of this office is to establish health planning policies and goals that relate to the regional availability of health care facilities and services, quality of care, and cost of care.
On January 29, 2010, OFM released its draft Health Resources Strategy Report. OFM will be accepting comments through February 5, 2010.
OFM Releases 2010 State Health Resources Strategy
January 29, 2010 By
Change in Property Tax Exemption for NonProfit Hospitals
January 28, 2010 By
A revised WAC 458-16-260 – Nonprofit day care centers, libraries, orphanages, homes for sick or inform, hospitals, outpatient dialysis facilities – will take effect at the end of January 2010, clarifying what property owned by a nonprofit hospital is eligible for a tax exemption from Washington state property taxes.
The amended WAC changes the focus of the property tax exemption from whether the property is for in-patient use, to now focusing on whether the property is fully integrated into a licensed hospital unit. The exemption now covers: “all buildings that are currently licensed as part of hospital pursuant to 70.41 or 71.12 RCW and are part of an integrated, interrelated, homogenous unit exclusively used for hospital purposes. The licensed hospital must be able to provide health care services to inpatients over a continuous period of twenty-four hours or more.” Administrative and support facilities, hospital owned employee residences, and temporary residential units used to house families of inpatients are also included in the exemption.
The exemption excludes clinics and physician’s offices that are not licensed as part of the hospital and where patients are not regularly kept as bed patients for 24 hours or more. The amendment also removes the requirement that the property be in use and irrevocably dedicated to the exempt purpose of the nonprofit organization.
HHS Issues Meaningful Use & EHR Incentive Payment Proposed Regulations
December 30, 2009 By
The much awaited proposed regulations regarding the ARRA incentive funds and “meaningful use” have finally been released. HHS has issued the proposed rules for the Medicare & Medicaid Programs & EHR Incentive Program (556 pages) and the Health Information Technology Initial Set of Standards, Implementation, Specifications and Certification Criteria for EHR Technology, including the definition of meaningful use (136 pages).
HHS has also released fact sheets to assist in destilling the proposed requirements. To view these fact sheets click here.
More information regarding the various contents of these regulations will follow in subsequent blog posts. If you have specific questions please contact Elana Zana or David Schoolcraft.
Health Information Exchange
November 22, 2009 By
Earlier this month Dr. David Blumenthal, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, published a letter describing the benefits of health information exchange. In his letter, Dr. Blumenthal highlights four aims of health information exchange in the HITECH Act:
- It squarely tackles commercial barriers
- It tackles the economic barriers
- It tackles the technical barriers
- It provides building blocks for information exchange across jurisdictions
In Washington, OneHealthPort has been designated the lead organization for Washington Health Information Exchange. Approximately $11.3 Million of federal funding is expected during the first quarter of 2010 for Washington based health information exchange activities.
To read Dr. Blumenthal’s letter in its entirety please click here.
HIT Policy Committee Meeting Re: Meaningful Use for Specialists & Smaller Practices/Hospitals
October 19, 2009 By
The Office of the National Coordinator published this recent announcement:
The HIT Policy Committee will be holding a two-day meeting, October 27 and October 28, focusing on specialists, smaller physician practices, small community hospitals, etc. The Recovery Act requires not just adoption of health information technology (HIT) but also meaningful use of the information to improve care. To demonstrate meaningful use, the Policy Committee has chosen to focus on HIT-enabled quality measures that are both process and outcomes oriented. Most of the initial measures proposed for 2011 focused on primary care providers because of the availability of those measures. This hearing seeks input from various groups that may not be adequately addressed by the initial measures proposed, such as specialists, non-physician practitioners, smaller physician practices, safety net providers, and small community hospitals.
For more information click here.
Final Meaningful Use Matrix
October 14, 2009 By
Recently, Dr. David Blumenthal, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, issued a press release regarding “meaningful use” and the recommendations of the HIT Policy Committee. The HIT Policy Committee was charged with making recommendations regarding the definition of meaningful use and certification and adoption standards. As part of its recommendation, the HIT Policy Committee submitted a matrix of health outcomes and objectives to be achieved in 2011, 2013 and 2015. To view the matrix click here.
The health outcome policy priorities described in the matrix include:
- Improve quality, safety, efficiency, and reduce health disparities;
- Engage patients and families;
- Improve care coordination;
- Improve population and public health; and
- Ensure adequate privacy and security protections for personal health information.
Though the date is still to be determined, the HIT Policy Committee plans on having an informational hearing regarding its recommendations in October. HHS plans on releasing the proposed rule in December and will have a public comment period in early 2010.
