Hospital administrators are balancing the community’s need for inpatient care with the long-term viability of the facility, he said, due to the unusual circumstances.of National Rural Health Association We supported the model because of the need to maintain emergency services in rural areas, but we acknowledge that it will not solve all the financial challenges facing rural hospitals.
is more than 600 rural hospitalsapproximately represents 30 percent Of the country’s rural hospitals, it is at risk of closing in the near future due to continued financial losses in patient services, insufficient revenue to cover costs, and low financial reserves. Recent research by non-profit organizations Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform.
The Rural Emergency Hospital designation will help struggling rural hospitals by providing more Medicare reimbursements and monthly facility payments for providing emergency care, observation, and other outpatient services. It is intended to prevent closure of Instead, patient stays cannot exceed 24 hours.
Program Objective: To keep hospitals open
Historically, Medicare has required hospitals to provide inpatient services in order to maintain hospital status and the reimbursements that come with it. This new model is designed to preserve access to care in an otherwise non-viable community by transforming rural hospitals into a new type of independent emergency room and ambulatory service centre. .
“This is an attempt to be more than a primary care clinic and less than an inpatient facility. george pinkDeputy Director North Carolina Rural Health Research ProgramThe model “has long been endorsed by the local health community, but lacked these specific details.”
Congress Creates New Rural Hospital Designation A sweeping government funding bill Passed in December 2020. under program, Medicare and Medicaid Service Center Pay extra for critical access hospitals or rural hospitals with fewer than 50 beds. 5 percent for their covered outpatient services. Converted hospitals can also receive monthly facility payments. $272,866 — sum of above $3 million every year.
For the state to enact the program, the state legislature must pass legislation regulating the new provider types before hospitals can apply. these days, just four states I did: Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota When Michigan, Around State Legislative National Conference. Iowa When texas It is also promoting approval for hospitals.
Some hospitals have already expressed their intention to switch. of Letter to community members, St. Margaret’s Health Illinois said it intends to convert one of its two facilities into a local acute care hospital once the state legislature passes a license for the new designation.
Other hospital administrators say the government’s proposal is attractive, but the requirement to suspend inpatient services could undermine community access to health care. The reason is that large hospitals are becoming increasingly reluctant to accept patients transferred to rural areas. They’re struggling to cope with financial constraints, staffing shortages, and overcrowding caused by the coronavirus, flu, and RSV surge.
“You don’t want to remove it as a community health care option if you don’t need to do so unnecessarily,” he said. Jed Hansen,executive director Nebraska Rural Health AssociationHansen said Nebraska has more than 60 critical access and rural hospitals, but he doesn’t expect any to apply for conversion this year.
Carrie Cochran-McLainChief Policy Officer and Head Lobbyist National Rural Health Associationacknowledged that the new type of provider still leaves rural hospitals with financial problems, but said it was not significant.
“In my view, that’s not the intent of this model,” Cochran-McClain told The Health 202.
Rep. Jodie Arlington (Republican-Texas)
“traditional myth”
Some critics of the new type of provider argue that it is based on long-standing misconceptions about inpatient services and fails to address the root of the financial woes of rural hospitals.
“What I call a traditional myth is that the reason small rural hospitals are in the red is because they provide inpatient care to a very small number of patients. ” Harold MillerCHQPR’s president and CEO told The Health 202:The problem is that it’s not always true“
Miller said that if a hospital discontinues an inpatient ward, it will typically not be able to recover all the costs associated with it, but it will miss out on revenue. For example, nurses who work in the inpatient ward of a small rural hospital typically also serve the emergency department. So even if inpatient care is gone, hospitals still need those nurses.
“That means they lose money by closing inpatient wards and not providing services that communities need,” he said.
white house prescription
Biden official key to coronavirus vaccine effort resigns
David Kesslerearly advisor President Biden About the novel coronavirus pandemic leave the government The Post Laurie McGinley When Tyler Pager report.
Kessler — former chief of Food and Drug Administration — has emerged as a major player in the administration’s quest to vaccinate Americans and provide covid-19 treatments, overseeing billions of dollars spent to speed up both manufacturing and distribution. bottom.
He took part in Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign and offered advice on how to keep Biden and his staff safe as he struggled to adapt to the virus with little information. After the election, he was named chief scientific officer for coronavirus response. Although he served in the Federal Health Service, Kessler’s West ties to his wing helped give him broad powers to manage a key part of the country’s coronavirus response.
Here’s one way to check this: Kessler’s resignation was previously operation warp speed, an initiative originally launched by the Trump administration to accelerate the development of vaccines and treatments. He is the latest senior Biden official to leave a top post, along with a longtime infectious disease expert. Anthony Fauci Served as Biden’s chief medical adviser and resigned last month.
The Vaccine Safety Surveillance System in late November detected an updated signal. Pfizer Coronavirus booster shots may be linked to increased stroke risk in people over the age of 65. but, Digging deep into some large databases Laurie and Lena H. Sun report that, unable to confirm preliminary information, federal health officials concluded the risk was very low and probably non-existent.
what happened: of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration judged to be no need to change Recommendation that all people over 6 months old should keep their coronavirus vaccinations up to date.
Government vaccine safety experts combed databases containing millions of records, including the Vaccine Safety Data Link System and databases from Medicare, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Pfizer’s global surveillance network. They also consulted regulatory authorities in other countries, including Israel, and found no indication of clinical risk to patients.
- Ah statement Laurie and Lena say governments use multiple systems to detect potential problems, and “these safety systems often detect signals that may be due to factors other than the vaccine itself.” said.
China releases new covid-19 data, but WHO wants more
of world health organization teeth increase in pressure to china keep sharing data Government to reduce national deaths in hospitals 37 almost 60,000 Related to covid-19 since early December, The Post’s Adam Taylor report.
By numbers: Least recorded hospital 59,938 Coronavirus-related deaths from December 8 to January 12. 5,503 with respiratory failure caused by a virus, 54,435 It was the result of cancer, heart disease and other underlying conditions combined with covid-19, according to the. data released on Saturday Chinese National Health Commission.
The numbers seem to indicate occurrences like Wave of Omicron It spilled over to other countries a year ago, suggesting a new surge in infections peaked. Also missing, Adam points out, is the detailed genome sequencing demanded by the WHO and other agencies to track new variants.
The announcement follows weeks of criticism by international health experts and world leaders that the Chinese government has remained transparent about the extent of the outbreak despite widespread reports. did not. overwhelmed hospital When funeral home Since the country lifted the “no new coronavirus” policy on December 7th.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus:
Spoke with Minister Ma Xiaowei ＃COVID-19 Situation of #ChinaWe appreciate the detailed information being published. Please keep sharing. We asked for further sequence sharing and collaboration to understand the origin of the virus. https://t.co/rJK3AYBirM
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) January 14, 2023
- Pregnant woman infected with new coronavirus seven times likely to die According to our colleagues, a new study of more than 13,000 patients from 12 countries found more than virus-free pregnant women Sabrina Mari.
- Starting today: Veterans experiencing an acute suicidal crisis should: get emergency medical care in any case Department of Veterans Affairs Even if you don’t have Veterans Benefits, you can use medical facilities or outside providers for free, the ministry said.
- Supreme Court investigators Refine your search For the suspects behind last year’s Supreme Court justice leaks Samuel Alitorejection of the draft opinion of Law vs. Wade Despite reporting to a handful of suspects, officials have yet to conclusively identify who leaked the documents. wall street journal report.
thank you for reading! see you tomorrow.
