Those hot, hazy days of summer are here. The heat especially can be harmful for those who work outdoors in direct sunlight or in hot environments, making them susceptible to heat-induced illnesses such as heat stress, heat exhaustion or the more serious heat stroke.

“Working in extreme temperatures is not only uncomfortable, it can be life-threatening,” said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab. “As we move into the summer months, it is important for workers and their employers to minimize the chances of heat-induced illnesses, and imperative that they recognize the signs of heat stress and take proper precautions to reduce the chances of illness or death.” (more…)

Modern Healthcare named Crystal Haynes, chief executive officer of Saint Louis University Hospital, Sister Carol Keehan, president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association, and Angela Braly, president and CEO of WellPoint, to the magazine’s national list of the “Top 25 Women in Healthcare” for 2009.

Haynes has served as CEO for Saint Louis University Hospital (SLU Hospital) since 2001. The 365-bed, urban, academic medical center is owned by Tenet Healthcare Corp., employs 1,600 people and treats more than 2,200 trauma cases a year. She also is the first woman to ever chair a regional policy board for the American Hospital Association. (more…)

March 26, 2009 (Excerpt from the HFMA News) – Stand for Quality, a coalition of 165 organizations that includes the American Hospital Association and the Federation of American Hospitals, announced six recommendations to improve health care quality, access and affordability, which the group says are “inextricably linked.” Stand for Quality is calling for the public and private sectors to partner in measuring quality and to use the results to drive continuous improvements. “Our recommendations build on the successes of work already underway to create an integrated national infrastructure that will put into the hands of providers of care, purchasers of care and consumers of care information to inform their decisions,” says Richard Umbdenstock, president and chief executive officer of the American Hospital Association.

The six recommendations are to set national priorities:

1. provide coordination for quality improvement;
2. endorse and maintain nationally standardized measures;
3. develop measures to fill gaps in priority areas;
4. ensure that providers and other stakeholders have a role in developing policies on use of measures;
5. collect, analyze, and make performance information available and actionable;
6. and support a sustainable infrastructure for quality improvement.

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March 23, 2009 – (Excerpt from HFMA News)
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced that states can access an additional $268 million authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help pay hospitals to treat their most vulnerable patients.

Disproportionate share hospitals (DSHs)–those that serve a disproportionate share of low-income or uninsured individuals–are eligible. States receive an annual allotment to make payments to DSHs to account for higher costs associated with treating uninsured and low-income patients. The Recovery Act increases the amount of allotments available to states from approximately $11.06 billion to $11.33 billion for 2009.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will notify states about the availability of the increased portion of allotments for hospitals. Because not all states spend their full DSH allotments, states must demonstrate they have used all of their existing fiscal year 2009 DSH allotments before this new funding can be accessed. States must request the additional funds from CMS as part of their quarterly Medicaid budget request and the funds will be distributed as separate Recovery Act DSH grants.

See a complete list of the revised DSH allotments.