March 2013
Vol. 3 No. 3
In This Issue
Member Issues Briefing
Innovations in Care Transitions Conference
Labor & Employment Conference
Allied Membership Meeting
Survey Update
Upcoming Member Meetings
Past Meetings
New Allied Members
Items of Interest
Member Issues Briefing: Total Compensation Solutions
With Healthcare Reform
Total compensation solutions under health care reform will be the topic of Hospital Council's next issues
briefing on May 2, 2013. The briefing will be held from 10:30 a.m. until noon at Hospital Council's
Conference Center. Elliott Dinkin, president and chief executive officer of Cowden Associates, Inc., will
explore implications of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on compensation and benefits for
Hospital Council members. This session will not only explore both the nuts and bolts of the law as it
relates to compensation, but also new options and opportunities that have been created. There are a
variety of total compensation solutions that may be attractive for the region's healthcare employers and
other employers to explore for full-time and part-time employees. Alternative cost effective arrangements
for retiree medical benefits will also be explored. Hospital Council's institutional and Allied members are
invited to attend this program. This briefing will be held immediately following a meeting of the Allied
Membership. There is no charge to participate in Hospital Council's issues briefings; however, registration
is required. For more information, contact Pat Raffaele.
Innovations in Care Transitions Conference
Hospital Council and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Partnership for Aging (SWPPA) have partnered to
offer a special conference featuring partnerships focused on managing care transitions. The conference,
Innovations in Care Transitions, will be held from 8:30 a.m until 3:30 p.m. at Hospital Council's
Conference Center on May 8, 2013. Western Pennsylvania is rich in partnerships designed to improve
care transitions and healthcare outcomes. The conference will feature six of the region's collaborations
and they will share their process design and outcomes. Conference sponsors include Automated Security
Alert, Inc., Celtic Healthcare and SilentAlert. The conference fee is $50 for members of Hospital Council
and/or SWPPA and $60 for nonmembers. Click here to register for the Conference. For more information,
contact Jane Montgomery.
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Upcoming Labor & Employment Conference
Members are invited to participate in Hospital Council's 2013 Labor & Employment Conference on May
17, 2013 at Hospital Council's Conference Center. The program will feature sessions related to labor and
employment issues including a national labor update, current information on employment law and and
collective bargaining considerations and planning. The conference will be held immediately following a
meeting of Hospital Council's HR Committee. Speakers include Chris Cimino, president and chief
executive officer of Chessboard Consulting based in Chicago, Illinois; Elliot Dinkin, president and chief
executive officer of Cowden & Associates; and Ronald Andrykovich, JD, a director with the law firm
Cohen & Grigsby. Registration information and conference details will be available in the near future. For
more information, contact Pat Raffaele.
Allied Membership Meeting
Hospital Council's Allied Membership Meeting will be held on May 2, 2013 from 9 a.m. until 10:15 a.m.
The meeting will be held prior to the Membership Briefing. The meeting will include an update from
Hospital Council President A. J. Harper as well as a discussion of Hospital Council's Fall Conference and
a roundtable discussion. Allied Members will receive registration information and meeting details in the
near future. For more information, contact Pat Raffaele.
Survey Update
Flash Survey
Hospital Council's Flash Survey for the six month period ending December 31, 2012 will be released to
members in the near future. The survey reflects information from 57 hospitals. For more information,
contact Carmela Breslin or Denis Lukes.
Custom Salary Surveys
Hospital Council recently released its Benchmark Salary Survey to participating members. Hospital
Council can provide participating members with custom salary surveys for a minimal fee. For more
information, contact Carmela Breslin or Pat Raffaele
Upcoming Member Meetings
Compliance Committee
The Physician Sunshine Act will be the key focus of Hospital Council's Compliance Committee meeting
on Friday, April 5, 2013. Roger Gopalan, vice president, chief internal audit and compliance officer for the
Western Pennsylvania Allegheny Health System, will provide a presentation and lead a discussion on the
new Sunshine Act. The Committee will also focus on RAC and other audits as well as the regional HCCA
Conference planned for October 11, 2013 at the Cranberry Regional Learning Alliance. The meeting will
conclude with a roundtable discussion. For more information, contact Pat Raffaele.
Practice Administrators Committee
The Practice Administrators Committee will meet on April 11, 2013, at Hospital Council's Conference
Center. Lisa M. Eisel and Denise M. Schmook of Sláinte Quality Solutions will discuss issues related to
pay-for-performance. The presentation is directed at primary care practices. The presentation will cover
updates on pay-for-performance programs and maximizing earning potential with the pay-for-performance
program. Other agenda items include a follow-up to the last meeting's discussion regarding credentialing
and licensing, status of the benchmark survey and a discussion regarding insurer contracting. For more
information, contact Denis Lukes or Jane Montgomery.
HIM Committee
ICD-10 planning, implementation and education tools will be the primary focus of the HIM Committee's
April 17th meeting. The meeting will feature a presentation by Cathy Aniszweski Bolar, RHIA, client
relationship executive with 3M Health Information Systems Division. She will discuss 3M's ICD-10 Coding
Translation Tool, ICD-10 Financial Impact Analysis, ICD-10 Documentation Assessment and DRG
Assurance-combined IDC-9/ICD-10 Assessment. The meeting will conclude with a roundtable discussion
with topics including the new HIPPA rule and the role of the HIM director in the changing environment.
For more information, contact Denis Lukes or Jane Montgomery.
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AR Committee
The AR Committee will meet on April 25, 2013 at Hospital Council's Conference Center. More information
will be available in the near future. Contact Denis Lukes for additional information.
Allied Membership
The Allied Membership meeting will be held from 9 a.m. until 10:15 a.m. on May 2, 2013 and will be
followed by Hospital Council's Membership Briefing from 10:30 a.m. until noon. The meeting will feature
an update from Hospital Council President A. J. Harper. For more information, contact Pat Raffaele.
HR Committee
The HR Committee will meet on May 17, 2013 prior to the Hospital Council's Labor & Employment
Conference. Additional information on the meeting will be available in the near future. For more
information, contact Pat Raffaele.
Past Meetings
Fund Development Committee
The Fund Development Committee met on March 5, 2013 and focused on corporate sponsorships.
Helene Conway-Long, vice president of Institutional Development at The Children's Institute, provided
information and insight on corporate sponsorships as well as facilitated a discussion on the topic. The
Committee also discussed its first survey on development as well as other topics including grateful patient
programs, and the impact of HIPAA regulations on fundraising. For more information,contact Pat
Raffaele.
HR Committee
The HR Committee met on March 7, 2013 and focused on hospitals as employers preparing for the
implementation of health reform. Norm Kerr from the firm Buck Consultants provided a presentation and
led a discussion on the topic. The meeting also included a roundtable discussion which covered several
topics including labor updates, non-smoking hospital campuses and employee flu vaccinations. For more
information, contact Pat Raffaele.
CNO Committee
William Maruca, a partner at the law firm Fox Rothschild, provided a presentation on the insurance
exchange requirements under the Affordable Care Act at the CNO Committee meeting held on March 8,
2013. Betty Ann Rock, chief nursing officer at The Uniontown Hospital, discussed several issues related
to observation and observation units. For additional information, contact Jane Montgomery.
Managed Care Committee
Insurance exchanges and the expansion of Medical Assistance was the key topic of the Managed Care
Committee meeting on March 27, 2013. Sonya Schwartz, program director for the National Academy for
State Health Policy, joined the meeting via audio-conference to provide information on insurance
exchanges. The meeting concluded with a roundtable discussion. For more information, contact Jane
Montgomery.
New Allied Members
Hospital Council welcomes the following new Allied Members:
Corazon, Inc.
Corazon is a national leader in strategic program development for heart, vascular, neuro and orthopedic
specialties offering consulting, recruitment, interim management, physician practice and alignment
services to hospitals and practices both locally and across the country. Corazon is headquartered in
western Pennsylvania and has a large client base in the region. For more information contact President
Karen Hartman or Jill Fuller, marketing director.
Human Arc Corporation
Human Arc Corporation offers hospitals assistance with analysis and appeal of denials of all payor
classes and turning these appeals and denials quickly into cash for the hospital. Human Arc works with
pre-billing or post-billing issues, whether related to authorization, medical necessity or technical billing
issues. For more information, contact Chris Milligan, associate vice president of National Sales.
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Rhoades & Owen, LLC
Rhoades & Owen, LLC, is a Pittsburgh-based law firm providing counsel to businesses, governmental
entities and nonprofit organizations. Susan A. Ott, Esquire, is a tax attorney practicing with Rhoades &
Owen LLC. She has a strong background as a nonprofit manager in western Pennsylvania and has a
master's degree in Public Health from the University of Pittsburgh and a J.D. from Duquesne University
School of Law. She also serves as the Acting Executive Director of The Foundation to Advance Public
Health Through Certification. For more information about Roades & Owen, contact Susan.
Verisys
Verisys provides health care professional data aggregation, primarily for regulatory compliance and risk
mitigation products and services. Verisys is a primary source data aggregator of medical provider
demographic sanctions and licensing content from across the country. Verisys assists health care clients
with verifying and validating professionals and businesses. For more information, contact John Benson,
chief operating officer, or Mark Hudson.
VITAS Innovative Hospice Care
VITAS partners with local area hospitals to help manage care for for people with life-limiting illnesses.
VITAS provides care for these patients with dignity, respect and comfort while reducing unnecessary rehospitalizations. For more information, contact Mark Katich, general manager.
For more information about Allied Membership, contact Pat Raffaele.
Other Items of Interest
Pennsylvania Donate Life Hospital Challenge
Join Pennsylvania Donate Life Hospital Challenge, which is held during April, as part of National Donate
Life Month. The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) partnered with several
organ procurement organizations in support of the 2013 Pennsylvania Hospital Donate Life Hospital
Challenge. The challenge will run from April 1 to August 31, 2013. Once registered, the 2013 hospital
challenge liaison will receive additional information. For more information, contact Kelly Thompson, senior
director, regulatory advocacy for HAP.
Emerging Philanthropy Conference
The Emerging Philanthropy Conference will be held on April 25, 2013 at the Hilton Garden Inn at
Southpointe. The program, titled Relationships Matter, features several tracks including: General
Development, Executive Leadership, Marketing and Communications, Annual Giving, Planned Giving and
Corporate and Foundation Relations. Click here for more information.
HFMA April Education Session
HFMA's April Education Session will focus on Healthcare Financial Management Strategies. The program
will be held at the Regional Learning Alliance on April 26, 2013 from 7:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. Topics include
CFO Insights, Tools and Techniques to Improve Hospital Performance, Labor Management and Cost
Accounting related to Health Care Reform. For more information contact Debbie Szczypinski.
Sponsors:
Hospital Council of Western Pennsylvania is a strategic partner with health care providers
and affiliated organizations, enabling them to realize their mission while maintaining their status as
economically viable entities.
Visit: http://www.hcwp.org
Call: 1-800-704-8434
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