Bethann Kane, RN (right) accepts Individual Grand Prize

Jan Jensen, RN, CEO accepts Hospital Grand Prize with Bethann Kane, RN, Individual Grand Prize winner

Bethann Kane, RN won the Individual Grand Prize for the Nevada Rural Hospital Partners 2011 Wellness Incentive Program. Bethann joined the staff at William Bee Ririe Hospital (WBRH) in June 2010 as the facility’s Infection Control and Utilization Review Nurse. An avid runner and triathlete, she plans to run a marathon through Disneyland later this month. It is no surprise to anyone at William Bee Ririe Hospital that Bethann took home the grand prize.

Bethann competed against over 70 people in the 12 month competition, which was broken down into four quarterly contests:  The first quarter was a fitness initiative, where contestants earned points by working out for a minimum of 30 minutes per day, for every day of the month. (Bethann logged 85 workouts for the quarter and finished first at WBRH.) Her outstanding commitment to wellness continued in the second quarter nutrition contest, when she took second place at WBRH with 600 points for eating the recommended servings of fruits and veggies each day. Participation across the network perked up for the third quarter’s “destination fitness” contest, where Bethann and her walking partner, Rocky Jones tied with Linda McCintosh to earn 625 points for the quarter by walking over 600 miles. Way to go ladies!

There weren’t many competitors left standing by the fourth quarter, when contestants at four hospitals earned points for weight loss/maintenance, blood pressure checks and cholesterol screenings. Yet again, Bethann and Rocky Jones each finished the quarter with 608 points, second only to Traci Gust, who finished with 650 points.

Overall, Bethann finished first across the network with a total of 2358 points for the year, a stellar accomplishment that demonstrates her commitment to wellness each and every day. Rocky Jones finished second overall, with 2283 points and Tom Ard (South Lyon Medical Center) came in third with 1955 points. Congratulations, Bethann, and thank you for the example you set for all of us!

Nevada Rural Hospital Partners Management Services Inc. (NRHPMS) serves as a group health insurance agent for member hospitals.  In 2010, the hospitals participating in NRHPMS’s group program were quoted a 50% increase for their 2011 health insurance premiums. Ever increasing health insurance premiums have prompted hospitals to look for ways to keep employees healthy and to reduce health insurance expenses for both the hospital and its employees. Together with seven member hospitals, NRHPMS sponsored a yearlong incentive program to promote wellness in 2011.

http://health.nv.gov/SHO_EdBulletins.htm

For more information, contact Erin Seward, Immunization Program Manager, with the Nevada State Health Division: eseward@health.nv.gov

NRHP Members 

HealthInsight News Release

HHS News,
9/15/2011

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced awards totaling $10 million to aid 129 organizations across the country that would like to become community health centers.  These funds, made available by the Affordable Care Act, support organizations’ development as a future health  center. [Read more]

Providers
May Not See Improved Outcomes Until Meaningful Use Stage 2

Beckers
Hospital Review,
9/14/2011

A new Health Affairs study finds that meeting Stage 1 meaningful use requirements for computerized provider order entry is unlikely to reduce hospital mortality rates for patients with heart conditions. However, researchers note that later stages might have a larger effect on mortality rates because Stage 2 and Stage 3 require greater use of CPOE.

Becker’s Hospital Review et al. [Read more]

Number of Health Care Providers Registering for Meaningful
Use Goes Up

GovHealth IT, 9/15/2011

About 90,000 health care providers had signed up by the end of August to participate in the meaningful use incentive payment program. According to a CMS official, the agency has issued $652 million in incentive payments so far this year. Government Health IT. [Read more]

 Joint Commission names 405 top-performing hospitals

Modern
Healthcare, 9/14/2011

The Joint Commission recognized 405 hospitals and critical-access
facilities as top performers based on nearly two dozen measures related to cardiac, pneumonia, surgical and pediatric asthma care. [Read more]

Best and  Worse Hospitals for 30-day Mortality

HealthLeaders
Media, 9/15/2011

Conversations with leaders of some of the best and worst hospitals that appear on Medicare’s latest HospitalCompare spreadsheet reveal what they know, and what they do are doing, to affect 30-day mortality rates. [Read More]

CMS Posts Guides To  Help Care Providers Plan HIPAA, ICD-10 Changes

Government
Health IT, 9/13/2011

CMS has launched a website outlining for health care-related entities the appropriate timelines to adopt HIPAA 5010 and ICD-10 standards. The information suggests how to manage the execution of the new standards and can be downloaded. Government  Health IT. [Read more]

ONC Releases Final Version of Federal Health IT Strategic Plan

iHealthbeat, 9/13/2011

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has released the final version of its Federal Health IT Strategic Plan for 2011 through 2015 after receiving about 240 comments on a draft version of the plan. In the final plan, ONC calls for the creation of a task force to develop an updated approach to certain privacy and security issues. Modern Healthcare, Government Health IT.
[Read more]

Recognizing that project management and technical support through training and education are keystones to the adoption of electronic health records (EHR) and Meaningful Use in rural healthcare settings, the applicant network is seeking grant funds that will permit these nine facilities to implement EHR which will give rural clinicians and hospitals instant access to patient data.

The goals of the work plan are to: support adoption and development of Electronic Health Information in all nine facilities and to expand the Health Information Infrastructure to support EHR and other Health Information Technology in all 14 NRHP member hospitals. The timeline is structured so that the nine facilities will meet Meaningful Use by September 2014, and will have increased broadband and archiving access as a result of this grant initiative.