In addition to offering peer review services to rural hospitals, Washington Hospital Services’ Health Care Quality Services (WHS-HQS) also provides peer review to rural health clinics, whether hospital-based or free standing.... Read More >>

A new article in British Medical Journal Quality & Safety reviews five areas of health care that are essential to improving patient safety, which the Institute For Healthcare Improvement/National Patient Safety Foundation (IHI/NPSF) and the Lucian Leape Institute (LLI) first identified in 2009.... Read More >>

Gov. Inslee has declared September 22 Falls Prevention Awareness Day, which is an opportunity to engage your organization in efforts to reduce falls that result in injuries. This is a relevant issue for Washington State, as 13 percent of residents are older than 65, falls are the leading cause of nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions among older adults, and the rate of death from falls among older adults has increased 25 percent in the last 18 years.... Read More >>

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has notified hospitals that it will provide confidential hospital-specific reports to review two disparity methods that assess hospital performance for patients with social risk factors in Hospital 30-day, All-Cause, Risk-Standardized Readmission Rate Following Pneumonia Hospitalization.... Read More >>

The Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) has selected the Arcora Foundation — the foundation of Delta Dental of Washington — as an “Apparently Successful Bidder” for the Medicaid Dental Managed Care Request for Proposal. Per the selection, the Arcora Foundation, in partnership with Delta Dental of California and Delta Dental of Washington, will work with HCA and providers across the state to improve oral health care for Medicaid recipients in Washington.... Read More >>

Recent member news from the August 9, 2018 Weekly Report.... Read More >>

WSHA CEO Cassie Sauer is featured in this week’s Puget Sound Business Journal article on hospitals’ deepening dependency on Medicare. Article excerpt and link below. (note: PSBJ is a subscription publication)... Read More >>

The Washington Patient Safety Coalition is working with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement-National Patient Safety Foundation and Duke Patient Safety Center to offer patient safety courses to their members. They are trying to gauge interest in offering these programs at a discount. The more who show interest, the greater the discount.... Read More >>

EvergreenHealth has started the first phase of construction on a new catheterization and interventional radiology suite, which is scheduled to open next year on the hospital’s Kirkland campus. The new suite adds capacity to better treat the growing community and allows providers to better treat cardiovascular disease, which remains the country’s top cause of death.... Read More >>

Registration for WSHA’s 2018 Annual Member Meeting and Governance Education Day — October 11 and 12, respectively, at the Seattle Marriott Waterfront — will open Monday, August 13. The theme of this year’s Annual Meeting is Innovative Leadership for Tomorrow’s Health Care.... Read More >>