News

Overlake Medical Center’s annual Active Senior Fair has for 21 years been free and open to all members of the public. It now attracts nearly 2,000 seniors and their loved ones to the one-day event. Interpreters in Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish, Hindi and Russian help seniors and their families connect to the American health care system.... Read More >>

This year’s Governance Education Day will take place on Friday, October 13, following the WSHA Annual Member Meeting October 12. Trustees and commissioners will spend the morning in interactive discussions to enhance their knowledge and skills as they’re guided through actual case studies by nationally recognized experts in hospital governance: Karma Bass and Erica Osborne from Via Healthcare Consulting.... Read More >>

The Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) in August announced a new clinical policy on opioid prescribing for Apple Health (Medicaid). This new policy takes effect November 1 and is intended to support providers in achieving appropriate opioid prescribing patterns. WSHA and the Washington State Medical Association worked closely with HCA in the development of this new policy.... Read More >>

WSHA and member hospitals are participating a stakeholder group, along with the Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) to discuss HCA’s plan to revise its payment policy for potentially preventable hospital readmissions. HCA plans to return to a policy where readmissions within 14 days of a hospital discharge can be individually reviewed and denied if determined to be a provider preventable admission.... Read More >>

All nine Accountable Communities of Health (ACHs) have passed phase 2 certification, a critical achievement in the Medicaid Transformation Demonstration. Their success signals another step toward the 2021 goal of whole person health care and better management of state resources.... Read More >>

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Safety Program for Improving Antibiotic Use is now recruiting acute care hospitals, or individual units within hospitals, for participation in a 12-month project, beginning December 2017. This is a free program that incorporates both technical and behavioral components to improve antibiotic prescribing.... Read More >>

The QPP Hardship Exception Application for the 2017 transition year is now available on the Quality Payment Program website. MIPS eligible clinicians and groups may qualify for a reweighting of their Advancing Care Information performance category score to 0% of the final score and can submit a hardship exception application.... Read More >>

Join WithinReach and the Immunization Action Coalition of Washington on October 27 at the Westin Seattle for the Washington Vaccine Update.... Read More >>

Recent member news from the September 21, 2017 Weekly Report.... Read More >>

Four Republican Senators have introduced a new attempt to repeal and replace large portions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), racing to beat a September 30 deadline to pass any such reform under reconciliation rules with a bare majority of 50 votes (plus Vice President Pence). Sens. Graham (SC), Cassidy (LA), Heller (NV) and Johnson (WI) have proposed a bill that would replace federal funds for Medicaid expansion and subsidies for individual market insurance sold in the marketplaces with a lump sum block grant for states to use for unspecified health care purposes.... Read More >>