News

As reported in a recent WSHA bulletin, the Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) has agreed to increase inpatient rates for the next quarter by about 18 percent. This restores errors it made to the budget neutrality adjustment factor (BNAF) rates during the last two quarters for Prospective Payment System hospitals and Certified Public Expenditure hospitals.... Read More >>

The Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) and OneHealthPort will provide an overview of Washington Link4Health, an HCA initiative to advance the statewide electronic exchange of clinical records. HCA is working with OneHealthPort, the designated statewide health information exchange, to introduce Washington Link4Health’s first statewide service.... Read More >>

Washington Hospital Services works to find Industry Partners that can offer improvements to existing services and create additional sources of revenue for our members. Commerce Bank has been successful in working with hospitals and healthcare organizations in our state and across the country to develop effective payment strategies for their accounts payable departments.... Read More >>

The Department of Health (DOH) recently updated the Breastfeeding Friendly Washington Hospitals program to reflect feedback received from Washington State hospitals. Supporting breastfeeding is an important part of ensuring newborns get a great start to a healthy life.... Read More >>

Registration is open for the 2016 Northwest Rural Health Conference March 15-17 at the Spokane Convention Center. A block of rooms will be held at the Doubletree Hotel until Feb. 15. There are three big changes to the conference this year. ... Read More >>

WSHA testified this week in support of House Bill 2730 in Olympia, which expands access to the Prescription Monitoring Program, making it easier for providers to prevent opioid abuse. The Washington State Legislature has also heard several hearings on how to improve Western State Hospital. Western State Hospital plays a critical role in the state’s mental health system, and WSHA firmly believes we need Western State Hospital to function well and play its part in the system.... Read More >>

Working with WSHA, the Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) has agreed to increase inpatient Medicaid rates for the next quarter by about 18 percent in order to restore cutting rates during the last two quarters. Hospitals should have started receiving notices of the change Jan. 14 or 15 informing them of change, which takes effect Feb. 1.... Read More >>

Patients in need of spine surgery now have a minimally invasive treatment option at Capital Medical Center. The medical center is using robotic guidance from the Mazor Robotic Renaissance, which assists surgeons during surgeries such as spinal fusion, vertebroplasty and scoliosis correction. Capital Medical Center is the first in Washington State to make use of robotic guidance for the procedures.... Read More >>

Recent member news from the Jan. 28, 2016 Weekly Report.... Read More >>

The open enrollment deadline for insurance through the Washington Health Benefit Exchange is Sunday, Jan. 31. Those who sign up by the deadline will be insured as of March 1, avoiding costly penalties in time for tax season.... Read More >>