News

AWPHD and Network Service Solutions (NNS), an Industry Partner of Washington Hospital Services, are hosting a webinar about the benefits of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) program for health care organizations. The USAC program provides qualifying health care providers with a 60 to 90 percent discount on IT expenditures.... Read More >>

Washington Hospital Services Industry Partner, InSight, has written a bulletin exploring the issue of teen suicide. They feel that telemedicine can be a part of the solution to this very complicated issue by increasing access to trained mental health professionals.... Read More >>

Washington Hospital Services Industry Partner PARA HealthCare Financial Services has written an article that offers strategies for moving toward a meaningful and accessible pricing transparency model while at the same time reducing bad debt, improving upfront collections, and providing high quality customer service.... Read More >>

The Medicare Provider Reimbursement Manual requires hospitals to adjust their Medicare cost reports to eliminate the portion of association dues related to lobbying expenses. For calendar year 2015, the Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) has determined 21 percent of its membership dues were expended in activities that meet the Medicare definition of lobbying. For the Association of Washington Public Hospital Districts (AWPHD), 18 percent of its membership dues were used for lobbying. ... Read More >>

In a joint letter WSHA and the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems strongly opposed site neutral payment policies on provider-based hospital outpatient departments. Submitted to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, the letter was in response to a request for provider feedback on these policies.... Read More >>

WSHA hosted a one-hour webinar Feb. 23 to provide basic information and answer questions on Link4Health, the state’s effort to advance electronic exchange of clinical records and transform health care. This new program, sponsored by the Health Care Authority (HCA), is intended to provide real-time information exchange among providers caring for Medicaid patients. ... Read More >>

The state House and Senate released their respective proposals for the 2016 supplemental budget last week. The House proposed spending significant money on teacher salary increases and homelessness prevention.... Read More >>

he Health Care Authority is planning significant changes to Apple Health enrollment. Under a new policy effective April 1, 2016, enrollees will be retroactively assigned to a managed care plan as of the beginning of the month the patient is enrolled, rather than at the beginning of the month following enrollment.... Read More >>

WSHA hosted a webinar from 12-1 pm Feb. 23 to provide basic information and answer questions on Link4Health: the state’s effort to advance electronic exchange of clinical records and transform health care. This new program, sponsored by the Health Care Authority, is intended to provide real-time information exchange among providers caring for Medicaid patients. The state has partnered with OneHealthPort, the state-designated health information exchange, on this initiative.... Read More >>

The State Senate released its proposal for the 2016 supplemental budget yesterday. The Senate takes a significantly different approach than the House to its budget proposal, making more cuts than the House did and leaving a much larger balance in the budget stabilization account. In addition, the Senate spends less. ... Read More >>