Washington State will soon join the Health Research Educational Trust’s (HRET’s) efforts around reducing hospital-acquired infections. The initiative is designed to strengthen infection control programs and practices through robust resources, such as on-demand education, national expert access, coaching and more. Health care has made amazing improvements in reducing infections in hospitals and other care settings, but we’re working to get to ZERO, and infections are relentless enemies.... Read More >>

More than 30 percent of the world’s population suffers from anemia, and cases of anemia increase during hospitalizations. Red blood cell transfusion is currently the primary treatment for anemia, but it’s also one of the most overused. Patient Blood Management can improve outcomes for these patients and save hospitals money. WSHA Senior Vice President of Patient Safety and Quality Operations Jennifer Graves will speak on the topic at the Foundation for Health Care Quality’s Clinical Outcomes Assessment Program (COAP) Annual Statewide meeting June 6.... Read More >>

The American Hospital Association (AHA) sent a letter to the U.S. Senate May 25 to express its viewpoint that legislation re-examining the Affordable Care Act (ACA) must be guided by ensuring that health care coverage remains available to the tens of millions of Americans who benefitted from the law. The AHA re-iterated that hospitals have major policy concerns with the House-passed American Health Care Act.... Read More >>

Membership updates from the June 1, 2017 Weekly Report.... Read More >>

Recent member news from the June 1, 2017 Weekly Report.... Read More >>

While I was in Washington, D.C., last week, WSHA was one of a small group invited to participate in a meeting with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma. The conversation was intended to focus on the regulatory challenges facing rural providers. (Special thanks to Richard Ervin FNP-C of Odessa Memorial Healthcare Center. Richard called into the meeting to ensure the voice of the providers was heard.)... Read More >>

WSHA is responding to the HCA’s request for information for the toolkit on behalf of some of our rural members. WSHA is also exploring working with the HCA and managed care organizations to develop common measures that can be used for inpatient care.... Read More >>

In most rural communities, access to specialists sometimes means traveling long distances, and very often recurring trips for needed care. It can include not only the cost of fuel to travel, but lodging, meals, care for school-age children or elderly family members while away, someone to look after the farm or business, plus sundry other issues. Telehealth can relieve some of those burdens on rural community members by increasing access to specialist via virtual visits.... Read More >>

The Trump White House submitted to Congress a budget request for the next year. His budget includes huge cuts to Medicaid that could mean that about 10 million people would lose insurance over the next 10 years. It also cuts the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), graduate medical education, nurse workforce development and other parts of the safety net. ... Read More >>

To better serve the men and women who have suffered traumatic brain injuries while serving our country, Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma launched the Madigan Intrepid Spirit Transitions (MIST) program at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM). The program is a six-week intensive outpatient group designed to treat the whole patient on the road to recovery.... Read More >>