News

WSHA is working to address the difficulty many hospitals face in finding post-hospital placement for patients who have completed their acute care hospital stay. ... Read More >>

Legislators and the Washington State Insurance Commissioner, Mike Kriedler, are planning legislation for the 2017 legislative session to address the issue of balance billing of patients for services provided outside of the health plan’s network. Legislation was considered last year but did not end up passing. Now the issue is back. ... Read More >>

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently released its proposed rule for changes to the Medicare outpatient prospective payment system. The rule proposes to implement the site-neutral provisions of Section 603 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015.... Read More >>

As the opioid epidemic continues to threaten many people’s lives, WSHA and member Cordant Health Solutions recently collaborated to introduce a new drug take-back program.... Read More >>

Recently, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued proposed rule changes to the conditions of participations (CoPs) for critical access hospitals (CAHs). The changes are designed to promote innovation, flexibility and improvement patient care among CAHs. WSHA supported the technical corrections and the inclusion of new requirements in areas, such as antibiotic stewardship.... Read More >>

The Department of Health (DOH) medical assistant program recently posted FAQs to address questions related to medical assistants (MAs) performing forensic blood draws. This information was produced to address frequent concerns and questions raised regarding the ability of MAs to perform forensic (non-medical) blood draws at the request of law enforcement.... Read More >>

The 2016 WHPAC campaign is underway. To date, we have raised $68,000 toward our $220,000 goal. Still early in the campaign, we have six members that have already reached their goal. ... Read More >>

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin Health Institute updated their 2016 County Ranking report. The ability to drill down to Washington’s individual counties for health disparities, is a great tool for rural facilities to address community health needs on a more granular level. T... Read More >>

Every other week, WSHA reports on key issues that affect the fiscal health of hospitals. Being able to provide continuous care to our communities means providing fiscal stability in a quickly changing health care world.... Read More >>

Effective July 1, 2016, the majority of Washington hospitals paid under prospective payment system became eligible for a one-percent quality incentive increase to their Medicaid inpatient payment rates (for both inpatient APRDRG and per diem rates). This is a significant increase in the number of hospitals qualifying. ... Read More >>