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Washington State Hospital Association
999 Third Avenue
Suite 1400
Seattle, WA 98104
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 >>
WSHA hosted two webcasts on July 26 detailing how the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) passed by Congress in 2015 fundamentally changes how physicians are paid. WSHA hosted two separate webcasts, one tailored to critical access hospitals and the second to larger hospitals and health systems.... Read More >>
The Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) recently released a stakeholder draft of rules pertaining to prior authorizations, the first step in the rule making process. WSHA, WSMA, and many of our members have been asking the OIC to more carefully regulate this process in order to reduce administrative overhead for providers.... Read More >>
As part of its inpatient final rule released yesterday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is delaying the implementation of the Medicare Outpatient Observation Notification requirements originally scheduled to go into effect August 6, 2016... Read More >>
The State’s Health Care Oversight Joint Select Committee met last Wednesday to hear an update on a study looking at ways to deliver a zero increase rate for Medicaid managed care plans in the upcoming fiscal year. Staff from the Health Care Authority recommended three areas of focus based on the recommendations from its workgroup, composed of state staff and the managed care plans.... Read More >>
This week, Washington State held its primary for executive, congressional, and legislative races. Our Washington Hospital Political Action Committee made major contributions to 83 candidates for elected office across the state. We are excited that the vast majority of candidates we supported did well in the primary and will be advancing to the general election in November.... Read More >>
The Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) recently released a stakeholder draft of rules pertaining to prior authorizations. The current draft increases accountability for benefit managers and third party administrators and clarifies how health plans must notify providers of new services requiring prior authorization. ... Read More >>
WSHA hosted two webcasts on July 26 detailing how the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), which was passed by Congress in 2015, fundamentally changes how physicians are paid. These changes will have significant implications on your organizations and physicians.... Read More >>