News

The Department of Health will be mailing out the annual statewide surveys on hospital acute care bed counts. The surveys have been mailed via U.S. mail to hospital administrators. Hospitals should receive them the first week of May, and responses are due by June 1.... Read More >>

This legislative session, one of WSHA’s top priorities was continuing to advance policy support for telemedicine, and we were very pleased with the passage of Senate Bill 6519. As part of this new legislation, a statewide Telemedicine Collaborative is being convened. The application to serve on the Collaborative is now available and is due by May 15.... Read More >>

WSHA worked with members to create both a standard financial assistance application form and a standard plan for communicating and giving notice of the fact that financial help is out there. The WSHA Board of Trustees unanimously voted to urge every hospital in Washington State to adopt these documents. It’s the right thing to do for patients, our communities and our hospitals.... Read More >>

This bulletin’s purpose is to share the WSHA-developed standard financial assistance/charity care application and standard communication plan for communicating about financial assistance/charity care and recommend that all hospitals adopt both documents. ... Read More >>

WSHA will host a members-only webinar on the WSHA-developed standard financial assistance application form and standard financial assistance communication plan for Washington State hospitals. The WSHA Board recommends that every hospital in Washington State adopt these documents.... Read More >>

Just days after CMS received letters signed by 60 U.S. Senators and 225 members of the House of Representatives requesting a delay of the overall star rating, the agency announced it would postpone the launch until July. The letter, signed by Washington State’s Sen. Maria Cantwell and Reps. Suzanne DelBene, Denny Heck, David Reichert, Derek Kilmer and Dan Newhouse, states what WSHA has also expressed: the star rating may simplify complex measures to the point of inaccuracy.... Read More >>

WSHA has been actively following recent developments in Medicare payment for Rural Health Clinics (RHCs). Medicare Administrative Contractors have been instructed temporarily to hold all claims from RHCs for dates of service after April 1, 2016 until a correction is made in the payment file.... Read More >>

Hospitals are subject to an array of state and federal requirements regarding posting signage in hospitals and providing notices to patients, staff and the community. WSHA has prepared a list of signage requirements for hospitals to reference.... Read More >>

Many of our members have expressed frustration with the increasing burden of expanding health plan requirements on prior authorizations. WSHA and the Washington State Medical Association have been in discussions with the health plans directly as well as with the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC). ... Read More >>

On April 28 from 10:00-11:30 a.m., the Health Care Authority will be hosting a webinar to provide hospital staff an overview of the state’s Medicaid readmissions policy and an explanation of the quarterly hospital reports HCA sent each facility as part of its program on potentially preventable readmissions.... Read More >>