Thompson Appoints Patient Safety Group

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson has announced the establishment of a new Patient Safety Task Force within HHS aimed at improving existing systems of collecting data on patient safety by coordinating a joint effort among several agencies.

The task force will work closely with the states and private sector in this national effort, which will be led by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Health Care Financing Administration. HHS' fiscal 2002 budget proposal includes up to $72 million, an increase of $15 million over FY 2001, for efforts to improve patient safety and reduce adverse events.

President Bush is working to create an Internet-based reporting system to minimize the burden of reporting adverse events and errors made by doctors and hospitals. The Patient Safety Task Force will oversee the implementation of this new system. The group will develop computer networks, user-friendly reporting systems, and standards for coding the content of the reports.

ARC Warns Price Increase Coming

The American Red Cross (ARC) warned the nation's hospitals in May of a pending increase in the price of blood that will take effect July 1. According to a Red Cross spokesperson the average price for a unit of blood, which currently is around $130, will increase between 10% and 35%, depending on the region of the country.

The price increase is attributed to several new tests and technologies developed recently to guarantee the safety of blood products in the U.S., but most notably to a national movement to filter white blood cells from the blood supply. The process, called leukocyte reduction, can add up to $40 to the cost of a unit of blood. The ARC already has been filtering about 77% of the blood it collects and setting prices to reflect that.

The ARC, which has incurred about $400 million in debt over the past decade, said the price hike is necessary to keep the nonprofit organization afloat. The ARC collects about six million units of blood per year and fills about half the requests for blood nationwide. Some independent blood centers say the ARC price increase seems a little out of line with what they are charging.

Comparitive Financial Indicators U.S. COMMUNITY HOSPITALS (click for chart)

57% Ready for HIPAA

Fifty-seven percent of 481 hospitals responding to a recent American Hospital Association member survey said they are on schedule to meet the October 16, 2002, deadline to comply with the electronic transactions standards of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. Another 29% said their organizations are somewhat unready and 14% indicated their organizations aren't ready at all.

The survey, "HIPAA Requirements for Electronic Transactions Member Readiness and Needs Assessment," showed that hospitals have taken a number of general steps to prepare for the compliance deadline. These steps include establishing cross-functional teams to supervise development and execution of implementation plans, and providing for senior management receipt of regular progress reports about preparations.

Although 75.3% of respondents reported they are using a clearinghouse and will continue to do so, more than half of those hospitals said they have not yet discussed electronic transactions requirements compliance with their clearinghouses.

The Arkansas Hospital Association has formed a HIPAA Task Force to work with software vendors in assessing their HIPAA compliance and testing capability with hospitals. The task force met June 27 for the first time with software vendor representatives.



Comparative Utilization Indicators Per 1,000 Population
U.S. COMMUNITY HOSPITALS

Distribution of Arkansas Hospitals By Hospital Type, Control, 2001