The newsroom includes access to CHA News, which provides timely information to members every Monday and Thursday and is at the core of CHA benefits. In addition, it is also home to resources such as toolkits and talking points designed to help member hospitals and health systems communicate with internal and external audiences on a range of current health care-related issues. Links to CHA media statements and press releases can also be found here.
Newsroom
CDPH Proposes Increase in Hospital Licensing Fees
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) proposes to increase hospital licensing fees by 20 percent for state fiscal year 2019-20, raising fees from $550 to $661 per bed.
CHA Asks Hospitals to Urge Representatives to Support Equitable Distribution of Livers for Transplantation
Earlier this month, CHA sent an Advocacy Alert to hospital leaders explaining a new policy that reduces the disparity in access to livers for transplantation in California and asking hospitals to urge their members of Congress to sign a bipartisan letter supporting the policy. The deadline for signatures has been extended to 2 p.m. (PT) on Feb. 28.
Experts Discuss Workers’ Compensation Issues at Upcoming Seminar
CHA’s members-only Hospital Employee Safety and Workers’ Compensation Seminar is coming March 14 to Costa Mesa and March 20 to Sacramento. While providing a safe work environment is always the goal, hospitals need to understand how to get their employees the help they need when they get injured, while remaining compliant with California employment law.
Top Speakers, Timely Sessions Featured at AHA/CHA Advocacy Program
CHA is partnering with AHA’s Annual Meeting, April 7–10 in Washington, D.C. Participants at the annual federal advocacy event will hear from influential speakers on the frontlines of politics and policy including Chuck Todd, NBC’s Meet the Press moderator and political director; Frank Sesno, former CNN Washington bureau chief and director, George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs; Jon Meacham, presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize winner; and Colin Powell, retired four-star general.
CDPH Seeks Hospital Feedback on Amending Respiratory Care Services Regulations
The California Department of Public Health’s Center for Health Care Quality has asked for stakeholder input on prospective amendments to respiratory care services regulations under Title 22.
CHA will work with members of its Certification and Licensing Committee to prepare comments, which are due March 22. Members who would like to provide input for CHA’s comments should contact Debby Rogers, CHA vice president, clinical performance and transformation. For more information, see All Facilities Letter 19-08.
CDPH Post-Survey Evaluations May Now Be Completed Online
In All Facilities Letter 19-07, the California Department of Public Health reminds facilities that post-survey satisfaction evaluations may now be completed online. These surveys are intended to help improve the survey process.
CHA Submits Comments on Draft Regulations for Indoor Heat Illness
CHA recently submitted a comment letter to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) on its draft regulations for minimizing heat-related illness among workers in indoor places of employment.
OSHPD Accepting Applications for Limited Seismic Compliance Extensions
Assembly Bill 2190 (Chapter 673, Statutes of 2018) grants specified hospitals the opportunity to apply for an extension of the Jan. 1, 2020, seismic compliance deadline. The law requires all hospitals seeking extensions to submit an application to the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) by April 1, 2019.
The law also requires OSHPD to grant an additional extension if certain conditions are met.
To assist hospitals with the application process, OSHPD has published a Public User Guide providing step-by-step instructions for creating and submitting an application for a seismic compliance extension. For more information about AB 2190 and seismic compliance extensions, visit the OSHPD website.
Report Examines Trends in Emergency Department Use
A new report from the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) examines emergency department (ED) use across the state from 2005-16, focusing on ED use after 2014 — when the Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance expansions were fully implemented.
While PPIC notes encouraging findings related to the ACA’s impact, it also identifies a need to more closely examine the role of EDs in an evolving health care system, especially since ED use has grown since 2005.
Key findings include:
ACA expansions resulted in a large reduction of the number of uninsured Californians, and did not increase ED use among adults under the age of 65.
Among non-elderly adults, women ages 19-34 have the highest rates of ED use, due in part to pregnancy-related visits.
Approximately 90 percent of ED visits are outpatient visits.
Since 2005, ED outpatient use has increased substantially across all demographic groups and for all reasons.
VA Issues Veterans Community Care Program Proposed Rule
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has issued a proposed rule implementing provisions of the Veterans Community Care Program — authorized by the MISSION Act — which allows covered veterans to receive necessary hospital, medical and extended care services from non-VA providers.
Under the MISSION Act, veterans enrolled in the VA health system can seek care from non-VA providers if they meet one of the following six conditions:
VA does not offer the required care or services.
VA does not operate a full-service medical facility in the state where the veteran resides.
The veteran was eligible to receive care under the Veterans Choice Program and is eligible to receive care under certain grandfathering provisions.
VA is not able to furnish care or services to a veteran in a manner that complies with VA’s proposed access standards.
The veteran and the referring clinician determine it is in the veteran’s best medical interest to receive care or services from an eligible entity or provider based on consideration of proposed criteria.
The veteran is seeking care or services from a VA medical service line that VA has determined is not providing care that complies with VA’s standards of quality.
The proposed rule also defines which non-VA entities and providers are eligible to participate in the program and clarifies payment rates and methodologies for those community providers. VA previously issued a separate proposed rule implementing urgent care provisions for the new program. Comments on the proposed rule are due March 25.
