Regional Digest
February 22, 1999 4 minutes read
Regional Digest
• Ascend Health Care plans to close a Superior, WI, nursing home, partly because home healthcare reduces the need for nursing home beds, company officials said. When St. Francis Home South closes, the home’s 85 residents and 117 workers will move to St. Francis Home in the Park. As many as 21 people may be laid off, and 19 residents with developmental disabilities will have to find other housing, reported the Duluth News-Tribune of Duluth, MN.
• Masonicare (Wallingford, CN) has acquired Omni Home Health Services (Wallingford, CN) for an undisclosed price. As part of the agreement Masonicare and an affiliate of William W. Backus Hospital (Norwich, CN) have become partners in Omni Home Health Services of Eastern Connecticut. Omni has about 900 employees and seven patient service offices around the state. No layoffs should result from the acquisition, Masonicare said, but there will be some job shifts and the consolidation of corporate headquarters. Since 1997, Masonicare has also added Community Care Services (Cheshire, CN) and East Hartford VNA to its health system.
• The Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Detection System identified 1,400 suspected cases of fraud by healthcare providers in Texas. About $2.2 million in fraudulent payments were collected by August 31, the end of FY98. Officials with the state Health and Human Services Commission say the smart technology system was able to spot suspect payments that other methods would have missed. The system has been particularly useful in cracking down on overbilling by providers, reported The Wall Street Journal, such as home healthcare agencies that submit bills for several nurses treating the same patient.
• The Massachusetts Nurses Association and Certified Nursing Services (Worcester, MA) have settled a contract negotiation agreement that extends the bargaining period for six months. It also requires the agency to provide information sought by the union and to rescind policies the union charged were unlawful, reported the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester, MA. One policy changed the way nurses would get paid, from a per-visit rate to an hourly rate, which was considerably less.
• The VNA of Rhode Island, a division of Lifespan, will reduce its staff by one-fifth to offset losses caused by changes in reimbursement policies. The layoffs will save about $3 million a year and include the jobs of 82 nurses. The nurses may apply for 30 new jobs that will involve different and possibly fewer hours. Despite the layoffs, the agency expects a $5.1 million operating loss this year. Several agencies in the area laid off dozens of nurses last year, and the Visiting Nurse Association of Pawtucket-Central Falls closed its doors. Although the number of patients in managed care health plans has increased by 10% to 15%, managed care plans pay less, causing nursing visits to drop by 25% and home health aide visits by 50%, reported the Providence Journal-Bulletin.
• A Kansas City, MO, business started in 1992 by two registered home health nurses has turned out to be just what the home health industry needed, reported The Kansas City Star. The nurses opened the medical specialties store, Restored Images, so people had a confidential setting to buy personal medical supplies and learn how to use them. "The most glaring thing we saw in home health nursing was that people would have equipment in their homes, and they didn’t know what to do with it," said Rebecca Wills, who founded the business with Jody O’Malley.
• Community Hospitals Indianapolis, which employs 7,500 people in a network that includes four hospitals, surgery centers, a home healthcare agency, and retail pharmacies, plans to reorganize its units a move that could affect 500 employees. The reorganization should eliminate duplicated work at the administrative level and reduce costs by 10%, reported The Indianapolis Star and News. It is unclear how many workers will be laid off because some will be reassigned to other duties.
• A 96-year-old Brooklyn, NY, woman has filed a lawsuit in the State Supreme Court in Manhattan to keep the government from forcing her into a nursing home. She currently receives 24-hour home care services, covered under Medicaid. The case became a class-action effort when two other disabled New York residents joined it. A State Supreme Court justice granted a temporary restraining order preventing the city and state from discontinuing home healthcare for the three plaintiffs, reported The New York Times. The order is the first serious legal challenge of the fiscal assessment law that requires Medicaid patients receiving 24-hour home care to prove they have activities that can not be met in a nursing home, such as caring for a child or going to school.
• Commissioners in Conejos County, CO, are negotiating with Conejos County Hospital to takeover home healthcare from the county government. Conejos is one of two Colorado counties that offers home healthcare. If the hospital administers the service, nurses can do hospital work when home health work is at a minimum, reported The Pueblo Chieftain.
• Providence Home Health and Hospice (Seattle) has formed an agreement with Visiting Nurses Services of the Northwest to swap some services, effective March 31. Providence will assume the hospice business, while Visiting Nurses will take responsibility for all home health patients in King County. Currently, each business offers both services. "The exchange of services allows each organization to focus its staffing and resources to provide the healthcare it is best equipped to provide," said Bob Ogden, Providence administrator.
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