Vol. 35, No. 9: March 5, 2010
- $84M Broadband Grant to Create WA-HealthNet
- Debate Over Nurse Breaks Bill Takes to the Airways
- Health Work Force Institute Hosts National Leader
- HealthLeaders Award Opportunity Now Open
- Death With Dignity Update: Washington Issues First Annual Report
- March 15 Luncheon in Seattle for Cover the Uninsured Week
$84M Broadband Grant to Create WA-HealthNet
United States Secretary of Commerce (and former Washington Governor) Gary Locke, Senator Patty Murray and U.S. Representative Jay Inslee (D-1st Congresional District) gathered on Monday, March 1 at the University of Washington to award $84 million from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to a broad group of Washington state partners, led by the Northwest Open Access Network (NoaNet). NoaNet will use a significant portion of the funds to create WA-HealthNet, a broadband health network. WA-HealthNet will enable a substantial portion of the state’s hospitals and clinics to connect with each other and allows access to the full range of remote diagnostic imaging, lab and health services, and access to medical and dental specialists.
The expansion will bring very high speed capacity (10 gigabyte/second) to 38 hospitals and clinics, 57 libraries, 22 government facilities, two tribal service centers and four community colleges, according to NoaNet.
Health and medical service providers-county health districts, rural hospitals and medical clinics-all need for greater bandwidth at affordable prices to provide remote specialty consults, share and exchange large digital files, provide continuing education to staff and provide patients access to their personal health and medical information. WA-HealthNet will enable them to offer services locally that are not typically available outside a large metropolitan area said Jeff Mero, Executive Director of AWPHD, one of the partners to the application.
NoaNet CEO, Greg Marney noted: WA-HealthNet will enhance healthcare providers’ ability to support the needs of rural communities and will create a strong, reliable response to pandemics, natural disasters or other emergencies as well as dramatically improving convenient access to specialty medical services.
Mr. Mero went on to say, "Providing timely access to specialty medical care, sophisticated diagnostic imaging, laboratory test results, pathology, and other essential services gets more difficult for rural providers every day. Health and medical professionals in remote communities are challenged to keep their skills current—and this new capacity will bring new tools, techniques and practice standards right to them, where they practice every day."
The NTIA grant funds were included in the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA). This latest grant means that Washington state has received more than $100 million in health information technology funding from ARRA in the last three weeks. (Robb Menaul, robbm@wsha.org)
Debate Over Nurse Breaks Bill Takes to the Airways
Yesterday, Dave Ross, a KIRO radio host debated the merits of the nurse breaks bill on his show. The bill - House Bill 3024 - is currently being considered by the Washington State Legislature. The show featured a neonatal intensive care unit nurse who highlighted her concerns about the bill. (Chelene Whiteaker, chelenew@wsha.org)
Health Work Force Institute Hosts National Leader
A national expert on work force development paid a visit to WSHA’s Health Work Force Institute (HWFI) this month. Bob Giloth is one of the nations’ thought leaders on the use of work force partnership organizations like HWFI. He met with Institute staff and board members to learn more about the efforts underway here to address coming work force shortages. He advised the Institute on how to share its work and find new sources of public and private funding. The visit is part of the Institute’s on-going effort to find innovative ways to grow the number of highly qualified workers available to hospitals and health care organizations in Washington State. For more information on HWFI’s work, please visit www.hwfi.org or contact Jaime Garcia at jaimeg@wsha.org or (206) 577-1828. (Beth Zbrowoski, bethz@wsha.org)
HealthLeaders Award Opportunity Now Open
The American Hospital Association asked WSHA to pass on information regarding a major award opportunity, Top Leadership Teams in Healthcare Awards sponsored by HealthLeaders.
The award has several criteria, some of which are below. Last year, Grays Harbor Community Hospital, Aberdeen, won for Community Hospital and Mid-Sized Hospital category.
For the seventh year HealthLeaders Media sponsors the Top Leadership Teams in Healthcare Awards because we believe that the core value for every successful healthcare organization must be teamwork. The goal of the program is always to discover new best practices in teamwork and share them with our vital industry. We encourage hospitals, health plans and medical group practices who believe they have outstanding teamwork to share their stories with us. Winners will be:
- Profiled in an issue of HealthLeaders magazine
- Announced nationally on HealthLeaders Media Daily News & Analysis and in HealthLeaders Media’s weekly e-mail newsletters
- Publicized in the major business release wires
The deadline to submit your entry is April 30, 2010. (Jean Engler, jeane@wsha.org)
Death With Dignity Update: Washington Issues First Annual Report
Washington’s first annual report on use of the Death with Dignity Act shows lethal doses of medication were dispensed to 63 people in 2009. The law allows terminally ill adults to request these prescriptions from physicians.
The state Department of Health issued the report as required by the act, which went into effect March 5, 2009. The report covers March 5 to December 31, 2009. The 63 prescriptions were written by 53 different physicians and dispensed by 29 different pharmacists.
Of the 63 individuals who received lethal doses of prescription medication last year, 47 are known to have died. Thirty-six died after ingesting the medication. Those who died were between the ages of 48 and 95. More than 90 percent resided west of the Cascades. Most had terminal cancer and all were expected to die within six months.
Under Washington’s Death with Dignity Act, the Department of Health must collect information from patients and providers who choose to participate, monitor compliance with reporting requirements, and produce an annual statistical report.
WSHA developed resources, model policies, and educational materials for hospitals to use in implementing the Death with Dignity Act.
The 2009 Death with Dignity report and information about the law are available online. (Robb Menaul, robbm@wsha.org)
March 15 Luncheon in Seattle for Cover the Uninsured Week
In honor of Cover the Uninsured Week, March 14-20, WSHA joins CityClub in presenting a 12:00-1:30 p.m. luncheon forum on Monday, March 15 at Town Hall in Seattle on "Health Care Challenges and Local Innovations." What impacts will state and local budget cuts have on health care access in our region? How are local organizations working to fill the gap? Speakers include:
- Roger Gantz, Director of Legislative and Policy Analysis, Health Recovery Services Administration for Washington State Deptartment of Social and Health Services
- Patty Hayes, RN, MN, Executive Director, WithinReach
- Rebecca Kavoussi, Assistant Vice President of Government Affairs, Community Health Network of Washington
- Greg Vigdor, President and CEO, Washington Health Foundation
To register contact CityClub at (206) 682-7395 or seattlecityclub.org. WSHA members qualify for a reduced rate. (Deborah Swets, deborahs@wsha.org)