Finance and Reimbursement
Reductions or leveling in reimbursements, coupled with increasing numbers of uninsured and underinsured, create a difficult environment in which to meet the public's need for adequate, yet affordable health care.
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Community Benefit
Defining the community benefits hospitals provides to the community has become more than just a mission of community hospitals. It is also a legal obligation. Many reporting requirements exist including the new Internal Revenue Service 990 Schedule H.
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Emergency Preparedness
Hospitals play a key role in emergency readiness throughout Kansas. As vital community resources, hospitals must be among the best prepared, alongside police, fire, rescue, and other public safety services.
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Critical Access Hospitals
The Critical Access Hospital program is part of a larger federal program, the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (FLEX) program. The FLEX program is administered by the Kansas Rural Health Options Project (KRHOP).
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Rural Issues
Rural hospitals provide essential health care services. Yet because of their small size, modest assets and financial reserves, and higher percentage of Medicare patients, they face great pressures as government payments decline.
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Health Information Technology
Health Information Technology and the electronic health record will change the face of access, quality and the cost of health care delivered in Kansas.
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Limited Service Facilities
The last decade has seen explosive growth in the number of limited service facilities operating in Kansas. The impacts created by these facilities continue to undermine access to health care services for communities across the state.
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Legal
There are many laws that govern health care as we know it today. Information regarding those legal issues can be found in this section.
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EMTALA
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act is a federal law that regulates the transfer of patients between hospitals and the discharge of patients from hospital emergency rooms.
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HIPAA
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 is a federal law that made many changes in employer-sponsored health plans.
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Patient Safety
Patient- and family-centered care is associated with improved clinical outcomes, increased market share and patient loyalty, increased patient safety, and higher employee satisfaction.
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Concealed Carry
In response to a Kansas law allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons, many Kansas hospitals will be enforcing a policy prohibiting handguns, pistols or revolvers all hospital property.
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Tobacco-Free
Tobacco use in and around hospitals poses health and safety risks for patients, employees and visitors. Kansas has a statute banning smoking in medical care facilities and many hospitals have expanded that ban to hospital property.
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Workforce Center
Hospital care, at its core, is about people caring for people. Yet combined pressures - a shrinking workforce, an aging population, financial concerns, increased demand and other stresses - have translated into a severe personnel deficit.
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