Ad section

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is developing a health care recruiting advertising section for mid-July. Hospitals interested in spotlighting a member of their staff as a feature article for the section should send a note to ddillon@mail.mhanet.com.

Regional variations in utilization

Alan Bavley of The Kansas City Star is making inquiries regarding a recent article from The New Yorker on health reform and health care utilization. The story uses a town in Texas as an example of the type of variation in care that Dartmouth researchers have studied throughout the last decade. MHA has talking points on the Dartmouth Atlas here.

Community benefit coverage

Yesterday's release of statewide community investment information was covered in both the St. Louis Business Journal and Kansas City Business Journal.

WHO: Pandemic

The World Health Organization has officially declared the H1N1 outbreak a pandemic.

Pitch perfect

Kansas City's entertainment-focused weekly newspaper, The Pitch, has a great review of the legislative maneuvering from this session's health care coverage debates.

Significant disparities

A new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that 40 percent of low-income Americans have no health insurance. In contrast, only six percent of high-income Americans lack health insurance.

According to coverage in The Washington Post:

"Approximately one-third of the uninsured have a chronic disease and they are six times less likely to receive health-care services than those with insurance"

Updated: Look for the data...

The 2009 Community Investment Report from MHA will be available tomorrow at noon (6/10). A link to talking points will be posted when they are finalized. An E-Lert should be out by close of business today. A copy of the news release will be sent to hospital PR and Marketing staff prior to release to the media.

Talking points are here.

Community benefit

Keep this in the back of you mind when discussing charity care and bad debt -- especially in light of the study on medical bill related bankruptcy. In 2007, Missouri hospitals were given authority by the legislature to garnish tax refunds of patients with hospital debt. We didn't.

A busy week

The Missouri Hospital Association's 2009 Leadership Forum begins Wednesday in Branson, Mo. The Excellence in Governance Awards will be announced on Thursday for outstanding hospital trustees.

Later in the week -- most likely Wednesday -- MHA's annual Community Investment Report will be posted to www.focusonhospitals.com. Talking points will precede the announcement.

Update: Bankruptcy report

According to an online report from the American Journal of Medicine, medical bills -- plus related problems such as lost wages for the ill and their caregivers -- contributed to 62 percent of all bankruptcies filed in 2007. The rate is an increase from 55 percent in 2001.

While the rate increase is important, arguably more important is the fact that the majority of those filing for bankruptcy due to medical expenses were middle class, college educated and owned their home. In addition, 78 percent had health insurance.

Talking points on hospitals' billing and collection practices and hospital charges can be found here.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorialized on the report over the weekend.

Report cards

Tomorrow, HealthGrades will announce their Outstanding Patient Experience Awards. The awards are based on ranking in the top 15 percent of hospitals submitting HCAHPS scores. The link will be provided when available. MHA's HCAHPS talking points from the Hospital Compare roll out are here.