Inside Connection - moving forward

MHA's Inside Connection newsletter has been discontinued in print form. However, we will continue to move forward with "Around the Districts" on MHAnet. Information on how to participate will be forthcoming.

Please submit information about developments at your hospital to news@mail.mhanet.com.

Reporter roundup

A reporter from the Springfield News-Leader has inquired about hospital visitation policies related to H1N1. Note: No specific guidance has been offered by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on hospital visitation policy changes.

Robert Joiner from the St. Louis Beacon is interested in historical hospital closures in north St. Louis City and north county.

Medicaid in the news

The Missouri Department of Social Services has issued a report listing the state's employers whose workers receive Medicaid. Warning: Some Missouri hospitals are on the list.

The media has not, as of this posting, discussed hospitals inclusion on the list. Any media inquiries will be posted on the Lede.

Kudos

A round of applause for St. Mary's Health Center in Jefferson City for receiving a 2009 Missouri Quality Award.

Update: "To Err Is Human" packet

The Missouri Hospital Association will be e-mailing a media packet today to prepare hospitals for inquiries about the 10th anniversary of the Institute of Medicine's 1999 groundbreaking report on medical errors. If you do not receive the materials, please contact the flack at ddillon@mail.mhanet.com. We also will be pitching an op-ed from MHA, the Missouri Center for Patient Safety, the Missouri State Medical Association and Primaris to Missouri's major daily newspapers.

Update: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the St. Joseph News-Press have published the op-ed.

Visitation policies

Association PR folks around the country are buzzing about hospitals' revised visitation policies related to nH1N1 Influenza. If your hospital has adjusted its policy, e-mail the flack with information about the changes.