Let's Talk About a Health Insurance Exchange
Is it Right for Ohio?
Sponsored by The Health Policy Institute of Ohio
On January 7th, 2008, the Health Policy Institute of Ohio held a short luncheon conference to discuss the viability of a Health Insurance Exchange in Ohio. This brief 2-hour session was packed with valuable information and well worth the time spent for those who attended.
Well over 100 healthcare and policy professionals from all over Ohio met in Columbus to see the presentation by Stuart M. Butler, Ph.D., and Edmund Haislmaier from The Heritage Foundation as they communicated an understanding and fundimental benefits of what a Health Insurance Exchange has to offer. The specific focus was how employing a Health Information Exchange can help substantially alleviate the number of Ohioans uninsured while returning control of health insurance, price sensitivity, authority, and quality to the consumers. This significant paradigm shift shouldn't increase the cost of the model, but rather simply change who makes what decisions and how.
The presentation benchmarks Ohio statistics against national statistics to see how we fit into the big picture. Much discussion was on the progress that Massechuesettes had made in employing this model and the measurable success they have achieved. All eyes are on Massechuesettes to see if what they have implemented not only satisfies proof of concept, but will also stand the test of time. So far, things appear to be looking good. But, given the complexity and challenges that the healthcare industry has faced for the past few decades, many people are cautiously optomistic.
That aside, the Health Insurance Exchange is one of the most promising solution options in many years. This topic was well received by all in attendance and will likely be on the forefront of Ohio Healthcare Leaders in the foreseable future. Further, given this is a Presidential Election year, where one of the candidates is the former governor of Massecheusettes that employed the Health Insurance Exchange there, you can expect this discussion topic to receive quantitative and qualitative dialog in national forums.
If you would like to view the presentation, you can Click Here . In addition to the presentation given, supplemental literature was also provided by Community Catalyst, Inc (link to homepage) titled "A Consumer Guide to Creating a Health Insurance Connector". You can follow the links in the previous sentence for more information.
Ohio HIMSS Advocacy Day 2008
Taking Action in Columbus
After several years of successful national advocacy activities in Washington, D.C. by National HIMSS, the CSOHIMSS and NOHIMSS Chapters are planning to join forces to conduct the first annual Ohio HIMSS Advocacy Day. In late-Spring 2008 at a date yet to be determined, Ohio healthcare HIMSS representation will be in Columbus to meet with state-level elected officials to help influence the course of Ohio State Law as it relates to the advancement of Health Information Technology.
While National HIMSS is focusing on a coordinated effort with the United States Congress, state chapters all over the country have begun to do the same thing at local levels with great success. Ohio chapters have often been perceived as leaders among HIMSS Chapters so it comes as no surprise that we have stepped up as leaders again.
Over the next few months, select Board Members and Chapter Members from both CSOHIMSS and NOHIMSS have comprised a Task Force to make this happen. We will be planning the details on Ohio HIMSS Advocacy Day 2008 to make it memorable and productive. This will be done in coordination with National HIMSS Advocacy so as to compliment and not conflict with national activities.
If you would like to be more involved, please feel free to contact Rick Moore, CSOHIMSS Advocacy Chair at advocacy@csohimss.org. Until then...stay tuned for more information!
CSOHIMSS Jane A. Blank Annual Scholarship
The CSOHIMSS Chapter is offering our annual Jane A. Blank Distinguished Member Scholarship Award in the amount of $1,000.00 scholarship along with a one-year HIMSS membership ($30.00 value) to an undergraduate or graduate student studying in the healthcare information or healthcare management systems field.
Scholarships are awarded for academic excellence and the potential for future leadership in the healthcare information and management systems industry. Review criteria are focused on academic achievement, service activities, technical skills, career goals, demonstration of leadership potential, and communication skills. The $1,000.00 scholarship (cash award) and one year HIMSS membership is awarded to the student deemed most deserving by the CSOHIMSS Scholarship Committee.
If you are interested in applying for this scholarship, download the Scholarship Application or visit our web site at www.csohimss.org for more information. Application submission deadline is February 28, 2008. Good luck!
Success Story
Fall Conference '07
This past November 2nd, the CSOHIMSS Chapter held their semi-annual regional conference in Columbus, Ohio. The theme of this conference was The Many Facets of Clinical Informatics.
With four sessions and dozens of attendees, the CSOHIMSS Fall Conference 2007 was another great success for our chapter’s continuing education initiatives.
Copies of the presentations are available for download on the in the Resource Center of the CSOHIMSS Website. Additionally, the handouts of presentations from previous conferences as well as past Chapter Newsletters can also be found in the Resource Center. In addition, the CSOHIMSS website always tries to obtain and make available presentation from any event the chapter is associated with so that those who were unable to attend can still benefit from the information presented. If you have trouble downloading a desired document, feel free to contact us for assistance.
For those of you who are interested in learning more about what’s going on at our neighboring chapters, visit their websites at: http://www.bluegrasshimss.org, http://www.indianahimss.org , & http://www.nohimss.org or you can get involved more with our own chapter.
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Once again, CSOHIMSS is partnering with neighboring chapters at the 2008 National HIMSS Conference in Orlando. Our multichapter luncheon has been a great success in years past, with attendance that has exceeded 200. If you are going to be in Orlando for the 2008 HIMSS Conferences, the Tri-State Luncheon is an event you won't want to miss. You must register by Feb 1, 2008. Here are the details:
Date: Monday, February 25th, 2008
Time: 11:30am to 1:00pm
Location: Orlando Conf. Center, Room 4014D
Register Securely Online
We'll see you there!
The CSOHIMSS Chapter Board is in the early planning stages for the 2008 Spring Conference. The general theme for the conference will be Managing Change in a Healthcare Environment. Suggested topics include: Pharmacy Requirements, State & Federal Advocacy, Clinical Informatics, etc. Please join us on Friday, May 2nd at the Nelson Conference Center, Kettering Medical Center, 3535 Southern Blvd., Kettering, Ohio!
Addditionally, we are please to annouce that we are able to maintain our discounted Registration Fee of $45. If you would like to preregister now, you can Register Securely Online
See you there!
Susan Petrose is the Facilities Manager in Information Systems at Kettering Health Network in Dayton, Ohio. Susan is CPHIMS certified and new to the CSOHIMSS Board of Directors in her position as Scholarship Chair.
Susan has extensive experience implementing multi-hospital core business and clinical applications. She manages the Systems Team responsible for the KHN Network’s (six hospital system) mainframes, while leading the Nurse Charting and CPOE initiatives from the Information Systems perspective. Prior to entering the health care arena, she was an Information Technology educator at the high school and adult learning levels. She carries this passion for education and life-long learning to her position as Scholarship Chair.
President: Marc Beasley
VP & Treasurer: Russ Hessler
Past President: Debbie Murphy
Secretary: Joanne White
Program: Bob Swann
Webmaster: Sean McPhillips
Scholarship: Susan Petrose
Membership: Stephen Beck
Sponsorship: Annette Elchert
Government Advocacy: Richard Moore
Public Relations: Ajay Sharma
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