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| Shop for Your Hospital |
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Are you or a loved one going into a hospital soon? You may want to do some shopping first – not for a pair of slippers, but for the hospital itself.
Here are two reasons to “shop” for a hospital:
- The quality and safety of care they provide may vary widely.
- You can choose a hospital based on quality and safety ratings.
Taking the Quality Leap
Beginning in 2006, the Board asked its medical plans to require that their hospitals report to the public through the Leapfrog Group’s online hospital assessment.8999
Leapfrog reports how far along hospitals are in taking four “leaps” that mean higher quality and safety based on scientific evidence:
- Use of computers to order medicines, tests and procedures
- Intensive care units staffed by trained “intensivists”
- Referring patients for high-risk procedures to hospitals that do more of those procedures with good outcomes.
- Putting processes in place to cut down on preventable medical mistakes.
Rural hospitals are expected to report only on the third and fourth leap.
The Leapfrog Web site, updated monthly, displays the status of each hospital’s leaps in a user-friendly format.
Why Isn’t My Hospital on the Leapfrog List?
If you don’t see your hospital listed here, it chose not to report. For example, three of the Oregon hospitals that serve the largest number of PEBB members do not report through Leapfrog:
- Salem Hospital, Salem
- Sacred Heart Hospital, Eugene
- Saint Charles Medical Center, Bend.
These hospitals may participate in other quality programs. But Leapfrog is the only national program that meets all the Board’s goals for:
- Consumer-friendly format that makes reports easier to understand
- Frequent updates that show hospital progress
- Reports that cover patient-safety as well as quality-of-care guidelines
- Easily available reports to the general public.
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From the Board Chair
“Public reporting on quality and safety leads to improvements across the entire healthcare spectrum.
The Board congratulates Oregon hospitals that have chosen to report through Leapfrog. But we are disappointed that not all the state’s hospitals participate in this important effort.
Our members account for a significant portion of their patient volume and claims. They deserve to know if – and how – these hospitals follow widely accepted quality-of-care and patient-safety guidelines.”
—Diane Lovell, Chair, Public Employees’ Benefit Board
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Note: Not all hospitals may be covered at a lower coinsurance level in your plan. Be sure to compare your hospital selections with your coverage level.
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| Goal: Save Five Million Lives |
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Last year, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement set a goal of saving 500,000 lives through better hospital safety in U.S hospitals. That goal jumped to a goal of five million lives this year.
Most Oregon hospitals have signed on. The initiative helps them focus in on 12 common-sense practices to prevent infections, skin ulcers and medication mix-ups, among others.
All Samaritan Select hospitals participate. Sarah Place RN, BSN, MBA, Samaritan Director of Quality and Patient Safety, says, “The campaign has moved quality and safety efforts to the forefront and captured the attention of our boards. We have moved new resources into areas where we can improve care and outcomes for our patients.”
Spurred on by the campaign, Samaritan hospitals have:
- Set up rapid response teams to prevent patient emergencies
- Put standards of care in place for heart attack and pneumonia patients
- Added steps to prevent infections
- Revamped systems so patients know more about their medications on discharge.
Place adds, “Changing an organization’s basic structure can be hard. But, our staff and physicians have been enthusiastic about making changes. They support recommendations from the campaign.”
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| Patient Safety Comm. Report |
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The state’s Patient Safety Commission reports on medical errors in Oregon hospitals and works with them to improve patient safety. The commission released its first draft report in January.
Commission Administrator Jim Dameron says, “This draft report provides another important piece of evidence that Oregon hospitals are truly engaged in the process of improving patient safety.”
Through the commission, all the state’s major hospitals voluntarily report what are called adverse events. These range from falls, infections and bedsores, to objects left in patients during surgery.
From May through December 2006, hospitals reported 53 events. Some caused little harm, but 18 resulted in death. Read the draft summary: www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/pscommission.
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| The Eyes Have It |
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Did you know there is scientific evidence for eye care as well as other aspects of health care? In general, evidence suggests the following schedule for eye exams.
| Age |
Frequency |
| Before 5 |
At least once |
| 6-39 |
Every 3-5 years |
| 40-64 |
Every 2-4 years |
| 65 or older |
Every 1-2 years |
People with special risks, such as diabetes, previous eye trauma or surgery, family history of glaucoma, and certain racial backgrounds, may need more frequent eye exams.
If you are healthy but your vision has changed to the point where you don’t see as well as you think you should, make an appointment for an exam. You may need corrective lenses or an adjustment to your lens prescription. Let your vision be your guide.
Note: Before you make an appointment, review your routine vision care coverage in your medical plan member handbook.
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Emergencies Happen
See a doctor immediately if you:
- Injure an eye
- Have sudden eye pain
- Experience any loss of vision.
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Eye Exam Checklist – Be Prepared
- When you make an appointment, ask if you will be able to drive yourself home; your eyes may be dilated during the exam.
- Before the exam, make a list of any eye or vision problems, eye injuries or surgeries, prescription and over-the-counter drugs you are taking, and family history of such eye problems as glaucoma or cataracts.
- During the exam, ask if there are any changes since your last exam and when you should return for the next one.
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Who's Who in Eye Care
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| Ophthalmologists. Physicians with special training in the care of the eyes to prevent and treat disease and injury. |
| Optometrists. Professionals who provide eye exams; diagnose and treat eye and vision disorders; and prescribe glasses, contact lenses and other treatments. |
| Opticians. People licensed to design, finish, fit and dispense eyeglasses and contact lenses, based on an eye doctor’s prescription. |
Diabetes and Eye Care
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People with diabetes are 25 times more likely to go blind than people without the disease. It is the leading cause of blindness among adults in the U.S.
Diabetes harms the body’s blood vessels – including those in the eye. Over time, lack of blood to the eye can cause blurred vision and blindness.
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Diabetes can also result in cataracts, which also reduce vision. Cataracts can be a result of age, but they happen more often and earlier in people who have diabetes.
If you have diabetes, make sure you have your eyes examined regularly. It could save your sight.
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Play Hard But Protect Your Eyes
More than 40,000 people a year suffer eye injuries while playing sports. Yet almost all sports-related eye injuries can be prevented. Whatever your game, whatever your age, you need to protect your eyes.
Regular glasses don’t provide enough protection. So take the following steps to avoid sports eye injuries:
- Wear proper safety goggles (lensed polycarbonate protectors) for racquet sports and basketball.
- Use batting helmets with polycarbonate face shields for youth baseball.
- Use helmets and face shields approved by the U.S. Amateur Hockey Association when playing hockey.
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| It's Tax Time |
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We All Follow the Rules
 It’s tax time again. Just as you have to comply with federal tax laws, so does PBBB.
PEBB’s program is a Cafeteria Plan; it allows employees choice in types and/or levels of benefits funded with untaxed dollars. To qualify, PEBB must follow IRS regulations on dependent children. Following is a summary of PEBB’s definition of "dependent child."
A dependent child must be either:
- Your biological or adopted child, or a child placed for adoption with you or your spouse or domestic partner
- Your legal ward by court decree; a dependent by Affidavit of Dependency; or under your or your spouse’s or domestic partner’s legal guardianship.
The child:
- May not be married or have a domestic partner
- May not qualify as a dependent under IRS rules for anyone other than you
- May be treated as a dependent for the purpose of obtaining healthcare coverage by both parents if you are divorced or legally separated.
A dependent child must also meet one of the following criteria. The child:
- Is under the age of 19 at the end of the calendar year
- Is age 19 to 24 and meets the IRS definition of a dependent child attending school full time (this excludes foreign students)
- Is age 19 to 24 and the eligible member provides or expects to provide more than half the child’s support for the year, and the child lives in the eligible member’s home for at least six months of the year
- Is age 19 to 24 and is incapable of self-sustaining employment because of a developmental disability, mental illness or physical disability
- Is age 24 or older and is incapable of self-sustaining employment because of a developmental disability, mental illness or physical disability that existed before the child attained age 24. The child must have had continuous individual or group medical coverage prior to attaining age 24 and until the PEBB effective coverage date.
If you are in doubt about your child’s status, contact your agency or PEBB.
| While you’re thinking about taxes and dependents, take a minute to check your dependent information in your benefits record. Log in and select "View my dependents information." You can correct or add information for any listed dependent. To add a new dependent, you must complete and submit a Medical and Dental Update form. |
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| Employment Dept. Eats Healthy |
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Like most changes in workplace culture, a sustained focus on employee health can come long and hard. For the Employment Department's HealthWorks committee, events made it surprisingly quick and smooth to make healthier food an easier choice for the 500 employees in the department's central office in Salem.
Employment joined the state’s Healthy Worksites Initiative pilot project just a few months ago. They started a wellness "buzz" in their building with a focus on physical activity. For example, new posters promote using stairs rather than elevators.
When their on-site food vendor decided to close, the department's facilities manager saw an opportunity for healthier food choices. Talks began with a new vendor, who seemed happy to provide a tasty and healthy array of breakfast, lunch and snack options.
The new vendor opened the café on March 5. The deli-style menu offers low-fat, high-nutrition options – nothing deep-fried. The HealthWorks committee promotes new menus throughout the building. And voila, it's easier for employees to make healthier food choices at work.
"The thing that excites me the most about this is that the facilities manager came up with the idea on her own and approached me,” says committee chairman and communications manager Tom Fuller. “Now HealthWorks can achieve our goal of encouraging healthy eating while also supporting a business in our building. We look forward to more creative ways of changing the culture and health of our staff."
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