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BCRH trustees discuss unpaid care |
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Written by Michael Arthur
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Wednesday, 08 September 2010 |
GEORGETOWN – Patients who do not pay their bills can have a significant impact on the bottom line of Brown County Regional Healthcare.
Unpaid and under-compensated care was discussed at length at a recent meeting of the Brown County Regional Healthcare Board of Trustees when board members considered changes to the regional healthcare provider’s Sliding Fee/Discounted Charity Care Policy. Board member Ben Houser asked if more could be done to cut down on the amount of patients who can pay for care provided by BCRH and choose not to, particularly in cases where patients have a history of failing to pay medical bills in the past.
When Houser asked Chief Financial Officer Teresa Daniel how much BCRH loses on “bad debt” in a year, Daniel replied that approximately $1 million is lost annually to bad debt plus HCAP (Hospital Care Assurance Program) losses.
The HCAP program is a state mechanism aimed at meeting federal requirements to provide supplementary payments to hospitals with disproportionate amount of indigent care, according to information provided by the Ohio Hospital Association.
Daniel clarified that “charity care” or “indigent care” are terms used when individuals meet predetermined financial criteria, based on the Federal Poverty guidelines and household size, and can demonstrate through documentation that they cannot pay for the treatment they need.
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Written by Bryan Peck
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Wednesday, 08 September 2010 |
 Curtis Truss Jr., executive director of the Operator Training Committee of Ohio Inc., presents the Ripley Village Council with information obtained during the Geographical Information System scan during the week of July 6.
According to Curtis Truss, executive director with OTCO, the scan will help the village of Ripley to easily locate sanitary sewer manholes, water meters, hydrants and valves in an easy to update system.
The company specializes in providing GIS scans for businesses and organizations, as well as re-training individuals to provide accurate GIS scans. The scan was a part of a county-wide initiative to provide accurate GIS scans for each community. However, Ripley Village Administrator Charles Ashmore said Ripley was looking for a more accurate scan of their water and sewage systems as well, and hired OTCO for the job. Information obtained by OTCO will be forwarded to Brown County too.
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School report cards are in |
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Written by Michael Arthur
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Wednesday, 08 September 2010 |
Report cards detailing the accomplishments and progress of public school districts across the state of Ohio have been released, and Brown County’s school districts, in general, received fairly high marks.
While the report cards do outline various areas where local schools can improve, the compilation of testing data from the 2009-10 school year also highlights the strengths of the county’s various districts. Two districts in Brown County were designated as “Excellent,” two districts received the “Effective” rating and one district was designated as “Continuous Improvement.”
None of the county’s school districts fell into the lowest two tiers of state designation, “Academic Watch” and “Academic Emergency.”
Report cards were developed using standardized tests and measurements of other “indicators” such as graduation and attendance rates. According to ODE, a district’s overall designation is formed using a few key factors, including 26 indicators, a 120-point Performance Index, an “Adequate Yearly Progress” component and a “Value-added” measure. Districts are rated not only based on how individual sub-groups and the student body as a whole perform in a given year, but also measure a district’s progress from one year to the next.
The superintendents of Brown County’s designated “Excellent” districts were eager to share the good news with the community when report card results were received last week. Fayetteville-Perry Superintendent Roy Hill and Western Brown Superintendent Jeffery Royalty credited and congratulated their respective districts for achieving the Ohio Department of Education’s second-highest designation.
Hill said the designation took the combined efforts of school district educators, administrators and support staff in addition to students, parents and the community as a whole.
“We are very excited,” said Hill of the Excellent designation. “This is our second year in a row.”
Fayetteville met 22 of 26 state indicators and scored 96.1 on the Performance Index. The District showed “above expected growth” in the Value Added measure but did not meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 08 September 2010 )
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