Transcript Universal Service: What it means for Rural Hospitals

Universal Service:
What it means for Rural
Hospitals
Jason C. Wulf
Financial Analyst
Thursday, May 15, 2003, 3:45 to 5:00
About Avera Health
• Sponsored by the Presentation and
Benedictine Sisters
• Located in 5 States, SD, ND, MN, IA, NE
• Hospitals in 26 communities
• Clinics in 59 communities
• Long-term care in 17 communities
• Home Medical Equipment businesses in 20
communities
Experience with RHC
• Rocky start
• Streamlined and more user friendly after
Funding Year 3
• Online forms have greatly enhanced the
process
• Help desk does exceptional job
• RHC willing to listen and make changes
when necessary
Experience with RHC
• Rural telecommunication companies
sometimes not familiar with RHC process
or forms
• Big telecommunication companies shift
paperwork responsibility around and things
get lost in the shuffle
Benefits – Rural
Community
• Telehealth
– Educational sessions
• Freedom from smoking
• Diabetes club
– Expanded services
• Specialists
– Reduced travel for rural citizens
Benefits – Rural Hospital
Expanded services and capabilities
– Telehealth
• Education
– Grand rounds, HIPAA Sessions, Mandatory In-services
• Telemedicine
– Mental health, dermatology, pulmonology, internal
medicine, fetal ultrasounds, infectious disease
• Teleradiology
– Clinical and financial data systems
– Internet
– E-mail
Benefits – Rural Hospital
“The RHCD reimbursement makes the T1 line a little
easier to afford for rural facilities. This in turn means
when we were making decisions for the connections
via email, information system, teleradiology,
teleconferencing equipment, etc. to our regional
hospital, it makes it more affordable. We get about
$600 a month reimbursement from RHCD for our T1
line which means $7,200 annually which is quite a
large amount for a small facility.”
Kayleen Lee – Administrator and Linda Jager –
Business Office Manager, Avera Weskota Hospital,
Wessington Springs, SD
Benefits – Health System
• Provide education and services to small hospitals
– HIPAA sessions, Medicare A Newsline Review, unified
information systems platforms
• Enhanced communication
– Videoconferencing when Telehealth is not in use
• Administrative meetings
– Negotiate better pricing on information technology
projects due to large Wide-Area Network and
interconnected systems
Benefits – Health System
• Significant savings
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Year 1 - $ 128,819
Year 2 - $ 64,327
Year 3 - $ 244,534
Year 4 - $ 279,639 estimated
Year 5 - $ 395,081 projected
Total - $1,112,400 Directly back to the hospitals
• Roughly 55% - 60% savings off gross
charges/year
• Covers 44 locations and 55 circuits across Avera
Health
RHCD help line 1-800-229-5476
www.rhc.universalservice.org
Jason Wulf – Avera Health
605-322-4722