April 18, 2007

Corporate Compliance:  On Monday, WNYHA hosted a meeting with Mark Thomas, HANYS' General Counsel, on corporate compliance.  The meeting was a follow-up to the meeting many of you attended recently with U.S. Attorney for the Western District Robert G. Trusiak, and was part of the commitment we made to his office to continue the corporate compliance conversation.

At the meeting, which lasted for two hours, 17 individuals, representing 13 member hospitals, shared their concerns about compliance issues.  The meeting was an excellent give-and-take about this complex, dynamic paradigm, with a very positive outcome:  WNYHA will establish a corporate compliance committee, made up of members interested in sharing concerns and information on the topic; that committee will meet quarterly.  Paul Sweet, WNYHA's Senior Vice President, Member Service/Finance, will coordinate those meetings--watch for more information soon.

Speaking of Compliance:  WNYHA will hold a meeting on April 27 with Gary Baldauf, Deputy Regional Director of the New York State Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, who will address our members on Medicaid compliance.  Given the Governor's public vow to crack down on Medicaid fraud and abuse, we are certain that Mr. Baldauf's very informational presentation will be an important tool for our members as you seek to understand and address the many nuances (and pitfalls) inherent in the dizzying array of Medicaid regulations.

A New Look:  As you enter our building, you will notice that we have installed a sign at the top of the stairs that clearly identifies the entrance to the WNYHA offices.  The sign features our new logo and colors.  A special thanks to the HANYS' staff for shepherding our new logo from concept to completion.

Dan's Away:  Daniel McCartan, our Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, is off on Naval Reserve duty in the jungles of Africa.  He is the deputy commander on this mission to bring medical relief to remote villages in that area, and has been selected to lead the mission next year.  Soon after his return, he may be contacting you to see if you have any out-of-date, but serviceable equipment that the mission might be able to send to that area in an effort to upgrade the poor resources it now has; more on that when he returns.

HANYS Board Meeting:  I will be leaving Thursday to attend the HANYS Board of Trustees meeting in New York City on Friday morning.  Next week, I have meetings set up with more of our elected leaders; and I am getting ready for my first-ever American Hospital Association conference in May.