SEARHC - President's Message

Update for December 26, 2009

Senate Passes Health Reform Bill. The U.S. Senate passed the landmark health reform bill on Christmas Eve. The bill includes much of the reauthorization for the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA). The House version also included the IHCIA reauthorization. We look forward to the reconciliation of both bills in conference committee. As versions of the IHCIA were included in both House and Senate bills, it is likely that a version will be in the final conference committee report.

Compliance Committee. We recently completed a regular update of our Standards of Conduct at a compliance committee meeting. Members of our management team formed a compliance committee to review our program compliance with laws, statutes, and regulations. The standards provide general guidance to staff on expectations of behavior and conduct while working. In some circumstances, the standards cover off-work conduct as well. Some of the revisions include: 1) clarification on gifts; 2) summarization of the false claims act; 3) clarification on employee conduct; 4) inclusion of a highest ethical standards statement; 5) inclusion that an appearance of a conflict of interest could create a conflict; and 6) statement regarding accuracy of records and reports. This table of contents will be provided with the Compliance report to the Board of Director's.

Living Well with Chronic Disease. Living Well Alaska is a series of six free weekly workshops for Prince of Wales Island residents sponsored by the SEARHC Diabetes and Health Promotion programs at the Alicia Roberts Medical Center in Klawock, the Southeast Senior Services Klawock Senior Center and the State of Alaska Chronic Disease Self-Management Program. These workshops are for people and their families who have arthritis, asthma, chronic pain, diabetes, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, lung disease and/or any other chronic conditions that require constant care. Participants will learn how to manage their symptoms; get started with healthy eating and exercise; communicate effectively with their doctor and health care team, manage their fear, anger and frustration; make daily tasks easier; and get more out of life. The free Living Well Alaska workshops take place from 6-8:30 p.m. on six straight Monday evenings from Feb. 8 through March 15 (Feb. 8, 15, 22, March 1, 8 and 15), at the Klawock Senior Center, 465 Summit St.

Past Due Notice Confusion. SEARHC recently used a billing service to send out past-due notices on some older accounts. These notices are confusing and may lead some patients to think their accounts have been sent to a collection agency. To clarify, we sent out a press release addressing the confusion. We are also sending a letter to each patient that received a statement. We assured our patients that no accounts have gone into collection status at this time. We apologized for the confusion and are working with our patients to clear up any concerns they may have with their bills.

Flu Prevention Reminder. Over the last two weeks, vaccine has arrived in quantities that allows us to vaccinate our patients. Previously, we were able to vaccinate high-risk patients. If you have questions or would like to inquire about a flu shot clinic, please contact your SEARHC Health Center or local provider.

Southeast Alaska residents can help prevent the spread of flu by washing their hands frequently with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer (especially after coughing or sneezing). Other ways to prevent the spread of flu include coughing into sleeves or a tissue instead of coughing into hands, staying home from work or school when sick with flu-like symptoms (don’t go back to work or school until at least one full day has passed without a fever, with no fever-reducing medication), and using sanitary wipes to wipe down high-traffic surfaces such as computer keyboards, stair railings, doorknobs, telephones and light switches.

Updated information on the flu can be found online at www.pandemicflu.alaska.gov (state site), or at www.flu.gov/ or www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/ (national sites). SEARHC also has information posted about H1N1 flu at www.searhc.org/h1n1/.

Just a reminder. . . SEARHC frequently brings in traveling medical specialists to hold specialty clinics at its various facilities, saving you the expense and inconvenience of flying to Anchorage or Seattle for services not available in Southeast. Some SEARHC medical providers who work at larger facilities make regular trips to our village clinics to provide specialty services that aren't normally available in those communities. All specialty clinics, except for medical field trips and specified dental clinics, must be referred through a SEARHC provider. Links to our upcoming specialty clinic schedules are at http://www.searhc.org/common/pages/specialtyclinics/index.php.

Regards,
Roald.

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