Congressman Loebsack visits HCHC, reviews recent legislation

BY BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

Direct supervision was the topic of the afternoon for Henry County Health Center officials as U.S. Congressman Dave Loebsack (D-IA) sat down with health center officials to discuss some of Loebsack?s most recent health care legislation.

HCHC was just one of the congressman?s many stops on his tour of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) across the state Wednesday. Loebsack met with hospital administrators to discuss legislation he helped sign into law that deals primarily with counteracting direct supervision regulation. This particular piece of legislation was introduced over the summer, passed the House and Senate this fall, and was signed into law on Dec. 18.

The legislation provides assistance to rural hospitals like HCHC by eliminating rules requiring direct supervision of outpatient therapeutic services such as a blood transfusion, an application of a cast to a finger or a demonstration and/or evaluation of a patient using a nebulizer or inhaler.

?It (direct supervision) just doesn?t make any sense,? said Loebsack, as he addressed HCHC officials. ?It really doesn?t make sense for rural hospitals. And while we are still working on this issue and we have gotten some things done to address this issue, I am not going to let it slide. And I am going to continue working towards a better solution to this for all our hospitals.?

The regulation requires that in certain therapeutic services (outpatient clinics), the hospital must have medical providers on site with the proper credentials to provide supervision during the administration of a medical service. HCHC CEO Robb Gardner said the health center is more than capable of meeting the regulation via services provided by the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. However, Gardner said certain providers are not at HCHC every day. That constitutes, according to Gardner and other HCHC officials, an inconvenience for patients who may have to drive to a more urban hospital, like the University of Iowa, to receive care.

?The difficulty comes in when we have too much regulation that gets in the way of us being able to provide the same standard of care that a patient would get in a more urban hospital setting,? said HCHC administrator, David Weiss. ?We lose a lot of our efficiency where direct supervision is concerned.?

And while both Weiss and Gardner say HCHC is fortunate to have strong working relationships with hospitals like the University of Iowa and Great River Medical Center, in Burlington, not all rural Iowa hospitals are as fortunate.

In fact, a recent report from the National Rural Health Association projects that over 280 rural hospitals nationwide will be at risk of closing their doors this year due to pressure from demographic changes and dwindling governmental resources. Loebsack says he has heard these statistics and others like it, and assured HCHC officials he is fighting to protect rural healthcare in the U.S.

?Rural hospitals are certainly feeling the strain, which is why I have been working tirelessly to pass legislation that lifts burdens off of rural hospitals. It?s important to me that we protect rural healthcare facilities like HCHC,? Loebsack says. ?With this being an election year, I know it will be a tougher fight. And while we won?t always make huge steps, I am striving towards doing the smaller things that hopefully add up to bigger solutions.?

Overall, HCHC officials applauded Loebsack?s work in trying to eliminate certain aspects of direct supervision legislation that hurts rural hospitals like HCHC, and also reminded Loebsack that the health center is trying to stay on top when it comes to patient satisfaction and service.

?We have made some innovative steps towards things like telemedicine, partnering with hospitals such as the University of Iowa and Great River, and the recent addition of our certified nurse midwives,? said Gardner. ?Our medical staff does try to be as efficient as they can, and we do want to be just as efficient as some of the bigger Iowa hospitals in the state.?

During his statewide tour, Loebsack made stops in Chariton, Corydon, Osceola, Knoxville, Fairfield and DeWitt.