Changes considered for Lifeline

Jay County Hospital is looking at options and considering a change in provider for its emergency alert system.
Jay County Hospital Auxiliary president Rachel Stultz gave an update to the Jay County Hospital Board Wednesday about the alert system, which is currently provided by Lifeline.
Currently when Lifeline users hit their alert bracelet, a call comes directly into Jay County Hospital. Stultz said, however, that due to changes with the company, those calls will no longer go to the hospital but instead to a call center outside the county.
JCH volunteer coordinator Betty Krieg said this morning that the call center will be located in Massachusetts and that the hospital is looking for a similar provider that will be closer to Portland.
“Lifeline is no longer going to have our monitoring center here in Jay County,” Krieg said. “While there are other companies out there that provide it closer by, when we do that, then the price is going to have to go up.”
The hospital charges Lifeline users $15 per month to have the alert bracelet and speaker system in their home. Although the price will likely increase, Krieg said it will probably be around $5 extra per month.
The emergency alert system is also supported by the auxiliary’s annual Festival of Lights fundraiser that takes place in November.
“We’re looking at what would be cheaper for us, but what would still be as good,” she said.
The hospital has already looked at one emergency alert provider in Detroit and will travel to the city again in March to check out another company.
“We want to keep it closer and be able to charge what we want to charge, to keep the price low,” Krieg said.
In other business Wednesday, the hospital board:
•Heard the auxiliary report from Stultz. In January, 70 volunteers worked 1,183 hours at the hospital.
Stultz also said payroll deductions from hospital employees raised about $28,000 for the auxiliary.
•Heard the financial report from chief financial officer Don Michael. Michael reported that the hospital experienced volumes above expected levels in all departments and had a net income of $98,440. That was a significant improvement from January 2010, when the hospital posted a loss of nearly $800,000 in the month.
•Approved a contract pending a final committee review and legal review with Service Resource Group to provide billing and collection services for physician’s offices. The agreement would be month-to-month with a fee of 15 percent of collections being paid to the company.
That agreement would be in effect while the hospital continues to implement its Meditech electronic medical records system.
•Paid dues of $13,660 to the Indiana Hospital Association for 2011.
•Approved, pending legal review, a preferred provider agreement with Medical Mutual.
Sixty-six patients utilized the insurance program at the hospital last year.
•Paid 2,543 checks and disbursements totaling $5,430,159.43 accrued since Dec. 15.
•Approved purchase of new ZBAND video hubs and GigaBOB cable splitters at a cost not to exceed $23,797.72. The new equipment should help improve cable service in the hospital, including improving TV reception in patient rooms.
•Agreed to raise the pay for on-call personnel to $2.25 per hour, up from $1.75. On-call staff members do not need to be at the hospital campus but must be available by phone in case they are needed.
•Approved two changes to the medical staff rules and regulations regarding delivery procedure and CPR competency.
•Accepted updated staff privilege descriptions for psychology and pathology staff.[[In-content Ad]]