Georgia Department Of Community Health

Charity-care hospital regulations scrutinized

Residents pay more in taxes because these hospitals are exempt. In exchange, taxpayer-subsidized hospitals are expected to provide charitable services — “a community benefit.”

But Georgia, like 35 other states, has no specific requirements hospitals must meet to justify these tax breaks.

And an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of hospital data reveals that some not-for-profit hospitals provide less in community benefits — specifically, charity health care for the poor — than the tax-paying, for-profit hospitals they compete with.

Atlanta’s Piedmont Hospital is an example. It is considered a charity, but this tax-exempt hospital consistently spent a smaller percentage of its adjusted gross revenue on uncompensated care than many of metro Atlanta’s for-profit hospitals from 2007-09.

Piedmont is among 18 not-for-profit hospitals in Georgia and four in metro Atlanta that spent less than 3 percent of adjusted gross revenue on uncompensated charity care from 2006-09. Three percent is a meaningful metric. In the only instance where Georgia requires hospitals to provide a minimum level of charity care — when they apply for permission to expand facilities or services — it requires 3 percent.

Nina Day, vice president of corporate communications and community affairs for Piedmont, said the hospital provides other charitable benefits to the community: a monthly cardiology clinic, cancer wellness programs and free lab work for two clinics in low income areas.

What those services are worth compared to their tax exemption is unclear. Piedmont and other not-for-profit hospitals aren’t required to disclose that.

Now, with tax revenues shrinking and the cost of public health care rising, policy makers across the country are starting to require not-for-profit hospitals to provide more evidence of tangible community benefits.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, adopted by congressional Democrats last year, requires not-for-profits to assess community health care needs and inform patients of their charity care policies. Across the political aisle, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, spearheaded a Senate investigation of the value of not-for-profit hospital community benefits.

“A lot of hospitals are doing a good job of building their communities by providing health services, but other facilities aren’t doing a good job and we need a level of transparency to differentiate between the two,” said Holly Lang, hospital accountability project director for Georgia Watch, a consumer advocacy group.

HomeTown Health, LLC & Georgia Partnership for Telehealth Host ...

Georgia (PRWEB) July 29, 2011

HomeTown Health & Georgia Partnership for Telehealth (GPT) hosted a dynamic meeting of eight Georgia businesses who are all partnering to implement the TeleConnect GA for Better Health(TCGBH) Program. TCGBH is a collaborative effort through the use of telemedicine and broadband adoption to improve the declining health of rural Georgians. GPT received a grant to create training and outreach program for residents and healthcare providers to improve health and healthcare delivery in the state’s 91 designated “counties of persistent poverty.” TeleConnect Georgia for Better Health (TCGBH) is made possible by the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program and is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Leveraging the strengths of state government agencies, the private sector, and educational and nonprofit organizations, the project proposes targeted outreach to economically vulnerable populations including school children, low-income residents, senior citizens, and at-risk youth to address poor health and lack of high quality health care.

HomeTown Health, a network of 55 rural hospitals in Georgia, has been an integral partner with Georgia Partnership for Telehealth in the execution of this grant, as well as the integration of all partners’ roles, and also evaluating each partner’s goals and objectives for the BTOP grant.

“We are so excited & honored to be partnering with Georgia Partnership for Telehealth on this far reaching initiative that will deliver better health outcomes to rural Georgians who need better access to medical care,” said Kathy Whitmire, managing director for HomeTown Health, LLC.

On July 21, 2011, HomeTown Health & GPT invited each of the eight partners involved in the BTOP grant to Georgia Public Web offices in Atlanta for an important team building meeting designed to create comprehensive understanding of each of the partners’ roles within the BTOP grant overall. Partners were apprised of the new developments, new targets to achieve within the specified goals & objectives in the BTOP grant , as well as the upcoming Marketing Awareness Campaign where the mascot, Peachy, will be visiting schools to share information, fun activities and free giveaways so children can learn how broadband is used to help them stay healthy.

Official code of Georgia annotated

The practice environment of nursing, issues & trends

Igniting the Power of Community, The Role of CBOs and NGOs in Global Public Health

Community health analysis, global awareness at the local level

Congressional Record