Community Hospital lends Hillcrest expertise

McCOOK, Neb. -- Hillcrest Nursing Home will get another pair of eyes assessing its operations.

The Hillcrest Board of Trustees, at its regular meeting Tuesday, overwhelming supported the idea of Community Hospital lending its expertise to Hillcrest in certain areas, beginning with billing and finance.

Hillcrest Director Colinda Nappa said the partnership will be a win-win situation for both facilities.

"We're very excited about being able to pool our minds and expertise, where we both can excel and learn from each other," Nappa said.

The knowledge the hospital is willing to lend will be especially helpful when it comes to billing, she said, as Medicare is changing its reimbursement payments. Instead of paying each facility for its services, payments will be "bundled," when the facility that performs the surgery is reimbursed for all services the patient receives and that facility reimburses others for post-operative care, such as when knee surgery is done in Kearney and the patient stays at Hillcrest for follow-up care, she said.

Jim Ulrich, president and CEO at Community Hospital, agrees that the collaboration will make a positive difference. "It's in our interest, and for the community at large, to have a strong continuum of care," he said. "If another facility is having trouble, and we can help out, we will." The partnership will strengthen the healthcare system in the community, Nappa said, by ensuring patients can recover in McCook with their primary doctor.

Also on Tuesday, the board heard a presentation from a representative from Holmes Murphy of Omaha on health insurance and wellness programs it offers. After hearing the presentation, the board elected to send the company information to see if it would be a viable option for Hillcrest. The board of trustees voted last year to not offer health insurance to its employees, stating that no group coverage could be found that was affordable to employees.

Nappa said Hillcrest employees who work 30 hours or more (30 hours is considered full-time under the Affordable HealthCare Act) receive a bonus $250 per month to do with what they wish; they also have free vision and dental and life insurance.

The estimated penalty of $180,000 that Hillcrest will have to pay, plus the bonus each month and vision/dental/life insurance, was still less expensive than any health insurance program they could find, she said.