Hospital Annual Report Newsletter

For the most part, the 2005 Hospital Annual Report (HAR) has few differences from its predecessor.  As preparers begin the process of filling out the report for their hospital, they should find that the data required to fill in the HAR, and the layout of the accounts in the formset, has remained virtually the same.  There are, however, a few changes that have been made that are worth noting.

 

Few Changes were made to the Formset Design for  FY 2005

 

Updates and Changes to the 2005 HAR

Volume 1, Issue 2

April 4, 2006

Contract Staffing Section changed to FTE’s and Contract Amounts

One of the major changes in the 2005 HAR is in the Staffing Section.  Due to the difficulty many hospitals expressed reporting the number of people working on contract for the hospital, the reporting requirement has been changed to reflect FTE’s and total contract dollar amounts.  Furthermore, the contract information has been broken out into its own section to separate it from the other hospital staffing information.  

Hopefully, these changes should make the contract information more readily attainable, since most hospitals know how much money was expended for contracted services and the number of hours worked under those contracts. 

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Questions or comments? E-mail us at jpeters@mnhosptials.org or call (651) 659-1422.

 

To contact the Minnesota Department of Health with questions or comments, e-mail amy.camp@health.state.mn.us or call (651) 201-3575.

The first change in the 2005 HAR is the layout and added functionality to the cover page.  The first step in data entry is to enter the HCCIS ID for your hospital in the “HCCIS ID” cell.  If you do not know what your hospital’s ID is, click on the “HCCIS ID” label.  This opens up the HCCIS ID tab in the Excel spreadsheet which contains the numbers for all Minnesota hospitals, sorted by city. 

Once the number is entered in the cell, most of the hospital’s demographic information is automatically filled in.  Please note though, that this data may not be accurate and is simply what was reported in the 2004 HAR.  Carefully review the information and overwrite any fields that have inaccurate information. 

This change will hopefully speed up the process of completing the cover page for preparers and slightly reduce the amount of manual entry.  Once again, please ensure the auto fill information is accurate for the 2005 fiscal year.

Cover Page Fields become Auto Fill

· Fill in your HCCIS ID Number.

· If you do not know the Hospital’s ID, click on “HCCIS ID” and look it up in the HCCIS ID table.

· Carefully review all information that is auto filled, and overwrite any fields that should be updated.

· Contact MHA if you have any questions.

During the 2005 fiscal year, hospitals in Minnesota started  handling more patients with Medicare Advantage plans.  This percentage will no doubt increase over the next few years, and it is vital that information such as charges, adjustments, admissions, and days are accurately reflected in the HAR.  This will help both the hospitals and policy analysts understand the impacts these plans may have over time.

For the 2005 HAR, please make sure to place all data regarding Medicare Advantage patients and charges under “Medicare Managed Care” lines.  Although your hospital may have seen little activity with these plans, it is still important that they are accurately recorded, both for the hospital’s purposes and for statewide trend analysis. 

The 26 Medicare Advantage Regions.

By 2009, 26% of all Medicare beneficiaries are anticipated to be enrolled in Medicare Advantage Plans.¹

 

Medicare Advantage to be Placed under Medicare Managed Care

Additional Conditional Formatting Incorporated into Formset

This year, the amount of conditional formatting in the formset was increase greatly to alert preparers to potential problems in the data entered.  Comments will appear on the right hand side of the formset in red lettering when information entered for a given line has been flagged for audit review.   Examples of this are when an account that is supposed to tie to a secondary account does not match, or an account that should be negative (like adjustments) contains a positive number.

It is strongly suggested that after completing the HAR 2005, the preparer browse each page for these red notations.  If there are any visible, please carefully review the note.  If the data is correct, please indicate why in the comments section at the end of the HAR, and provide documentation with its submission.  Any red comments that are not duly documented and notated in the comments section will fail the audit process and delay the audit finalization for the hospital.

Please note:  Any HAR submitted with significantly incomplete or grossly inaccurate data will not be accepted as received, and will be sent back to the preparer to finish.

If you have questions regarding any accounts or red notations in the HAR, please contact Jonathan Peters at jpeters@mnhospitals.org or call (651) 659-1422.

Recently, researchers comparing mental health data from different sources have found that some hospitals with mental health beds have not reported charges, days, or admissions on the HAR. 

This year, part of the auditing process will include cross referencing this external mental health data with the information reported on the HAR 2005.  If the hospital for which you prepare the 2005 HAR has mental health beds available, please make sure to report the charges, days, and admissions in the appropriate lines on the HAR. 

Does your hospital have staffed Mental Health Beds?  If so please make sure the following HAR lines are filled in:

· Line 0727— Mental Health Charges

· Line 4014— Mental Health Patient Days

· Line 4307— Mental Health Admissions

 

Mental Health Information Looked at More Closely

These are some of the types of comments that should not be visible after the  HAR has been completed. 

· This should not be negative

· Please review. Must equal $_______.

· This item can not be left blank.  Please review instructions.

· This total must equal $______.

· This should be a negative number.

1.  http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2006/hhs.html