Meeting to Review “Empire Express” Hurricane EvacuationExercise
Date: Thursday, June 5, 2008
Time: 2:30 p.m.–4:30 p.m.
Location: GNYHA Conference Center, 555 West 57th Street, 15th Floor
GNYHA will hold a meeting to review the hurricane evacuation exercise “Empire Express” that will occur on May 30, 2008. The New York State Office of Homeland Security, New York State Emergency Management Office, and the New York State Department of Health are cosponsoring this exercise with support from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The exercise will involve hospitals, nursing homes, and adult care facilities in the following areas: the five boroughs of New York City and Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties.  For more information, contact Doris R. Varlese.  To register for the meeting, email Laurie Sangirardi at sangirardi@gnyha.org.

CCLN Hosts Briefings on Burn Management and Surgical Critical Care
Date: Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Time: 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Location: GNYHA Conference Center, 555 West 57th Street, 15th Floor
As part of the Critical Care Leadership Network, GNYHA and partner United Hospital Fund will host two half-day programs on June 17. The first half-day session, Burn Management: The First Three Days, is designed to review the fundamentals of the comprehensive management of major burn victims up to 72 hours after the burn incident.  Topics covered will include burn resuscitation; inhalation injury; early wound evaluation, treatment, and risk assessment; early supportive physiologic support; and special topics such as chemical and electrical injuries, abuse, preservation of function; and environmental and pain control.     

The second half-day session, Fundamentals of Surgical Critical Care, will examine the issues specific to caring for post-surgical patients that surgeons and non surgeons alike find most challenging. The topics covered will include hemorrhagic shock, pancreatitis, thoracic and pelvic trauma, as well as ischemic bowel and colonic ischemia. The issues will be examined from multiple vantage points, including resuscitation vs. diuresis, surgical versus non-operative management, and when to call for surgical support.     

While each session is a half-day program, participants must attend both sessions in order to receive continuing education credits.  For more information and for registration, visit: www.gnyha.org/specialtycc.

Training Sessions on Implementation of Ambulatory Patient Groups (APGs)
Dates and Times:
Tuesday, June 10 (1 p.m.–5 p.m.)
Wednesday, July 9 (8:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.)
Wednesday, July 9 (1 p.m.–5 p.m.)
Location: GNYHA Conference Center, 555 West 57th Street, 15th Floor
GNYHA, in conjunction with the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS), will host training sessions on the implementation of Ambulatory Patient Groups (APGs) as the new payment methodology for Medicaid outpatient services. The New York State (NYS) Department of Health (DOH), 3M (the developer of APGs), and Computer Sciences Corporation (the claims processor for the NYS Medicaid program) will provide the training. The State budget agreement for fiscal year 2008-2009 requires the implementation of APGs beginning with hospital outpatient clinic services on December 1, 2008, with a four year phase-in. All three training sessions will cover the same material and individuals may only attend once. The training sessions are targeted at hospital staff from the following departments: Finance/Reimbursement, Patient Accounts, Emergency Department Administrators, Ambulatory Care Administrators, and Compliance Officers. You may register to attend either in person or via the Webcast online at http://www.gnyha.org/apgtraining.

World Energy Solutions, Inc.
Date: Thursday, June 12, 2008
Time: 1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m.
Location: Web-based demonstration
GNYHA Services, Inc. will hold an on-line demonstration for World Energy Solutions, Inc., a provider of on-line auction services for electricity, natural gas, and green credits. During the demonstration, World Energy will show how its “reverse auction” process, in which the winning supplier is the lowest bidder, typically saves its clients between five and thirty percent on their energy costs. This process, which is fully managed by World Energy, is no-cost and risk-free for clients because the winning supplier pays World Energy's fees and there is no obligation to accept the bid if the price is not satisfactory. For more information, or to register for the demonstration, contact Barbara Green (212-259-0720; green@gnyha.org) or Justin Muschong (212-258-5304; jmuschong@gnyha.org).