NRMC board debates increasing pay scale for nursing staff

Pay increases for nurses topped the agenda of the Nevada Regional Medical Center Board Tuesday. Tom Delaney, human resources officer, told the board present salaries for nurses on average were competitive with hospitals in the local market. However, when divided into ranges based on education, length of employment, and experience, NRMC's pay scale is lower. During the presentation, the use of agency nurses -- those not employed by the hospital but a third-party agency -- to fill in on shifts when nurses employed by the hospital were unavailable was also discussed. Agency nurses cost the hospital approximately twice what employee nurses do in terms of hourly salary. Dr. Mitch Magruder said that unless the situation were changed the problem would only get worse. "If you think there is a problem now, just wait until you run the hospital with all agency nurses." Robert Ohlen, NRMC CEO, said that he thought it would be hard, but that increasing the pay for nurses is a possibility. "It's probably do-able, but it will be a challenge," he said. The board voted to approve a 3 percent increase for LPNs and a 9 percent increase for RNs. The board discussed the need for new software for preparing claims sent to insurance companies. The current software will no longer be supported after September. In addition, new Health Insurance Portability and Privacy Act rules go into effect in October, requiring a change in the way claims are handled. During the discussion about software changes, the possibility that the insurance companies might not have software ready that is compatible with the new changes in HIPPA rules came up. Board members toyed with the idea of setting up a line-of-credit system as a way to have enough money on hand if payment is delayed by insurance companies. Setting up line of credit ready if that possibility came to pass would potentially require $5,000 in related processing costs, according to Cindy Buck, NRMC's new chief financial officer. Board members decided to postpone a decision on setting up a line of credit until the change takes place and they can see if there will be delays in payment due to the change. The board welcomed Buck, who started July 14. Buck was the comptroller at a Coffeeville, Kan., hospital before coming to NRMC. Ohlen discussed a trip to Washington, D.C. he took with CEO's of other hospitals to discuss proposed changes in Medicare with legislators. During the discussions the bill to add prescription drugs to Medicare was mentioned and legislators indicated that it could die in committee due to the cost of the program. On a positive note, Ohlen said there was a possibility that rural hospitals might be reimbursed for their expenses directly instead of through the present system with payment based on Diagnostic Related Groups. Urban hospitals would continue to be reimbursed by the DRG method. "It won't be next week or next month or even next year but it is a possibility in the future," Ohlen said. In other matters the board: *Approved contracts with Dr. Warren Lovinger and Dr. Bruce Baker. *Approved a contract with Charter Communication for cable service. *Approved the disposition of two houses currently on property the hospital owns.