A letter to the public from Northwest Specialty Hospital Chief Executive Officer Ron Rock

Do you have the choice to pick the exceptional medical care you deserve when you have surgery?

When I recently hosted a breakfast with community and business leaders at Northwest Specialty Hospital, it became evident that not only did they not know about the scope of services provided at NWSH, they were also not aware of issues, both nationally and locally, which affect healthcare choices for their families and workers.

I want the public to be aware there is a movement afoot nationally to restrict physician-owned hospitals like NWSH. While Northwest Specialty's existence would be grandfathered, its potential for growth would be limited, and therefore its ability to continue providing you with the excellent service for which it is known would be restricted.

Federal legislators have proposed the restriction in several bills, but good judgment prevailed and it failed to succeed. Recently, lawmakers dropped it from the State Children's Health Insurance Program legislation that President Obama signed on Feb. 4. So far, it isn't flying as part of the stimulus package, either.

The effort to limit your choices doesn't stop there. Be aware that insurance products are being sold in Kootenai County that penalize patients who choose to have their care at Northwest Specialty Hospital. The products will either not pay for NWSH or they pay for it at a reduced rate — a rate substantially below Northwest Specialty's cost of providing the service.

State Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, is helping preserve your choice, however, introducing state legislation to strengthen the "Any Willing Provider Law." Under the law, if a health care provider is licensed and willing to provide a service at an equal or lower price compared to other providers, insurance agencies must consider it. Nonini wants to close the loophole so that insurance providers don't do an end run around the law to limit patient choices.

"In my legislative district and in all of Kootenai County, people are being denied choice in health care," Nonini said

Any Willing Provider was created in the early 1990s to prevent insurance companies from negotiating with an exclusive circle of providers. It made for more affordable access to health care. But the health delivery system has changed, exposing a loophole that enabled a stand-alone health network to evade the requirement to negotiate in good faith. Someone needed to speak up for the people being denied choices, Nonini said.

"We need to tighten up that piece of the code," he said.

Here at Northwest Specialty, we are concerned that limiting physician-owned hospitals would not only be bad for you, it would hurt the economy, too.

Nationwide, $8 billion is waiting to be invested in physician-owned facilities. That's non taxpayer money waiting to create jobs, pay taxes and create benefits in communities across the country. How can anyone want to eliminate potential jobs, benefits and tax revenue in this economic downturn?

You should know that while the American Hospital Association claims we drain high-profit patients from community hospitals, we actually do our share of government-sponsored, low profit cases. The bottom line is, we provide those services at 35 percent of our volume. When we do, we collect 30 cents on every dollar billed for government-sponsored insurance, compared to 57 cents on the dollar for private insurance.

Plus, Northwest Specialty Hospital pays sales tax and property tax, contributing in a positive nature to our local economy.

The hospital also offers a considerably greater scope of procedures than most people realize, so you may have more health care options than you know about. Northwest Specialty's competitively-priced procedures range across the board, from orthopedic and bariatric surgeries to neurosurgery, spinal fusion, endoscopies and even ear-nose-and-throat surgeries. The procedures listed here represent only a small sampling of what we can do at our facility.

When you get a procedure done at NWSH, you get the highest quality of care available. Northwest Specialty is the only hospital in the region to receive five-star excellence ratings two years in a row from an independent hospital evaluation entity.

The hospital did not pay for the award, but the distinction — and other awards earned by NWSH — did not happen by chance alone. The recognition is the result of hard work, dedication and investment back into our facility.

Northwest Specialty patients have consistently shorter recovery times, lower infection rates, and higher patient and physician satisfaction rates than average. The ratio of nurses to patients is higher as well.

Part of our success results from our physician ownership. Because the physicians own NWSH, they can get the technology they need when they ask for it, enabling them to serve you instead of cutting through red tape. They can put together the teams they think will serve you best, putting your care first.

Another piece of our success is our investment back into our facilities.

The hospital's commitment to the highest standard of care is the reason the hospital is adding 12 new inpatient rooms, a new procedure room and two operating rooms this year. We want to continue offering our patients the privacy of single-patient rooms. The new procedure room will speed processes and make our services even more convenient for patients. Two new intermediate care rooms with technology like that in intensive care units will allow the hospital to take on more complex patients with higher risk factors.

Northwest Specialty Hospital is also committed to developing joint ventures with organizations superior in their fields, which translates to exceptional medical care for Post Falls and the community.

The hospital recently upgraded the level of lab services it offers by affiliating with laboratory Corporation of America, the second largest clinical laboratory in the United States. The affiliation gives Northwest Specialty patients access to the best minds and most cutting-edge technology in the country — through Swedish Hospital in Seattle and a network of specialty laboratories throughout the country.

We are committed to continuing to provide the very best technology and productive partnerships, which enables our physicians to continue offering the very best medical care the community has come to expect from Northwest Specialty Hospital.

We are committed to giving you a choice when it comes to your health care.

If you're interested in preserving your right to choose your hospital, contact your state and federal lawmakers.

Your legislators in the Idaho House of Representatives:

• Rep. Jim Clark (R-Hayden), 772-5992

• Rep. Phil Hart (R-Athol), 772-2522

• Rep. Marge Chadderdon (R-Coeur d'Alene), 769-9309

• Rep. George Sayler (D-Coeur d'Alene), 664-2787

• Sen. James Hammond (R-Post Falls), 773-5748

• Rep. Bob Nonini (R-Coeur d'Alene), 765-1904

• Rep. Frank Henderson (R-Post Falls), 773-2269

Your federal lawmakers:

• Sen. Mike Crapo (R), 664-5490, (202) 224-6142

• Sen. Jim Risch (R), 667-6130, (202) 224-2752

• Rep. Walt Minnick (D-1st District), 667-0127, (202) 225-6611

• Rep. Mike Simpson (R-2nd District), (202) 225-5531