Business digest

ORMC earns award for stroke care MIDDLETOWN — Orange Regional Medical Center has received the “American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines Stroke Silver Plus Performance Achievement Award,” recognizing the center’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted standards and recommendations, according to officials. To receive award, Orange Regional achieved at least 12 consecutive months of 85 percent or higher adherence to all indicators and achieved at least 75 percent or higher compliance with six of ten quality measures during that same period of time, which are reporting initiatives to measure quality of care. State consumer board supports new rebate law ALBANY - The New York State Consumer Protection Board supports the a new law providing consumers with information about rebate offers made by manufacturers and retailers. In recent years, rebate offers have become an increasingly popular method for businesses to attract customers, who appreciate the opportunity to save money on items they wish to purchase, and tend to respond favorably when rebates are offered on such products. However, manufacturers and retailers, which offer rebates, do not always make the terms of the rebate clear to consumers at the point of sale. While consumers tend to assume that a rebate will be in the form of a check, some rebates are actually provided in the form of a credit toward the purchase of another product. If the rebate is provided in the form of a pre-paid card to make the additional purchase, consumers can face undisclosed fees for activation, checking of balances, and account maintenance for periods of inactivity. The new statute requires any entity that offers rebates to conspicuously disclose to consumers if the rebate will be issued in a form other than cash or a check, including but not limited to credit, credit towards a future purchase, gift certificate, gift card, general use prepaid card or any other form of compensation, and if any additional fees related to the exercise or the non-exercise of the rebate may apply. The measure also requires any retailer advertising a rebate to clearly disclose if the rebate will be issued to the consumer in a form other than cash or a check, including but not limited to credit, credit towards a future purchase, gift certificate, gift card, general use prepaid card or any other form of compensation. The new rebate law will take effect on Jan. 1, 2011.