In
this issue
Cuyuna
Regional Medical Center honored with MHA Community Benefit Award
The Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA) in May honored innovative programs and
outstanding leaders in health care at its 32nd annual awards
ceremony.
Seventeen awards were given for extraordinary achievement in categories ranging
from advocacy on behalf of hospitals and volunteerism to innovation and
improvement in patient care and patient safety.
Cuyuna Regional Medical Center in Crosby received the Community Benefit Award
in the small hospital category, which recognizes hospitals for working beyond their
physical walls to improve the health and well-being of their communities.
When the final school bells ring and summer break begins, more than half the
1,033 youth in Cuyuna Regional Medical Center's service area are at risk of
going hungry. Six hundred students receive free or reduced-cost meals through
the National School Lunch Program, but none of these kids receive meals through
the summer months. As part of Cuyuna Regional Medical Center's commitment to
keeping kids healthy, the hospital partnered with area churches to provide
nutritious meals to kids and teens throughout the summer and continued its
commitment by also providing basic needs to students over holiday breaks and
free food during community events.
Cuyuna Regional Medical Center's overall goal is to promote and improve the
health and well-being of the community by ensuring that young people's basic
nutrition needs are met. Meals are prepared with input from a CRMC registered
dietitian who emphasizes appropriate portion sizes and encourages youth to
drink water instead of sugar-sweetened beverages. The Lunch Bunch provided
3,820 nutritious meals to kids in the summer of 2015, as well as meals to
nearly 2,000 people at two community events during the year.
Additional award winners will be profiled in upcoming issues of Newsline. To
learn more about the award winners, visit the MHA website. return to top
Web
conference on MACRA’s changes to reimbursement scheduled for July 19
Matt Anderson, senior vice president for policy and strategy,
MHA, and Dr. Rahul Koranne, senior vice president of clinical affairs and chief
medical officer, MHA, will present at a web conference on the Medicare Access
and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) and its impact on physician
reimbursement on July 19 from 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Under MACRA the vast majority of clinicians will receive a composite score
based on multiple measures of quality, clinical practice improvement
activities, resource use and deployment of certified electronic health record
(EHR) technology. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will use
the composite scores to positively or negatively adjust Medicare reimbursement
rates starting in 2019. Hospitals, health systems and clinicians should work
now to understand the scoring and payment methodologies laid out in the
proposed rule because the first payment adjustments will be based on
clinicians’ performance in 2017.
MHA provided comments and advice to CMS regarding development of these payment
reforms. MHA’s comment letter can be found online.
The July 19 webinar will provide an overview of the proposed rule, review how
the reimbursement changes will impact clinicians as well as hospitals and
health systems and highlight factors providers should consider to prepare for
2019.
F
or more information, view the brochure or visit MHA’s website, click “Calendar of Events” and select
the program title. Please note that you must log in to register for a
program. return to top
MHA
member feedback helps drive AHE reporting system improvements
MHA members provided input and guidance to the Minnesota
Department of Health (MDH) that resulted in the July 1 implementation of
improvements to the statewide adverse health events (AHE) reporting system.
“The AHE reporting system provides a strong framework for learning and
continuous quality improvement,” said Dr. Rahul Koranne, chief medical officer,
MHA. “The shared goal of MHA and our partners at MDH and Stratis Health is
ensuring that the processes associated with reporting bring the greatest learning
to hospitals and health systems so that we can continuously improve patient
care.”
The improvements are designed to focus the system more closely on learning and
quality improvement while streamlining data entry processes. While Stratis
Health’s role in the AHE reporting process previously emphasized data review,
the organization will now provide more hands-on, consultative support to
hospitals.
“MHA’s Registry Advisory Committee played an instrumental role in shaping these
improvements by working very closely with MDH leaders,” said Koranne. “The
leadership demonstrated by this committee was critical to advancing changes
that will benefit all hospitals and health systems, ultimately improving the
care that we provide to our patients and communities throughout Minnesota.”
More in-depth information about the registry changes was shared with MHA
members with primary patient safety responsibilities. To learn more, contact Dr. Rahul Koranne, chief medical officer, MHA, 651-659-1445, or Tania Daniels, vice president of quality and patient safety, MHA,
651-603-3517. return to top
Nominations
open for CHAIN Award for Excellence in Infection Prevention
Nominations are open for the CHAIN Award for
Excellence in Infection Prevention, a new award presented by the Collaborative
Healthcare-Associated Infections Network (CHAIN).
Formed in 2011, CHAIN represents a partnership led by the Minnesota Chapter of
the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology
(APIC-Minnesota), MDH, MHA and Stratis Health. CHAIN develops and helps
implement effective approaches for eliminating healthcare-associated infections
(HAIs) in Minnesota. This year, CHAIN is specifically focused on reducing and
preventing catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) and the spread
of Clostridium difficile infection
(CDI).
The CHAIN Award for Excellence in Infection Prevention recognizes the HAI
prevention initiatives of individual health care professionals or teams in
hospital settings who are working to build a safer overall health care
environment through the reduction of CAUTI and/or the spread of CDI.
Hospital leaders and staff may submit nominations online through Sept. 1. The award will be
presented at the CHAIN Fall Conference on Sept. 28.
After the conference, nominations for future awardees will be accepted on an
ongoing basis, with updated information made available on the CHAIN website. CHAIN members will regularly
review all nominations for key learnings and innovative strategies that
contribute to HAI prevention. Promising practices and findings will be shared
to promote learning and improve health care across Minnesota. return to top