In
this issue
River’s
Edge Hospital and Clinic honored with MHA Patient Safety Improvement Award
River’s Edge Hospital & Clinic in St. Peter received the Minnesota Hospital
Association (MHA) 2016 Patient Safety Improvement Award in the small hospital
category, which recognizes hospitals that have taken extraordinary and
innovative steps to make patient safety a top priority throughout the hospital.
In 2015, River's Edge experienced a significant increase in admissions, and
this growth prompted a need to address patient falls. In the second quarter of
2015, River's Edge had a 10.04 fall rate. The Falls Steering Committee was
formed, comprised of staff from the medical/surgical, quality and emergency
departments, and pharmacy and physical therapy, and set a goal of having an
average of less than 3.5 falls per quarter.
Improvement was made soon after the committee started implementing some best
practices and training staff to reduce falls. Upon arrival at River's Edge
Hospital, patients are assessed and, if noted to be a high risk for falls, a
yellow banner appears on the resident summary in the electronic health record.
Assessments are performed on each shift and status changes are noted. Family
members and the patient are notified of the fall risk and are educated by staff
through discussion and printed material. In the fourth quarter of 2015, River's
Edge reduced its fall rate to 3.94, closing in on its goal.
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
Minnesota
Flex Program, CAHs honored for excellence in quality improvement
For the second year in a row, the Minnesota Flex Program at MDH in July was
awarded a Certificate of Excellence from the Federal Office of Rural Health
Policy in recognition of outstanding state quality performance, indicating a
statewide commitment to Critical Access Hospital (CAH) quality reporting and
performance. The award reflects the commitment of Minnesota’s 78 CAHs to
improving quality of care and reporting quality measures, as well as the
support of MHA and Stratis Health staff who assist the CAHs with the Flex
Program.
The award recognizes excellence in MBQIP (Medicare Beneficiary Quality
Improvement Program), a quality improvement activity under the Medicare Rural
Hospital Flexibility (Flex) grant program. The goal of MBQIP is to improve the
quality of care provided in CAHs by increasing quality data reporting and then
driving quality improvement activities based on the data.
Ten states received the certificate, out of 45 eligible states. Judy Bergh,
Flex Program coordinator, accepted the award on behalf of Minnesota’s CAHs, MHA
and Stratis Health. return to top
MHA
receives patient safety grant funding from Cardinal Health Foundation
The Cardinal Health Foundation announced that it has awarded MHA
grant funding of nearly $150,000 over three years from its E3 Patient Safety
Grant Program. MHA is one of 13 grantees who have received multiyear grants to
support their work in improving health outcomes for high-risk patients.
Through the grant, MHA will convene a team of health care providers and patient
and family stakeholders to develop a “universal protocol” aimed at reducing
medication-related readmissions and adverse events. The new protocol will close
gaps in the existing medication safety road map and will include best practices
to ensure medication accuracy during transitions to and from the hospital and
across the continuum of care. Patients, family members or caregivers who are
interested in serving on this team should contact Joy Benn,
quality and patient safety specialist, MHA, 651-659-1441.
MHA will also join other 2016 E3 Patient Safety grantees in a learning
collaborative facilitated by the Alliance for Integrated Medication Management
(AIMM). The collaborative is designed to help the organizations share their
learning and more quickly implement evidence-based practices.
Since 2008, the Cardinal Health Foundation has invested $16 million to hundreds
of health care organizations through its E3 Patient Safety Grant Program. Because of
the complexities in health care and health care systems, it takes an average of
17 years for evidence-based practices to be fully implemented into health care
practices, according to the National Institutes of Health.
“Within a year or two, recent grantees are affecting change, eliminating errors
and creating lasting improvement,” said Dianne Radigan, vice president of
Community Relations at Cardinal Health. “They are reducing readmissions to
hospitals, reducing lengths of stay and, most importantly, saving lives. On
behalf of Cardinal Health, we are pleased to support the work of MHA.” return to top
Gov.
Dayton, Lt. Gov. Smith to tour state’s 87 counties
Gov. Mark Dayton and Lt. Gov. Tina Smith on Aug. 1 began an
86-day statewide tour of Minnesota’s 87 counties. According to the governor’s
press release: “Over the next 11 weeks, they will travel to every county in the
state, meeting face-to-face with community leaders, farmers, business owners
and others to hear ideas and concerns; discuss their priorities; and celebrate
the achievements and aspirations of Minnesota families, businesses, schools and
communities.”
State leaders appreciate hearing from local hospital stakeholders with personal
expertise about health care issues and issues affecting their community’s
hospitals and clinics. If the statewide tour visits your community, MHA
encourages you to participate in the events as you are able. Visit the governor’s
newsroom website to access press releases
announcing the tour schedule as it becomes available.
Meeting resources, including handouts that can be printed and shared, are
available on the MHA Member Center, which is username and
password protected. For help resetting your username and/or password, contact Ashley Beno,
member services and communication specialist, MHA. return to top
MHA
to convene discussion with Minnesota Board of Medical Practice around
timelines of physician credentialing
Member hospitals and health systems have informed MHA that they
are experiencing challenges with securing timely licensure for
new physicians recruited to Minnesota from out of state. To help with this
issue, MHA plans to convene a meeting with interested members and the Minnesota
Board of Medical Practice to discuss ways to improve the physician
credentialing process.
MHA is currently in the early stages of planning this meeting. More detailed
information, once available, will be shared with hospital and health system
leaders. To learn more, contact Dr. Rahul Koranne, chief medical officer, MHA,
651-659-1445. return to top
CMS
finalizes FY2017 Medicare inpatient rule
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Aug. 3
released the FY2017 final Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) rule,
which takes effect Oct. 1. MHA advocated for several changes to the proposed
rule in its comment letter.
One major positive outcome is CMS’ reversal of the 0.2 percent annual reduction
it implemented as part of its “two-midnight” policy. Historical cuts associated
with this cut are also reversed. In addition, CMS abandoned its proposal to
modify the Medicare disproportionate share (DSH) uncompensated care formula
beginning in 2018.
CMS had included a modification to the formula in the proposed IPPS rule that
would have cost hospitals in Minnesota about $40 million in Medicare funds in
2018. The proposed formula would have shifted dollars from states with low
uninsured rates to states that did not expand Medicaid. MHA worked with Sen.
Amy Klobuchar and other Minnesota legislators including Sen. Al Franken; Reps.
Collin Peterson, Betty McCollum, Keith Ellison and Rick Nolan; state Sen. Tony
Lourey; and state Rep. Matt Dean to ensure Minnesota hospitals were not
punished for the state’s aggressive efforts to reduce the number of uninsured.
“The proposed Medicare DSH formula would have penalized Minnesota as well as
other states that have done the right thing by expanding health insurance
coverage for low-income residents,” said Lawrence Massa, president and CEO,
MHA. “We appreciate the work of our state congressional delegation and state
legislative leaders who raised concerns that $40 million a year in Medicare
funds would have been shifted from Minnesota to states that have not been as
successful in reducing the number of uninsured patients. DSH has provided some
relief for hospitals serving uninsured and underinsured patients.”
The final rule will increase the inpatient prospective payment system (PPS)
rate by 0.95 percent in FY2017 after accounting for inflation and various
negative adjustments required by law. MHA is concerned about the -1.5 percent
adjustment to account for “documentation and coding,” as it is nearly double
what has been applied in previous years.
CMS finalized its proposal to implement the Medicare Outpatient Observation
Notice (MOON) to a Medicare beneficiary receiving greater than 24 hours of
services in Observation status. It also delayed the implementation date for
this requirement by four months from its original Aug. 6 date. This requirement
to provide both written and verbal notification to Medicare beneficiaries
applies to both PPS hospitals and CAHs.
MHA will be sending financial impact reports to member hospitals in mid-August.
For more information, contact Joe Schindler, vice president of finance, MHA,
651-659-1415, or Ben Peltier, vice president of legal services,
MHA, 651-603-3513. return to top
2016
Minnesota Hospital Financial Ratio book now available for MHA members
The 2016 Minnesota Hospital Financial Ratio Book, based on 2015
financial statements, is now available for MHA members. The book contains 27
key financial ratios that hospital administrators, board members and financial
officers need to understand their hospital’s financial standing compared to
their peer groups in Minnesota.
The in-depth report, produced from hospitals’ audited financial statements,
provides unique insight into the current trends different hospital groups face
in Minnesota. The book also includes common-sized financial statements,
allowing hospitals to compare their own statements against those with similar
characteristics. Further, a system-level section is included showing the same
27 key financial ratios for hospital systems operating in the state.
The following are some of the key summary points in this year’s ratio book:
- Between fiscal year (FY) 2014
and FY 2015, the statewide median operating margin increased from 2.2
percent to 3.3 percent.
- The statewide median net margin
decreased from 5.4 percent to 3.8 percent.
- Liquidity ratios slightly
increased and days in patient accounts receivable decreased from 51.87
days in 2014 to 51.10 days in 2015.
- The days-cash-on-hand ratio saw
a slight increase, from 34.61 days in 2014 to 37.78 days in 2015.
MHA members may purchase the standard ratio book
for $100. For more information, contact Lucas Hovila, financial analyst, MHA,
651-603-3536. To order the book or customized reports, contact Jennifer Sanislo, division assistant, MHA, 651-659-1440. return to top