In
this issue
Ron
Osladil of Essentia Health-Sandstone honored with MHA Trustee of the Year Award
Ron Osladil, trustee, Essentia Health-Sandstone received the Minnesota Hospital
Association (MHA) Trustee of the Year Award, which honors a hospital leader who
has contributed significantly to the health of the community by providing
leadership and guidance to the hospital or health system board.
Osladil has spent 20 years as a dedicated board trustee of Sandstone’s hospital
and nursing home, attending many MHA trustee conferences. For the past 10
years, he has served as board chair for the North Pine Area Hospital District.
With a soft-spoken and hard-listening personality and leadership style, when
Osladil offers his thoughts and opinions, other board members offer their full
attention and regard. His style guided the North Pine Area District Hospital Board
through a thoughtful new campus feasibility process culminating with the
creation of the new Pine Healthcare Campus at Sandstone’s I-35 exit, in
partnership with Essentia Health, Gateway Family Health Clinic, Thrifty White
Pharmacy and Golden Horizons Senior Care Community.
Osladil demonstrates selfless devotion to all the citizens of his community and
hospital district. His decades of dedication have yielded valuable
contributions to high-quality hospital governance and a healthier community.
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
Hospitals
recognized for high flu vaccination rates among staff
The Minnesota Department of Health’s (MDH) FluSafe program
celebrated its sixth year with 91 percent of participating hospitals and nursing
homes receiving a blue, red or white ribbon for their efforts to vaccinate
health care workers against flu.
For the 2015-16 season, 153 facilities participated. Of the 139 facilities that
earned ribbons, 63 reached vaccination levels of 90 percent or greater, earning
blue ribbons; 47 were in the 80-89 percent range, earning red ribbons; and 29
reached 70-79 percent, earning white ribbons.
The FluSafe program aims to get all health care workers, except those with
medical exemptions, at hospitals and nursing homes in Minnesota vaccinated
against influenza each season. Anyone can get very sick from the flu, including
people who are otherwise healthy. Unvaccinated health care workers can
potentially pass highly contagious influenza to their patients, many of whom
are at high risk for complications of influenza. Vaccination helps protect
health care workers, their families and their patients.
A list of MHA members earning blue, red and white ribbons can be found on the MHA website. More information on the FluSafe
program is available on the MDH website. FluSafe registration for the 2016-17 season
opens Sept. 1. With questions, contact MDH’s FluSafe Team at health.flusafe@state.mn.us
or 651-201-4629. return to top
CDC
publishes new Zika virus key considerations
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has
published a new key considerations document on the Zika virus
to help hospitals and health systems prepare for patients seeking a diagnosis
and/or symptom management.
The document provides nine recommendations for hospitals and health systems to
implement, including:
- Know the clinical manifestation
of Zika virus infection and how to access information about areas with
active transmission.
- Assess all pregnant women for
possible Zika virus exposure and evaluate for signs and symptoms of Zika
virus disease at every clinical encounter.
- Advise pregnant women about how
to prevent sexual transmission of Zika during pregnancy.
- Discuss preventive measures
with patients and families.
- Follow the CDC’s Standard Precautions for all patient
care.
- Be aware of the requirement for Standard Precautions to
be used for labor and delivery care.
- Provide a link to the CDC’s Zika website on
internal and external hospital websites.
- Report suspected cases to state
or local health departments to facilitate diagnosis.
- Report all pregnant women with
laboratory evidence of possible Zika virus infection, with or without
symptoms, as well as infants born to these women, to state, tribal, territorial
or local health department officials for enrollment in the U.S. Zika Pregnancy.
The CDC continues to evaluate cases of Zika in the United States
and U.S. territories and updates guidance as new information becomes available.
For more information and to access additional resources, visit the CDC’s Zika website. return to top
DHS
to reprocess SFY2016/17 claims for CAHs
The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) is planning to
reprocess Medicaid fee-for-service claims for critical access hospitals (CAHs)
to account for the legislated inpatient rate rebasing plan that was passed in
2015. The anticipated updates will show in the Sept. 6 payment warrant.
Hospital chief financial officers were sent anticipated payment impacts last
week from DHS containing estimated gross amounts of additional amounts to be
paid to the hospital or amounts owed to the DHS. Interim rates have been in
effect since the July 1, 2015 implementation. The payment years are based on
state fiscal years beginning July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016 (SFY16) and
July 1, 2016 through current (SFY 2017). SFY 2017 payments are increased 3
percent to account for inflation.
In addition, updated outpatient cost-to-charge ratios were provided to reflect
the basis for FY2016 and FY2017 payment rates. These rates are based on each
hospital’s most recently filed Medicare Cost Report and are implemented based
on each hospital’s fiscal year end.
DHS anticipates implementing the rebased inpatient payment rates for non CAHs
in December. With questions, contact Joe Schindler, vice
president of finance, MHA, 651-659-1415. return to top
New
educational videos for board meetings available on MHA’s website
MHA has developed a series of board education videos designed as
short introductions on specific health care topics to be shared during
hospitals’ board meetings or for individual use. MHA recently filmed seven new
videos. These videos, as well as previously recorded videos, are available on MHA’s website. Topics
and speakers include:
- 2016 Statewide Summary of MHA
Workforce Data
- Mark Sonneborn, vice president, health information and analytics, MHA
- MHA Quality Improvement Process
- Rahul Koranne, M.D., MBA, FACP, senior vice president, clinical affairs
and chief medical officer, MHA
- The 2016 Legislative Session in
Review and 2017 Session Preview
- Mary Krinkie, vice president, government relations, MHA
- 2016 Election Preview and Tips
for Advocacy
- Mary Krinkie, vice president, government relations, MHA
- MACRA: The Impact on Provider
Payment
- Matthew Anderson, J.D., senior vice president, policy and strategy, MHA
- Presenting the Business Case
for Patient Safety: Professional Liability Claim Analysis
- Annette Burke, RN, BSN, MJ, CPHRM, risk control consultant, CNA, Health
Care Segment, Bloomington, MN
- Federal Update
- Ben Peltier, J.D., vice president, legal services and federal relations,
MHA
If you find other topics that you would like MHA to explore,
please contact Peggy Westby, MHA vice president of education
and member services, 651-603-3518. MHA plans to add additional videos at least
once a year. return to top
Thank
you to Annual Meeting sponsors
MHA’s Annual Meeting is scheduled for Sept.
21-23 at Madden’s on Gull Lake in Brainerd. For more information, download the conference brochure. To register, visit MHA’s website, log in, click “Calendar of
Events” and select the program title to register.
Many key sponsors have already committed to helping MHA deliver a high-quality
program. MHA would like to thank the following sponsors for their generosity
and continued commitment to Minnesota health care. For more information about
sponsorships, contact Cari Kronschnable, clerical/program
coordinator, MHA, 651-659-1428.
Gold Sponsors
- CliftonLarsonAllen LLP
- MMIC Group
- SM US LLP
Silver Sponsors
- Dougherty & Company LLC
- Eide Bailly LLP
- Hunt Electric Corporation
- Kraus-Anderson Construction Company
- Life Link III
- McGough Construction
- Mortenson Construction
- NXC Imaging
- PNC Bank
- Ryan Companies U.S. Inc.
- Stinson Leonard Street LLP
- Witt/Kieffer
Bronze Sponsors
- Boldt Construction
- Delta Medical Systems
- Knutson Construction
- Medical Information Technology, Inc. (MEDITECH)
- Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
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