In
this issue
Marcie
Lindgren honored with MHA Volunteer of the Year Award
MHA on June 2 honored innovative programs and outstanding leaders in health
care at its 33rd annual awards ceremony.
Marcie Lindgren of Bigfork Valley Hospital received the Volunteer of the Year
Award, which honors hospital volunteers for their important role in supporting
a positive patient and family experience at hospitals and health systems.
A member of the hospital auxiliary for 35 years, Lindgren has been treasurer
and chaplain and is now president of the organization. She finds volunteers for
the front desk, helps serve at hospital events, coordinates staff appreciation
events and works on projects to help fund scholarships for local students in a
health care field. After retiring from her career at Bigfork School, Lindgren
eagerly accepted the opportunity to staff the information desk at the hospital
so she could be the first to welcome visitors. She truly became the face of
Bigfork Valley.
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
to exhaust CHIP funding by Sept. 30
Minnesota will exhaust its Children’s Health Insurance Program
(CHIP) allotment of $115 million for FY 2017 at the end of September, months
earlier than expected. The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission and
other entities estimated that Minnesota would exhaust its funding at the end of
December. Department of Human Services (DHS) Commissioner Emily Piper sent a letter and fact sheet urging Minnesota’s
congressional delegation to act quickly to extend funding for CHIP beyond its
Sept. 30 expiration date.
On Sept. 12-13, MHA members and leadership staff met in Washington, D.C., with
Sens. Klobuchar and Franken and members of the House delegation to emphasize
the importance of CHIP funding to ensuing health coverage for vulnerable
Minnesotans and urged them to act quickly to approve the extension of CHIP
funding.
Congressional action is needed to extend CHIP funding and to reauthorize the
enhanced CHIP payments provided by the Affordable Care Act. The enhanced
federal match of 23 percent is projected to provide about $60 million to
Minnesota annually.
DHS plans to continue CHIP coverage for covered children and pregnant women if
Congress does not extend the program’s funding beyond Sept. 30. However,
continuing coverage will result in a significant cost to the state of
approximately $10 million. Currently, Minnesota’s CHIP covers children in
families with incomes between 275 and 283 percent of federal poverty level
(FPL) and pregnant women ineligible for Medicaid with incomes up to 278 percent
FPL.
The leaders of the Senate Finance Committee, Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Ron
Wyden (D-OR), have reportedly reached an agreement to extend CHIP. Under their
agreement, CHIP would be extended for five years and the enhanced federal match
would remain in place for 2018 and 2019 and then be phased out by reducing the
match to 11.5 percent in 2020 and eliminating it 2021. The House Energy and
Commerce Committee, which also has jurisdiction over CHIP, is also working on a
plan to extend the program; no details have been released. The timeline for
Congress to approve legislation is unknown. return to top
MHA
leaders meet with Congress
In conjunction with the AHA’s Regional Policy Board meetings in Washington,
D.C., last week, several representatives of MHA met with members of the
Minnesota congressional delegation to press them on key federal topics. Meeting
participants included Mary Maertens, MHA board chair and regional president,
Avera Marshall; Randy Ulseth, board member and CEO of FirstLight Health System;
and Lawrence Massa, MHA president and CEO.
The MHA representatives asked the delegation to continue encouraging the Trump
administration to approve Minnesota’s waiver request related to the reinsurance
program authorized by the Minnesota Legislature to begin in 2018. In addition,
MHA highlighted the benefits of the 340B Drug Pricing Program and expressed
concerns about a pending regulatory proposal that would substantially reduce
Medicare reimbursement for PPS hospitals participating in the 340B
program.
For many of the meetings, MHA partnered with representatives of the Minnesota
HomeCare Association to discuss issues of mutual concern to the combined
membership of the two associations. This was the first time that MHA and MHCA
have participated in combined congressional visits and the joint presentations
were well received. return to top
Lakewood
Health System presents rural perspective on successful IHP
Tim Rice, president and CEO of Lakewood Health
System in Staples, and Teresa Fisher, chief operating officer and chief nursing
officer, on Sept. 14 presented information to the Minnesota Senate’s Select
Committee on Health Care Consumer Access and Affordability about the success of
its participation in the state’s Integrated Health Partnerships (IHP), as well
as some of the challenges of delivering high-quality, affordable health care
services in rural communities.
As one of the first rural hospitals to participate in the IHP program, Lakewood
Health System has demonstrated substantial reductions in total cost of care by
tackling utilization of health care services while increasing access to the
right care and improving quality. Highlights of their success include:
- Chronic disease management
through the hospital’s medical home model has reduced total cost of care
32 percent
- Total cost of care reduction of
6 percent across payers on value-based contracts
- Emergency room reduction by 2.9
percent
- Inpatient readmission rated
reduction by 14.9 percent
- Swing bed and skilled nursing
facility decrease in total cost per episode by 17 percent and average
length of stay by 24 percent
Lakewood Health System invests significant resources –
approximately $1.8 million annually – to support this total cost of care work.
Rice and Fisher shared with the committee that this effort benefits the
community but may be unsustainable if changes are not made to the payment
reimbursement model. Financial incentives should align with keeping patients
out of the health care system, reducing cost and preventing chronic illness.
When asked what the Legislature could do to help, Rice said that health care
providers need simplified quality and measurement standards and better reimbursement
for certain services when moving to a total cost of care model. In addition,
Rice urged legislators to enhance rural broadband services in order to improve
telemedicine options and provider recruitment, as well as to help reduce health
care costs by improving payment for palliative care. return to top
Think
TB
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), in collaboration with
St. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health, is investigating an increase in
multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) cases among the elderly Hmong
community. Although most cases have occurred in Ramsey Country, this situation
may likely involve a broader area.
TB is still common in other parts of the world. Refugees and immigrants are
more likely to be exposed to TB at some point in their lives because they come
from areas with high levels of TB infection. Furthermore, Hmong refugees who
lived in the Wat Tham Krabok refugee camp in Thailand may have been exposed to
MDR TB while living at the refugee camp. As this population ages, they are at
higher risk for developing chronic diseases such as diabetes and chronic kidney
disease, which can lead to reactivation of latent infection.
Providers and community members should be thinking TB when at-risk populations
experience any of the following symptoms:
- Coughing for three weeks or
longer
- Weight loss
- Poor appetite
- Night sweats
- Fever
- Chills
- Feeling tired or weak
- Chest pain
- Coughing up blood or
brown-colored material from lungs
These patients should seek testing immediately and treatment
should be started, when appropriate. Treatment of patients with latent
tuberculosis infection at high risk for reactivation TB is extremely important
in TB control efforts.
For more detailed treatment guidelines and to learn more about TB, visit the MDH website. return to top
FHA
creates fund for hospital employees affected by Hurricane Irma
The Florida Hospital Association (FHA) has launched the FHA
Hospital Employee Assistance Fund to directly assist hospital employees who
suffered significant property loss or damage during Hurricane Irma. Although
the storm’s full impact is still being assessed, many care team members serving
patients during the storm lost homes or experienced significant property
damage.
To learn more about this effort and provide a donation, visit the FHA Hospital
Employee Assistance Fund website. return to top
Conference
on Rural Emergency Care to be held Sept. 29
The fourth Comprehensive Advanced Life Support
(CALS) Conference on Rural Emergency Care will be held Sept. 29 at the
Continuing Education and Conference Center on the University of Minnesota’s St.
Paul campus. The conference will spotlight current critical issues and new
developments in rural emergency care and provide participants with up-to-date
knowledge and skills to deliver the highest-quality emergency medical care in
rural settings.
Learn more and register online. return to top