Minnesota Hospital Association

Newsroom

December 11, 2017

MHA Newsline: Dec. 11, 2017

In this issue 

Physicians can now receive Maintenance of Certification credit for MHA quality participation

MHA joins ABMS Multi-Specialty Portfolio Program   

The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) has announced that the Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA) has joined the ABMS Multi-Specialty Portfolio Program™ (Portfolio Program). Hospitals and health systems participating in MHA’s continuous quality and patient safety improvement activities can now support Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Improvement in Medical Practice (Part IV) credit for physicians who are Board Certified by one of the 20 of 24 ABMS Member Boards participating in the Portfolio Program.   

Through ABMS MOC Improvement in Medical Practice credit, physicians can meet the requirements for maintaining their certification while meaningfully participating in quality and patient safety improvement programs in their organizations. MHA member hospitals and health systems are currently engaged in improvement efforts across the care continuum on clinical topics such as surgery and procedural care, healthcare-associated infections, medication safety, sepsis, delirium, falls, pressure injuries and many other types of adverse health events and harm across the board. Physicians’ roles in these improvement initiatives may range from being an engaged team member, to acting as a physician champion, to actively serving on MHA’s statewide quality committees.   

“Leading and sustaining continuous quality and safety improvement across Minnesota will take all team members acting in unison in service of our patients, families and communities,” said Rahul Koranne, MD, MBA, FACP, MHA Chief Medical Officer. “We are honored to partner with ABMS to facilitate MOC credit. Closely aligning physicians’ pursuit of their continuing Board Certification with hospitals’ and health systems’ quality improvement efforts will minimize duplication, confusion and waste while helping further accelerate Minnesota’s continuous quality improvement journey.”   

Learn more on the MHA websitereturn to top   

Webinar on opioid guidelines scheduled for Dec. 12

MHA will host a webinar Dec. 12 from 11 a.m. to noon to share information about new opioid prescribing guidelines designed to curb the number of unnecessary opioid prescriptions for acute pain and promote effective alternatives, encourage careful monitoring of prescription opioid use and encourage compassionate care for chronic opioid users to help them to decrease opioid use over time. The guidelines were announced in the Dec. 4 issue of Newsline.   

The webinar will feature a presentation from Dr. Jeff Schiff, Minnesota Department of Human Services medical director, and members of his team.   

Advance registration is not required to join the webinar. Access the webinar online and by phone at 1-800-791-2345, passcode 14357. return to top   

State budget forecast projects slight deficit

Minnesota’s Office of Management and Budget on Dec. 5 released the November forecast, the biannual report that predicts Minnesota’s future economic performance, state revenues and state expenditures based on current law. The latest budget forecast predicts a $188 million shortfall for the current biennium and a deficit that is expected to grow to $586 million in the 2020-21 biennium.   

The $188 million projected shortfall does not take into account, however, the cost to restore the Legislature’s operational funding, which was vetoed by Gov. Mark Dayton at the end of the 2017 legislative session. The first bill to be passed by the Legislature upon its return on Feb. 20, 2018, is expected to be a bill to restore funding for its own operations. Dayton has indicated that he will sign a “clean” legislative funding bill, which would increase the short-term deficit to $302 million.    

Despite this negative budget projection, legislative leaders were fairly cautious in their responses. The budget shortfall includes state funding for the Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP). If Congress reauthorizes the CHIP funding, as it is expected to do prior to the end of the year, this will infuse about $178 million in federal money into the health and human services budget and reduce state spending for that program, narrowing the current projected deficit down to about $10 million, or $124 million once the Legislature’s funding is approved. The anticipated shortfall is relatively small considering that state has a $46 billion two-year state budget and a healthy budget reserve of $1.6 billion.   

The governor and the Legislature will use the February 2018 budget forecast to make any supplemental budget recommendations for the rest of the biennium. The current biennium ends on June 30, 2019. MHA will continue to be watchful regarding any budget recommendations proposing to reduce current public health care eligibility or state Medical Assistance payments to health care providers. return to top   

2018 Rural Hospital Capital Improvement Grant Program accepting applications

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) is soliciting grant proposals from Minnesota rural hospitals to update, remodel or replace aging hospital facilities and equipment.    

Eligible hospitals are non-federal, not-for-profit, general acute care hospitals with 50 or fewer beds that are located in a rural area or in a community with a population of less than 15,000 and are outside the seven-county Twin Cities metropolitan area.   

Approximately $1.75 million is available. Applicants may apply for grants of up to $125,000.   

Applications are due Jan. 19, 2018. The request for proposals and application instructions are available on the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care (ORHPC) website.   

For information and assistance, contact Lina Jau, Office of Rural Health and Primary Care, MDH, 651-201-3809. return to top

-->