Minnesota Hospital Association

Newsroom

April 23, 2018

MHA Newsline: April 23, 2018

In this issue 

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is April 28

The 15th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), will take place April 28. Learn more and locate a collection site near you on the Minnesota’s Hospitals: Strengthening Healthy Communities website and on the DEA website.   

On the most recent take-back day on Oct. 28, Minnesota collected 26,145 pounds of prescription medication at 91 participating sites.   

Unused medicines that remain in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse. Safe storage and disposal of prescription medications is essential to keeping loved ones healthy and safe. Learn more about the importance of safe disposal of unneeded medications on the Strengthening Healthy Communities website – and share this information with others via social media. return to top   

Legislative update

Last week the House and Senate completed their respective versions of the health and human services supplemental budget bills. Because this is the second year of the biennium, these bills make only minor adjustments to the budget.   

The Senate bill (SF 2505) focuses on the use of telemedicine for school-linked mental health grants, funding to replace a loss of federal funding in the disability waiver rate system, modifications in long-term care regulations and some additional funding for the opioid abuse prevention pilot project.   

The House bill (HF 3138) funds the statewide suicide prevention program and a study of the 340B program, as well as adds alcohol and drug counselors to the loan forgiveness program with some additional funding in that program. In addition, the bill includes the language to have Minnesota join the Enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact.   

This week these supplemental budget bills will be considered in the House Ways and Means committee and Senate Finance committee before being voted on by the full House and Senate bodies. The next step in the legislative process will be to reconcile the differences between the bills in a conference committee.    

With questions, contact Mary Krinkie, vice president of government relations, MHA, 651-659-1465, or Kristin Loncorich, director of state government relations, MHA, 651-603-3526.   

Session bill tracker
For a complete list of 2018 legislative bills MHA is tracking, visit the MHA Member Center. For assistance accessing the Member Center, contact Ashley Beno, member services and communications specialist, MHA, 651-603-3545. return to top   

Register for April 30 Performance Matrix training webinar

MHA is offering the first in a series of training webinars for the new 3M Performance Matrix analytics platform on April 30 from 12-1 p.m. This analytics tool is available to MHA members at no cost. More information about the new platform was shared in the Feb. 26 issue of Newsline.   

The webinar will address the initial steps of accessing the analytics tool and conducting a market share analysis. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions.   

To register for the webinar, contact Jenny Sanislo, division assistant, MHA, 651-659-1440.  

To request access to Performance Matrix, contact Bonnie Terveer, data operations assistant, MHA, 651-603-3520. For assistance with data interpretation or navigation within the tool, contact Katie Banks, health informatics analyst, MHA, 651-659-1406. return to top

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