In this issue
Flu
widespread in Minnesota
Resources for
hospitals available on MHA website
According to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), influenza
is widespread across Minnesota with 144 influenza-related hospitalizations for
the week ending Jan. 4. For the 2013-14 flu season, there have been 378 total
hospitalizations. The H1N1 virus is the most commonly identified flu strain
reported so far this season. A handful of hospitals have implemented visitor
restrictions, with others reminding visitors with flu-like symptoms not to
visit. In response to last year’s flu season, a work group developed a number
of resources and sample policies to help hospitals respond quickly and
consistently throughout the state. Visit www.mnhospitals.org/patient-safety/preventing-flu
for sample visitor policies, signage, employee communication and more. return to top
Check your inbox for MHA 2014 directory survey
Hospital CEOs, their administrative assistants and associate
members should watch their email inboxes this week for the MHA 2014 directory
membership survey.
MHA annually updates contact information of senior leaders and key contacts
within hospitals, health systems and associate member companies to ensure the
MHA database is accurate, up to date and that communications are reaching the
appropriate contacts.
Please complete the survey and return by Monday,
Feb. 17
to Ashley Gauster, MHA member services and communications specialist,
651-603-3545. return to top
Call
for entries for 2014 awards program
Nominations due
Friday, Feb. 14
MHA seeks nominations for its 30th annual awards program
celebrating outstanding work by Minnesota hospitals and health systems.
Entries are due by Friday, Feb. 14; find the entry form here: MHA Awards: Nomination Form
MHA award categories recognize excellence involving community health, workforce
issues, patient care and career promotion, for example. Honors for individuals
recognize trustees, volunteers, hospital executives, caregivers and public
officials. Additional information on the categories and judging criteria can be
found on MHA’s website.
MHA will notify all entrants whether they have won in mid-March. A reception
and dinner will take place Friday,
April 25 at the Metropolitan Ballroom in suburban Minneapolis. All MHA members and associate members
are invited and encouraged to attend the awards ceremony. Mark
your calendars and plan to join us for this celebration of excellence in
Minnesota health care.
For more information, contact Sarah Bohnet, MHA visual communications
specialist, 651-603-3494. return to top
Newborn
Screening lawsuit settled
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Newborn Screening
Program announced today that it has settled the Bearder-Skaja, et al. lawsuit.
This settlement does not change any procedures at hospitals to collect the
specimen for the Newborn Screening Program.
According to MDH, these court proceedings came as a result of a lawsuit against
MDH claiming that the Minnesota State Genetic Information Act of 2006 required
written parental consent before the department could store, use or disseminate
newborn screening blood spots.
With the agreement and in order to comply with the Supreme Court ruling and
statutory authority, MDH has begun to:
- Destroy the approximately 1
million blood spots received prior to Nov. 16, 2011 that have been kept in
secure storage since 1997.
- Destroy blood spot test results
(both positives and negatives) from any specimen that is older than two
years.
In 2012, state law was updated to clearly state how MDH and
partners may use, store and disseminate blood spots and test results. Under the
revised statutes:
- MDH retains all negative blood
spots for 71 days from the date they are received by MDH and all positive
blood spots for two years.
- All blood spot test results
(positive or negative) are kept for two years to comply with federal
requirements, and are then destroyed.
- Parents may consent to retain
both the blood spots and test results for a longer period of time.
The MDH Newborn Screening Program may no longer have test
results available on children more than two years of age. The department is
asking parents to contact the child’s birth facility to obtain any screening
records. This settlement does not require destruction of newborn screening
results that providers may have in their own medical record systems.
Click here to read a stakeholder letter from
MDH regarding the status of the lawsuit involving the Minnesota Newborn
Screening Program and next steps for the program. return to top
IRS
to clarify employer mandate for volunteer EMS departments
Last Friday, the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) stated that final rules regarding employers’ obligations to
provide health insurance or face financial penalties will clarify that those
obligations do not apply to volunteer emergency personnel, such as volunteer
emergency medical service (EMS) and fire departments. The letter can be found here.
Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), employers with more than 50 employees will
be required to offer affordable health coverage or pay financial penalties if
their employees receive federal subsidies for insurance coverage purchased
through a health insurance exchange. Many communities that rely upon volunteer
EMS, fire departments and other first responders expressed concern that the new
requirements would dramatically increase the costs of these services and, in
many areas, leave residents without access to the life-saving paramedic and
first-response services needed.
Although the IRS has not promulgated final rules governing the new requirements
for employers, it responded to concerns by stating that, “As a result of [the
agency’s] review and further analysis concerning the appropriate treatment of
volunteer firefighters and voluntary emergency personnel . . ., the forthcoming
final regulations generally will not require volunteer hours of both volunteer
firefighters and volunteer emergency medical personnel at government entities
or tax-exempt organizations to be counted when determining an employer’s
full-time employees or full-time equivalent employees.”
For more information, contact Matt Anderson, MHA vice president of
regulatory and strategic affairs, 651-659-1421 or Jen McNertney, MHA policy analyst, 651-659-1405. return to top
Trustees
hear from Attorney General Swanson
Seventy-seven hospitals were represented at the annual Trustee
Conference Jan. 10-12. Attendees heard from Minnesota Attorney General Lori
Swanson on Friday about her role in consumer protection, enforcer of anti-trust
laws and regulator of charitable institutions.
“An active trustee can be an active ambassador for your community,” she told
attendees. “You care about your communities; you care about your patients. You
are the moral compass, the voice of the community.”
She reminded trustees of their fiduciary duty, duty of care, duty of loyalty and
duty of obedience. She urged trustees to actively oversee management, and said
her door is open to trustees. return to top
MHA
report on Minnesota hospitals’ community health needs assessments
For years, many Minnesota hospitals and health systems conducted
formal or informal assessments of their communities’ health needs. Because of
new requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and proposed rules from
the Internal Revenue Service, for the first time charitable hospitals are
completing comparable, formal community health needs assessments (CHNAs).
MHA has collected and analyzed 84 CHNAs from hospitals across the state. MHA’s
preliminary report can be found here and its catalog of hospitals’ CHNAs can
be found on the MHA website.
MHA reached four key conclusions based on the priority needs that each hospital
identified and intends to address in the years ahead:
-
Identifying and prioritizing
health needs are very community-centric activities, and each hospital and
its community sets their priorities and areas of focus in their own way.
- Despite Minnesota’s
nation-leading health care delivery system, securing access to care
remains a significant and high priority for many communities. Out of the
84 CHNAs, 33 indicated ensuring or increasing access to care and 15
specifically noted access to primary or specialty health care services are
among the most significant priorities in their community.
- Promoting wellness and reducing
obesity and its corresponding chronic diseases are nearly ubiquitous needs
that hospitals and communities across the state hope to impact.
- Mental health and substance
abuse services are commonly identified as some of the most pressing needs
of communities of all sizes, locations and demographics. The growing
strains on current mental and behavioral health systems are no longer
regarded as sustainable, and 45 of the 84 CHNAs documented mental health
as a high priority and 27 noted forms of substance abuse areas as high
priorities.
MHA plans to release additional reports and analysis from its
CHNA collection in the future.
To help build momentum from the CHNA process to creating the community-wide
initiatives that will make the greatest impact on the high-priority needs, MHA
and the Minnesota Association of Local Public Health Agencies are hosting “Building Collaborations for Local
Community Health” from noon to 3 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 20 at
the Dakota Lodge in West St. Paul. Mark your calendars and watch for
registration information soon.
For more information, contact Matt Anderson, MHA vice president of
regulatory and strategic affairs, 651-659-1421 or Jen McNertney, MHA policy analyst, 651-659-1405. return to top
The
Itasca Project Workforce Alignment Team to launch pilots
The Itasca Project Workforce Alignment Team will soon launch
four different pilots aimed at helping academic leaders and employers work
together more quickly to meet real-time job demands and to help students and
job seekers to make more informed decisions about their options based on the
labor market.
The Itasca Project is a
civic alliance focused on building a thriving economy and improved quality of
life in Minnesota. In 2012, the Itasca Project convened a higher education
task force to identify strategies that should be implemented for higher
education in Minnesota to drive long-term, sustainable economic growth and
prosperity.
After publishing a white paper entitled “Higher Education Partnership for Prosperity,” the task force launched the Itasca Workforce Alignment
Team, which is comprised of employers, educators, and state agencies, and is
co-chaired by Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) Chancellor
Steven Rosenstone and Schwan’s Chief Human Resources Officer Scott Peterson.
MHA is represented on the team.
The team is charged with ensuring that the human capital available in Minnesota
readily meets the foundational and technical skills needed by employers in
today’s economy and in the years ahead.
Through interviews or surveys, 600+ workforce stakeholders helped the team
identify specific information and process challenges faced by workforce
decision-makers. The pilots will bring new data tools and approaches to
decision-makers to ensure workforce stakeholders have the appropriate
information, tools and supporting enablers to make better decisions.
The pilots will involve 14+ academic institutions, four workforce centers and
75+ employers. Several of the pilots will be focused on questions related to
programs in health care. For example, Saint Paul College will review its new
Pharmacy Technician program involving employers representing: Target
Corporation; Walgreens; CVS; Walmart; Regions Hospital (HealthPartners); Allina
Health; HealthEast Care System; and Fairview Health Services.
Also, Winona State University will use the new tools as it engages in
conversations with employers about the feasibility of developing a new online
adult baccalaureate completion degree in health information management and
health informatics.
Pilots will be active through June followed by recommendations to scale and
potentially test additional pilots as needed in fall 2014.
For more information, contact Ann Gibson, MHA vice president of federal
relations and workforce, 651-603-3527. return to top
Proposals
sought for Minnesota Rural Health Conference
The 2014 Minnesota Rural Health Conference, "Weaving the
Threads of Rural Health," is scheduled for June 23-24, 2014 in Duluth.
The Conference Committee is seeking proposals from those interested in
presenting a breakout session at the conference.
The first day of the conference, Monday June 23, is focused on critical
access hospitals (CAHs) and their communities. The second day takes a
broader look at rural health in Minnesota. Conference focus areas include:
promising practices; tools and resources; operational effectiveness;
collaborations and partnerships; and patient access and engagement. Within
those focus areas, proposals explicitly
related to state and federal health reform trends and provisions will be given
preference.
View the call for proposals here. Use the 2014 Breakout Session Proposal Form to submit
your proposal by Feb. 7, 2014. For questions contact Kim Nordin, 218-737-9390 ext 237. return to top
CentraCare
Health President and CEO Terry Pladson to retire Dec. 31
Terry Pladson, MD, has announced he will retire as president and
CEO of CentraCare Health on Dec. 31, 2014. Pladson assumed the role of
co-president in 1995 with the merger of St. Cloud Clinic of Internal Medicine
and St. Cloud Hospital and became sole president of the newly formed CentraCare
Health in 2002. CentraCare Health has grown from one hospital, one clinic and
one senior living campus into an organization of more than 8,000 employees
operating six hospitals, nursing homes and senior apartment communities in six
communities, and 17 clinics.
Pladson has been an active member of MHA, serving on the board of directors
since 2003 and as board chair in 2010. He served as the American Hospital
Association Regional Policy Board (RPB) 6 representative and on the Minnesota
Hospital Association Political Action Committee board. In 2009, he earned the
MHA Grassroots Champion Award advocacy on behalf of hospitals and health
systems and was honored with the Stephen Rogness Distinguished Service Award in
2012.
Gene Windfeldt, chair of the CentraCare Health board of directors, praised Pladson:
“Dr. Pladson has been an inspiration to the board and the entire organization
through his commitment to the CentraCare mission, ‘to improve the health of
every patient every day.’ He has been the right person at the right time for
the CentraCare organization.” return to top
ICSI to host webinar on new acute pain assessment and opioid
prescribing protocol
Every chronic pain patient started out with
acute pain, so what can be done to manage pain and minimize the risk of
dependency or addiction? At this webinar you'll hear from a panel of
clinicians from the work group that developed the Institute for Clinical
Systems Improvement’s (ICSI) new protocol that considers care and treatment of
patients in acute pain. The webinar is free and open to members and
non-members. The webinar will take place Monday, Feb. 10 from noon to 1 p.m.
CST. For more details and to register by Feb. 5, visit http://bit.ly/1c0Wacn. return to top