In this issue
Hospital
leaders receive trustee certification
Five hospital trustees from across Minnesota were recognized for
earning certification through the Minnesota Hospital Association’s trustee
certification program. The comprehensive certification process prepares
hospital trustees to effectively meet the growing demands of serving on a
hospital board and to be strong health care and community
leaders.
By participating in MHA’s voluntary certification program, hospital trustees
receive training on current health care trends; governance best practices;
ethics; government regulations; patient safety; and quality. Participants
undergo 35 hours of coursework, making Minnesota’s initiative the most
comprehensive in the nation.
The newly certified trustees are:
Cook County North Shore Hospital, Grand Marais
District One Hospital, Faribault
Tri-County Health Care, Wadena
- Jolene Johannes
- Jon Johnson
Unity Hospital, Fridley
Learn more about MHA’s hospital trustee certification program. return to top
New
MHA study projects shortage of Minnesota physicians
A new study conducted for MHA confirms a shortage of primary
care physicians will develop over the next 10 years. Every year, MHA collects
health care workforce data from the majority of the state’s hospitals. MHA
asked Towers Watson to conduct a comprehensive review of the state of the
primary care physician and registered nurse (RN) workforces in Minnesota.
Towers Watson used publicly available data from the national Bureau of Labor
Statistics and state of Minnesota, as well as the workforce data provided to
MHA by Minnesota hospitals.
The study found that the number of graduates is inadequate to replace
retirements as they occur. Coupled with the projected increases in demand
because of an aging population will result in a significant gap of physicians.
According to the study, a cumulative shortfall of almost 850 primary care
physicians is projected for the Minnesota workforce by 2024 because of the lack
of annual growth in Minnesota’s graduate medical education programs, including
residency or clinical training positions.
MHA is urging federal and state policy makers to:
- Lift the 17-year freeze on the
number of physician residency positions available under Medicare funding,
which artificially limits the number of physicians trained each year.
- Oppose cuts to federal Graduate
Medical Education funding that would further jeopardize the ability of
Minnesota’s hospitals and health systems to train the next generation of
physicians.
- Develop a statewide health care
workforce plan, such as one focused on primary care that is under
discussion by the Governor’s office in conjunction with the National
Governor’s Association.
- Seek ways to increase funding
of Minnesota’s Medical Education and Research Costs (MERC) program that
helps hospitals and health systems offset some of the higher costs
associated with training physicians and other health care professionals.
- Support development of new care
delivery models, including increased use of tele-health technologies, to
relieve some of the demands on primary care physicians while continuing to
ensure timely and convenient access to primary care for residents across the
state.
View a presentation of the MHA workforce study. For more information
about MHA’s workforce tool, contact Ann Gibson, MHA vice president of federal
relations and workforce, 651-603-3527. return to top
MHA
partners with NJHA and RWJF to monitor ACA impact
MHA has joined with the New Jersey Hospital Association (NJHA),
the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and 23 other state hospital
associations to monitor the impact of the Affordable Care Act on hospital
admissions and emergency department utilization.
RWJF recently posted its first report on its Hospital ACA Monitoring
Project, with base-year findings.
It is anticipated that extending healthcare coverage to more Americans will
increase the use of primary care and ambulatory services and reduce reliance on
hospital emergency departments. The study aims to learn how the newly insured
patients will impact hospital utilization and seeks to find out if hospital ED
use will decline as seen in Massachusetts after the state implemented coverage
mandates. The group will also monitor to see if greater access to primary care
will lower avoidable admissions.
Under the initiative, 24 state associations have agreed to share summary level
data on a quarterly basis by payer category for certain disease conditions
believed to be sensitive to insurance status. Under a RWJF grant, NJHA serves
as the project data intermediary and collects quarterly data submissions from
state associations and shares them securely with RWJF for analysis. The
year-end 2013 data set has already been collected and will serve as the study
baseline. The first quarter of 2014, which is due by the end of the summer,
will be the first opportunity to begin studying early impacts of the ACA.
“The potential financial impact of health reform on hospitals is also unclear,”
said Katherine Hempstead, coverage team director and senior program officer at
RJWF. “While the reduction in uncompensated care is clearly a plus, there may
be significant increases in utilization by patients who have payers that
reimburse at relatively low rates.”
For more information contact Mark Sonneborn, MHA vice president of
information services, 651-659-1423. return to top
Mental
health conference brings together experts
MHA’s second annual mental health conference, “Community
Partnerships for Community Solutions,” will examine ways hospitals can work
with other providers and stakeholders in their communities to improve treatment
for people with serious mental illnesses.
The program features several experts. Laura Shrader, director of clinical
services, Two Rivers Behavioral Health in Kansas City, MO will deliver a
keynote address on her experience developing an emergency room diversion
program in Kansas City. Hennepin County Judge Jay Quam; Dr. Paul Goering, vice
president of behavioral health, Allina Health; and others will address the
state’s civil commitment law. A panel discussion on building successful
community partnerships will include Glenn Anderson of Northern Pines Community
Mental Health Center; Augsburg College professor and consumer Melissa Hensley;
and Lana Bruggeman of Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center.
Minnesota Department of Human Services Direct Care and Treatment executive
director Steve Allen will provide an update on the state’s role in treating
Minnesotans with the most challenging mental health conditions. Chris Walker,
director, inpatient mental health units & behavioral access nurses at St.
Cloud Hospital will finish the day with her hospital’s work implementing the
Reducing Avoidable Readmissions Effectively (RARE) Campaign’s transitions for
mental health recommendations.
The program will be held at the Crown Plaza, Minneapolis West in Plymouth on
Aug. 1. Click here for the event brochure or here to register online. return to top
Safety
alert issued: Controlled substance diversion can lead to health care-associated
infection
MHA and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) recently issued
a safety alert stressing the importance of
continued implementation of the recommendations of 2012’s controlled substances
diversion task force. New preliminary data of drug diversion by health care
personnel as reported to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) showed
an increase of 65 reports in 2011 to 104 in 2012. In the first eight months of
2013 there were 69 reports.
“As a result of the recommendations and roadmap created by the MDH and MHA task
force in 2012, we anticipated that reports would increase,” said Tania Daniels,
MHA vice president of patient safety.
The safety alert also highlights specific actions required to prevent and
respond to the threat of health care-associated infection resulting from drug
diversion from health care personnel. Diversion of injectable medication
represents a risk for transmission of blood borne pathogens and for bacteremia.
A recent review by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
identified six outbreaks of bacterial and hepatitis C virus infections that
resulted from drug diversion by health care personnel in U.S. health care
settings in the past 10 years.
View the safety alert and recommendations here. Access the MHA drug diversion tool kit here. return to top
Workplace
violence prevention webinar provides overview of coalition’s goals
A private-public coalition of health care
stakeholders has formed to prevent workplace violence towards staff in health
care settings and to provide resources to hospitals, long-term care facilities,
clinics and other facilities to help identify risks for violence and put
effective strategies in place.
To kick off the coalition’s work, the Minnesota Medical Association will host a
series of webinars. The first webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, July 30, from
10 to 11 a.m. and will provide an overview of violence in health care
workplaces and a road map to reducing incidence and severity. The webinar is
complimentary but registration is required.
Click here for more information on the coalition.
For questions, contact Julie Apold, senior director of patient
safety, 651-603-3538. return to top