Minnesota Hospital Association

Newsroom

February 16, 2015

MHA Newsline: Feb. 16, 2015

In this issue 

Ebola funding, mental health and loan forgiveness top legislative action last week

Last week the Senate passed legislation to provide $2 million for Ebola related costs for the four Ebola treatment hospitals and EMS providers (S.F. 174 – Sen. Cohen – St. Paul). However, a controversial amendment was added to the bill on the Senate floor to delay salary increases for the governor's agency heads until July 1, 2015. The governor stated he would veto this legislation if it reaches his desk with this amendment. The House will need to act on this bill before it is sent to the governor.   

On the topic of mental health, Kathy Knight, vice president, Fairview Behavioral Health; Dr. Paul Goering, vice president, Allina Mental Health; and MHA testified in support of the governor’s proposed budget.    

In another bill, the Senate Higher Education committee added more than $3 million to the current loan forgiveness program (S.F. 3).   

Finally, MHA testified in support of AARP-Minnesota’s proposal (S.F. 107 – Sen. Eken – Twin Valley) to require hospitals to document the name of the patient’s caregiver in the patient medical record and provide training on post-hospital care. MHA has suggested amendments that would tailor the bill specifically to take into account what Minnesota hospitals are already doing.   

Upcoming hearings of interest:
On Monday, Feb. 16, at noon the Senate Health, Human Services and Housing Committee will hold a hearing on legislation to stratify SQRMS (the state quality reporting and measurement system) measures by race, ethnicity, language and socioeconomic status and develop methods to adjust these risk factors when reporting provider cost and quality (S.F. 501 – Sen. Wiklund – Bloomington).   

On Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 8:15 a.m. the House Civil Law and Data Practices Committee will hold a hearing on "Protecting Medical Privacy in Minnesota."   

The Legislative Auditor's report on MNsure will be released at 11 a.m. The House Health and Human Services Finance and Policy Committees will hold a joint hearing at 12:45 p.m. on the report. The Senate Health and Human Services Finance and Policy Committees will hold a joint hearing on the report at 4 p.m. that same day.    

On Wednesday, Feb. 18, the Senate Health and Human Services Finance division will hold a hearing on legislation to fund the poison information center (S.F. 359 – Sen. Franzen – Edina).    

At noon, the Senate Health, Human Services and Housing Policy Committee will hold a hearing on the mental health system.   

At 2:45 p.m. the House Health and Human Services Policy Committee will hold on a hearing on legislation to expand the integrated health care delivery pilot project to North Memorial Health Care (H.F. 525 – Rep. Freiberg – Golden Valley.)   

New bills that were introduced last week included:
The governor's budget bills have been introduced in both the House and Senate. This bill is the policy language that goes along with the governor's budget documents that were released on Jan. 27 (H.F. 850 – Rep. Liebling - Rochester / S.F. 825 – Sen. Lourey – Kerrick).   

For a complete list of 2015 legislative bills MHA is tracking, visit the Member Center. For assistance accessing the Member Center, contact Ashley Gauster, MHA member services and communications specialist, 651-603-3545.  return to top   

Hospital Presumptive Eligibility bulletin published 

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) has published a bulletin for the hospital presumptive eligibility (HPE) program. The bulletin reviews HPE policies and procedures, including how HPE interacts with the new eligibility system and MA determination through MAXIS. HPE-trained hospital staff are encouraged to review the bulletin to ensure compliance with the HPE program. There are no program changes indicated in the bulletin.   

Minnesota implemented HPE beginning July 1, 2014. MHA worked closely with DHS to ensure HPE would be a workable process for hospitals and their patients and achieve the goals of the program: create access to coverage and reimburse hospitals for care delivered to HPE-eligible individuals.   

For more information contact Jen McNertney, MHA policy analyst, 651-659-1405.  return to top  

Include Always© campaign aims to involve patients, families 

A new MHA quality improvement campaign, Include Always©, offers an exciting opportunity to transform health care by authentically engaging patients and families at all levels within your hospital. Join MHA April 21 and 22 to learn ways to improve patient and family engagement (PFE) at your hospital.   

Teams of leaders, managers, front line staff and patients are invited to a fun, innovative training session that will demonstrate concrete steps for reaching the following goals: 

  • Having a dedicated person or team in the hospital actively working towards engaging patients and families throughout the system. 
  • Creating a Patient and Family Advisory Council in 2015 that can focus on partnering with you. 
  • Begin transforming your culture to a place where patients and families are included and considered experts on your team. 
  • Next steps as you move forward with increased PFE. 

Include Always is a team sport – for leaders, managers, front line staff and patients. Bring your team with you, including a patient. Don’t have a team yet? Bring people who are passionate about patient and family engagement so they can learn how to Include Always.   

MHA is already working with five pilot hospitals across the state: Glencoe Regional Health Services; Grand Itasca Hospital and Clinic, Grand Rapids; Sanford Bemidji Medical Center; Windom Area Hospital; and Lakewood Health System, Staples.   

Registration details coming soon. The program will be limited to 200 participants. For questions, contact Karen Olson, MHA patient safety and quality coordinator, 651-603-3521.  return to top  

Hospitals invited to learn lessons from leading Ebola care hospitals

The American Hospital Association (AHA) is holding a members-only call on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 3 p.m. CT to examine the leadership lessons learned from American hospitals’ experiences with Ebola and how they can help your organization prepare for the next crisis. Hear directly from CEOs whose organizations were on the front lines as they discuss the strategic considerations that hospital and health system executives need to understand when preparing for and dealing with a potential case of Ebola, or any infectious disease.   

All hospital and health system executive team members are encouraged to attend. There will be ample time to ask questions of the speakers. Speakers include: 

  • Ram Raju, M.D., president and CEO, New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation 
  • John Fox, president and CEO, Emory Healthcare 
  • Bill Dinsmoor, CEO, Nebraska Medicine 
  • Rosanna Morris, COO and chief nursing officer, Nebraska Medicine 

For questions or to participate, contact Shellie Byrum, AHA, 202-626-2342.  return to top   

Learn to get more kick out of life at the Healthcare Leadership Institute

St. Cloud-based professional speaker and trainer Denny Smith will present the closing session at the Healthcare Leadership Institute this March. The presentation, Life is a Banquet So Why Bring a Sandwich, is an upbeat, motivational keynote designed as a how-to session for getting more kick out of life both on and off the job.   

Denny Smith has been creating and facilitating learning experiences for the past 42 years. After 11 years as a full time teacher and coach, Denny launched a career as a professional speaker, trainer and seminar leader. For the past 33 years he has been conducting personal and professional development sessions for business groups, sales organizations, health care professionals, educators and students.   

The conference has been approved for up to 12.75 clock hours by the Minnesota Board of Examiners for Nursing Home Administrators.   

The conference will be held March 4-6 at the Crowne Plaza Minneapolis West in Plymouth. For more information or to register download the conference brochure or visit MHA’s websitereturn to top