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 website. return to top