In this issue
Member
spotlight: Lakewood Health System’s groundbreaking community health program
This past spring, Lakewood Health System, Staples, was
recognized by MHA with the 2015 Community Benefit Award in the small hospital
category. Through its Community Needs Health Assessment, Lakewood Health System
identified childhood and adult obesity as two focus areas. Choose Health provides
access to locally-grown, healthy foods to food-insecure families. Lakewood
Health System partners with community agencies to identify families to receive
a free Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) membership. Families pick up free,
locally-grown commodities every other Thursday at the farmer’s market held at
the hospital. They also receive free health screenings, nutrition education,
free cooking and preparation demonstrations, recipes, and personal support and
encouragement. The project’s first phase results in positive health outcomes
and feedback from its participants, and 100 percent of participants said they
would recommend the program to others. Read more about this year’s award
recipients here. return to top
Safety
program for infection prevention in LTCs
Sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
(AHRQ) and in partnership with the Health Research & Educational Trust
(HRET), MHA is developing and implementing an infection prevention and safety
program to support long-term care facilities in adopting evidence-based
infection prevention practices. This resident safety improvement program is
designed for facilities with both short-stay residents or Skilled Nursing
Facilities (SNFs), and long-stay residents or nursing homes.
More information can be found in this informational brochure, and an informational
webinar will be presented on the following dates:
For additional information, contact Tania Daniels, MHA vice president of patient safety, 651-603-3517. return to top
PAC
golf tournament Monday, Aug. 24
Registration is now open for the Minnesota Hospital Association
Political Action Committee golf tournament. The tournament will be held Monday,
Aug. 24 at Territory Golf Club in St. Cloud. Lunch will be served at noon,
shotgun start at 1 p.m., with a dinner buffet and awards to follow at 5 p.m.
Contact Carol Eshelman, MHA division assistant, 651-603-3539 to register. return to top
DHS
requires provider revalidation
Providers currently enrolled with Minnesota Health Care Programs
(MHCP) must revalidate their enrollment records at least once every five years.
Hospitals will begin revalidation this month. A detailed revalidation schedule
by provider type is shown on the MHCP website here.
When a provider’s revalidation occurs, MHCP will send a notice with
instructions based on a provider’s risk level and type file to your PRVLTR
folder of their MN–ITS mailbox. Providers without a registered MN–ITS account
will receive the revalidation request in the mail. Providers have 30 days from
the date on the notice to fax in all required documents. If MHCP does not
receive all required information, it will send a Request for More Information
notice asking for the remaining required information to complete revalidation.
This information is due 30 days from the date on the notice. If MHCP does not
receive all required information 30 days after that notice, it will send a
60-day notice of termination including provider appeal rights and options for
re-enrolling after termination.
More information about revalidation can be found here. return to top
Physician
Quality Reporting System group practice deadline June 30
Physician groups wishing to participate in the 2015 Physician
Quality Reporting System Group Practice Reporting Option must register by June 30. CMS will transition
PQRS to its Enterprise Identity Management System on July 13, and strongly
encourages groups intending to use the GPRO for PQRS reporting to register by June 26
to ensure a smooth transition. Satisfactorily reporting via PQRS GPRO is one
way for groups of two or more eligible professionals to avoid automatic payment
reductions of 2 percent for PQRS and 4 percent for the Value-Based Payment Modifier under the
physician fee schedule. Group practices that meet PQRS reporting requirements
also qualify for incentive payments under the value modifier. Group practices
that choose not to register for the GPRO must ensure that at least half of
their EPs meet PQRS reporting requirements for individual EPs to avoid the 2017
payment reductions and qualify for incentives.
For more information, contact Joe Schindler, MHA vice president of finance,
651-659-1415. return to top
SPRC
to host webinar on suicide prevention in the ED
The Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) will be hosting a
webinar highlighting emergency departments as a key setting for suicide
prevention efforts. The webinar will bring together experts in emergency
medicine, emergency psychiatry, and research to describe the rationale for ED-focused
suicide prevention; discuss barriers and solutions to integrating suicide
prevention in EDs and introduce resources to support implementation of suicide
prevention approaches in EDs.
The complimentary webinar will be held Tuesday, June 16 from 2-3:30 p.m. Click here for registration. For more information,
contact Dominique Lieu, SPRC training coordinator, 617-618-2984. return to top
Rural
Palliative Care Networking Group addresses PTSD
The Rural Palliative Care Networking Group will be offering an
education session on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and how it may
affect patients and veterans who are receiving care. Participants will learn
how to describe PTSD and the population affected by the disorder and identify
team specific interventions that can be offered to those with PTSD.
The session will be held Thursday, June 18 from 10 a.m. to noon at Fairview
Lakes HomeCaring & Hospice in Chisago City. To register for in-person attendance, click here. To register for conference call
attendance, click here. For more information,
contact Janelle Shearer, Stratis Health program manager, 952-853-8553. return to top
MDH
to host RCA training
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and
partners will be hosting a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) training for those who are
relatively new or need a refresher on issues related to facilitating an RCA or
sentinel event review process in their facility.
The day-long training will be held July 16, 2015 at the Wilder Foundation in
St. Paul, MN. Space is limited, click here to register. More information about the
training can be found here.
For questions, contact Rachel Jokela, adverse health events program
director, MDH, 651-201-5807. return to top