In this issue
September
is Sepsis Awareness Month
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is
working to increase sepsis awareness and improve treatment outcomes by
declaring September as Sepsis Awareness Month.
Sepsis is the body’s overwhelming and life-threatening response to infection
that can lead to tissue damage, organ failure and death. Severe sepsis can be associated
with a mortality rate of up to 50 percent in hospitals that do not utilize an
early detection and treatment bundle. The Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA)
has coordinated the development of resources to facilitate the adoption of severe
sepsis early detection tools and the Surviving Sepsis Campaign three- and
six-hour care bundles by hospitals of all sizes.
Resources about sepsis including patient resources, recent reports on the
incidence of sepsis, clinical guidelines, bundles, staff educational materials
and examples of quality improvement efforts by health care facilities to
improve sepsis survival are available on the CDC’s website. return to top
Minnesota
receives $5 million federal grant to expand apprenticeship programs
Fairview Health Services will receive a portion of the award and
represented health care apprenticeships at the White House Summit
The White House awarded Minnesota a $5 million federal grant to expand
registered apprenticeships in high-growth jobs, including health care, at a
summit on apprenticeships on Sept. 8.
Minnesota’s grant will help bring more than 800 individuals into newly
registered apprenticeship programs in 29 different high-growth occupations. The
state grant partners are the Department of Economic and Employee Development
(DEED) and the Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) with employer partners.
MHA member Fairview Health Services’ plans to expand its apprenticeship program
are included in the award. Fairview will receive $750,000 to provide 150
apprenticeships over a five-year period. Laura Beeth, system director talent
acquisition, human resources, Fairview Health Services, was among about 100
leaders from across the country who were invited to the summit.
Apprenticeships combine on-the-job training with skills and safety instruction
provided by schools of higher learning. Apprentices earn industry recognized
credentials after completing the program. As of September 2015, Minnesota
reached almost 11,000 registered apprentices, up from about 6,600 in 2011.
Minnesota apprenticeship programs have increased their focus on outreach and
recruiting of women and minorities.
For more information, contact Ann Gibson, vice president of federal
relations and workforce, MHA, 651-603-3527. return to top
Secretary
of state announces open appointments for state entities
The Minnesota secretary of state has announced September’s open
appointments for state entities. The following are of interest to MHA members.
The Governor’s Task Force on Broadband is seeking one member. The task force’s
charge is to develop, implement and promote state broadband policy, planning
and initiatives to achieve state broadband needs and goals. Meetings will
be held at least monthly in St. Paul.
The Minnesota Department of Human Services is seeking five members for the
Special Review Board for custody petitions involving individuals civilly
committed as mentally ill and dangerous, as a sexually dangerous person or as a
sexual psychopathic personality. The Special Review Board consists of two
psychiatrists, one attorney and two persons experienced in the field of mental
health. Meeting schedules and length may vary. Meetings are held at the
Department of Human Services in St. Paul.
The Minnesota Security Hospital is seeking a psychologist to participate on the
Hospital Review Board (HRB). The HRB hears clients' concerns regarding the
conditions affecting their care and provides recommendations to the
administration. Each HRB panel consists of one psychologist, one attorney
and one public member. No member shall be employed by the Department of Human
Services or affiliated with the Department of Human Services for at least one
year. The HRB may meet up to twice per month at the St. Peter Campus.
The Working Group on Violence against Asian Women and Children has 15
appointments available, including for health professionals. The working group
must study the nature, scope and prevalence of violence against Asian women and
children in Minnesota, including domestic violence, trafficking, international
abusive marriage, stalking, sexual assault and other violence. Meeting
schedule and location to be determined.
For more information about these open appointments and to apply, visit the secretary of state’s website. return to top
Registration
available for Trustee Regional Meetings in October, November
Registration is now available for MHA Trustee Regional Meetings
scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 13, in St. Cloud; Thursday, Oct. 15, in Hibbing;
and Wednesday, Nov. 4, in Redwood Falls. During the meetings, MHA Senior Vice
President of Policy and Strategy Matt Anderson will present information on
policy changes that will affect Minnesota health care providers.
Almost all of Minnesota’s hospitals and health systems have missions to serve
their communities and are either publicly owned or private charitable organizations.
For decades, exemption from paying income, property and sales tax went
hand-in-hand with these nonprofit statuses. Now, however, hospitals’ and health
systems’ tax exemptions are being challenged at local, state and federal
government levels. Most of these challenges concern issues or decisions within
trustees’ oversight and influence.
Trustees who participate in this program will earn one credit under the
Effective Governance (EG) component of MHA’s Board Education Certification
Program. Click here for more
information or to register. return to top
New
federal law will require hospitals to notify Medicare beneficiaries of
outpatient observation status
Beginning Aug. 6, 2016, hospitals will be required to notify
Medicare patients when they are in outpatient status according to new legislation that Congress passed by unanimous
consent.
More specifically, the legislation requires hospitals to provide a Medicare
beneficiary with written notification and a related oral explanation at
discharge or within 36 hours, whichever is sooner, if the patient received more
than 24 hours of outpatient observation services. The written notification must
explain in plain language the Medicare patient’s status as an outpatient under
observation, the reasons for that status and the potential implications for
cost sharing and Medicare skilled nursing facility coverage. The notice must be
available in appropriate languages and signed by the patient or his/her
representative, or by hospital staff if the former refuse to sign it.
Last session, the Minnesota Legislature passed a similar requirement that is
already in effect. Unlike the federal law, Minnesota’s law is less
administratively burdensome for hospitals because it recognizes the advantages
of documenting the notice in the patient’s electronic medical record rather
than requiring hospitals to obtain patients’ signatures.
For more information about Minnesota’s law that is already in effect, contact Mary Krinkie,
vice president of government relations, MHA, 651-659-1453, or Kristin Loncorich, director of state government relations, MHA,
651-603-3526. return to top
Direct
supervision enforcement delay passes Senate
The bill to delay enforcement of the Direct
Supervision of Outpatient Therapeutic Services policy through 2015 passed the
U.S. Senate unanimously last week. The bill (S. 1461) goes to the U.S. House of
Representatives. The House passed similar legislation on a broad bipartisan
basis last year.
The direct supervision policy was adopted by the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services (CMS) several years ago. It has not been enforced due to
delays put in place by the agency and Congress.
MHA and the American Hospital Association continue to support passage of the
Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services Act (PARTS Act, S. 257/H.R. 1611),
which offers a more permanent solution by flipping the impractical and
unnecessary direct supervision standard to a general supervision standard. MHA
is pleased that both Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken and Reps. Rick Nolan,
Collin Peterson and Tim Walz have already signed on as cosponsors of the PARTS
Act.
For more information about the bills pertaining to the direct supervision
policy or other federal legislative issues, contact Ann Gibson,
vice president of federal relations and workforce, MHA, 651-603-3527. return to top