Minnesota Hospital Association

Newsroom

September 14, 2015

MHA Newsline: Sept. 14, 2015

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 websitereturn 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 websitereturn 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