The Kentucky Chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives will offer 1.5 hours of Face-to-Face Education Credits for this panel discussion on the Health Care Executive's Role with the Opioid Crisis immediately following the KHA Health Care Leadership Conference on November 9 in Louisville.

View the brochure for details. Online registration is available for your convenience.

If you have any questions, please contact Pam Kirchem at KHA (pkirchem@kyha.com).

The KHA Small Rural and CAH Forum will meet via webinar on October 25 at 3:00 p.m. (ET). The session's guest speaker/presenter is Brock Slabach, vice president of the National Rural Health Association. Slabach will provide a federal policy update. Additionally, Chris Neville with Collective Medical will discuss the special emergency department (ED) program being expanded in Kentucky.

If you have additional topics you would like covered, or need participation information, please contact Elizabeth Cobb at KHA (ecobb@kyha.com).

KHA is grateful for the support of its Annual Sponsors! Through their generous donations, KHA is better able to support its members and provide a wide array of services. Please join KHA in thanking Platinum Sponsor UnitedHealthcare Community & State!

UnitedHealthcare Community & State is dedicated to providing health care products and services to states that care for economically disadvantaged, medically underserved and those without employer-funded health care coverage.

For more information, visit the CMTA website at https://www.uhccommunityandstate.com/.

To become a sponsor, contact Claire Arant at KHA (carant@kyha.com)....

The Ridge Behavioral Health System, the Kentucky Hospital Association,and the Advocacy Action Network will host the Suicide: Across All Ages and Stages Conference on December 7 in Lexington. This conference will address many of the causes of suicide as well as prediction and prevention. The keynote presentation will discuss the intersection of opioid misuse and suicide.

Suicide takes life without regard to age, income, education, social standing, race, or gender. Overall, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death for all Americans, the 2nd leading cause of death for adults ages 25-34, and the 3rd leading cause of death for youth ages 15- 24. In Kentucky, suicide is the 11th leading cause of death. On average, one person dies by suicide every 12 hours in Kentucky.

View the brochure for Conference details. Online registration...

KHA Solutions Group Affinity Partner FairCode bridges the gap between your attending physicians and hospital coders. The result? Patient acuity and Case Mix Index is more accurately captured; your reimbursement adjusts accordingly. Physician-conducted medical chart reviews happen in real time, significantly impacting quality and bottom line results. From clinical chart reviews to payor denial defense, FairCode's physicians are a part of your team! Add them to your existing CDI initiatives, and see the difference.

FairCode Associates, LLC was founded in 2001 by a team of physicians and nurses to improve coding documentation and compliance in hospitals. We are dedicated to the correct documentation of patient acuity, and to ensuring that our clients receive full and fair compensation for the care they render.

To learn more about how FairCode can help...

Norton Children's Hospital and the University of Louisville Physicians - Pediatrics will host the Seventh Annual Pediatric and Behavioral Mental Health Symposium on Friday, November 16 at the University of Louisville Shelby Campus in Louisville.

This symposium will address pediatric mental health concerns that often are experienced by individuals secondary to racial bias, immigration status, developmental status, chronic medical conditions and sexual orientation. Providers will gain insight into best practices for mental health screening within diverse populations, treatment options and existing community resources for children and adolescents with gender dysphoria, children of immigrant status with mental health concerns and children displaying behavioral problems as a result of chronic medical conditions or developmental disabilities. Additionally, providers will learn strategies to identify at-risk individuals and engage patients and families in developing mutually acceptable plans for utilizing...

In recognition of the hard work of health care professionals, which has caused health care-associated infections to decline, while acknowledging the importance of the continued vigilance of professionals and the public to use best practices in preventing infections, Governor Matthew Bevin proclaimed October 14-20, 2018, as Kentucky Infection Prevention Week.

View the Governor's full proclamation for all the details. For more information on Infection Prevention week, visit http://professionals.site.apic.org/.

KHA is grateful for the support of its Annual Sponsors! Through their generous donations, KHA is better able to support its members and provide a wide array of services. Please join KHA in thanking Corporate Sponsor CMTA!

CMTA is a multi-specialty firm that specializes in cost effective, energy efficient buildings. They are true partners vested in your long-term success.

For more information, visit the CMTA website at https://www.cmta.com/.

To become a sponsor, contact Claire Arant at KHA (carant@kyha.com).

KHA and the K-HIIN group recently recognized Christopher Plummer, mental health technician, and Jerry Osborne, security officer, at Our Lady of Peace (OLOP) as the latest Patient Safety Hero Awardees. They were both nominated by Jason Underwood, Assessment and Referral Center supervisor at OLOP, for their response to a life-threatening situation.

A patient arrived to the Our Lady of Peace Assessment and Referral Center to be assessed. While sitting in the waiting area, it was discovered that the patient was not breathing. A Code Blue was called and Plummer immediately lowered the patient to the floor and began CPR. He began chest compressions while Osborne was positioned to start rescue breathing. After Plummer administered 20 chest compressions, the patient began...

There are only 8 days left until the KHA 2018 Fall Volunteer Conference. Join volunteers, directors of volunteers and gift shop managers from across Kentucky at the Fall Volunteer Conference. Enjoy a day of excellent programming, a silent auction, lunch and a tour of the historic Fasig-Tipton thoroughbred auction company.

This year's event will be held at the historic Fasig-Tipton Thoroughbred Auction Company

View the brochure for a full agenda and program details. Online registration...

KHA is grateful for the support of its Annual Sponsors! Through their generous donations, KHA is better able to support its members and provide a wide array of services. Please join KHA in thanking Bronze Sponsor Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp)!

LabCorp is a leading global life sciences company that is deeply integrated in guiding patient care through its comprehensive clinical laboratory and end-to-end drug development services. Employing nearly 60,000 employees worldwide, the company’s mission is to improve health and improve lives by delivering world-class diagnostic solutions, bringing innovative medicines to patients faster and using technology to improve the delivery of care.

For more information, visit the LabCorp website at https://www.labcorp.com/....

King’s Daughters Medical Center neurologist Enawgaw Mehari, M.D., has practiced in the U.S. for several years, but he has never forgotten his home country of Ethiopia. Since 1999, Dr. Mehari has spearheaded an organization called People to People (P2P) to, in his words, “facilitate the transfer of knowledge and technology to Africa with special emphasis in Ethiopia.”

Dr. Mehari has taken King’s Daughters physicians with him to Ethiopia— oncologist/hematologist Galena Salem, M.D., traveled there with Dr. Mehari in 2017— to teach medical professionals and care for patients. The organization alternates between visits to Ethiopia with medical professionals, and a U.S.-based medical conference for those with connections to Ethiopia. This year, People to People is hosting a worldwide conference in Washington, D.C.

This year marks the conference’s 10th anniversary with several firsts: an in-person and online conference focusing on “the growing burden of cardiovascular diseases in Ethiopia.”...

From the Somerset Commonwealth Journal:

UK HealthCare/The Norton Healthcare Stroke Care Network has recognized Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital with the “Innovation Award” for its work in improving stroke care for its patients.

At the Network’s annual Summit in Lexington on August 16, Dr. Michael Dobbs, MHCM, director of the Stroke Care Network, praised Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital for their dedication to excellence in stroke care.

“Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital’s commitment to quality improvement and coordination of resources to provide their patients with the highest quality stroke care is to be commended,” Dr. Dobbs said. “Everyone’s goal is to provide the best care for stroke patients as close to home as possible and Lake Cumberland’s efforts embody that principle.”

The “Innovation Award” is given to those who demonstrate remarkable innovation with implementing a leading edge approach to stroke care.

Lisa Bellamy,...

The 2018 A Day for Infection Preventionists will be held November 13 in Louisville. This educational event is aimed at supporting Kentucky infection prevention professionals in their daily work to reduce health care associated infections and provide quality patient care. The one-day conference builds on foundational skills provided in previous educational offerings and explores topics with emerging importance. The target audience includes infection preventionists, chief nursing officers, risk managers, quality improvement and patient safety personnel in the hospital.

CEUs are available for attendees.

For agenda details, view the brochure. To reserve your place, use the convenient online registration.

If you have any questions, please contact Sharon Perkins at KHA (sperkins@kyha.com).

Are you a Hospital Recruiter looking to network with other hospital recruiters around the state? If so, KAHCR invites you to their next meeting at KHA Headquarters in Louisville on October 16.

The Kentucky Association for Healthcare Recruitment (KAHCR), affiliated with the National Association for Healthcare Recruitment (NAHCR), is welcoming new members! The KAHCR chapter membership includes health care recruitment professionals across the State of Kentucky and Southern Indiana. The chapter's mission is to provide a forum for those professionals engaged in the recruitment of health care personnel for their institutions, through which programs may be developed for the promotion of Kentucky and Southern Indiana.

The group also provides educational programs and engages subject matter experts  on various topics. The chapter meets bi-monthly (see below for details on the next meeting).

If you would like to learn more, please attend this meeting as the organization's guest. RSVP to Kayla Williams by October 11 (Kayla.Williams@bhsi.com).

...

The KIPSQ Fall Forum, October 16 in Louisville, will gather both Patient Safety Organization (PSO) members and non-PSO members to discuss the Opioid Crisis. Presentations will encompass an intensive study conducted by ECRI Institute regarding Opioid use in acute care, a diversion prevention assessment tool and the legalities surrounding this issue.

Health care attorneys, risk management professionals, patient safety officers, quality leaders, nurse leaders, clinical leaders, CEOs, senior executives and administrative leaders are all encouraged to attend. CEUs will be available.

View the Forum Brochure for agenda details. Online registration is available for your convenience.

If you have any questions, please contact...

The KHA phone system is now repaired. You can again reach us via phone (502-426-6220 or 800-945-4542).

KHA's phone system is currently down. We have contacted our provider for service, but we do not currently know how long the system will be unavailable. All staff has access to email, and if you need to contact us urgently, but do not know which staff member can help, please email communications@kyha.com.

This blog article will be updated when the system is repaired.

KHA's book, Kentucky Hospital Statistics, is now available exclusively online. You can reach the book directly at https://www.kyha.com/kentucky-hospital-statistics.

Kentucky Hospital Statistics is a comprehensive compilation of data on Kentucky hospitals:

Numbers, types and location of hospitals in Kentucky Utilization of services Hospital finances Quality indicators Workforce and the economic impact of Kentucky’s hospitals as employers Statewide demographics Health status of Kentucky Each section will be updated as new data is available. Each update will be announced on the KHA blog.

You can reach the publication on www.kyha.com under Services->Publications->Special Publications or Data Center->Member Services Data or via the direct link listed above.

...

Falls Prevention Awareness Week is September 22 to September 28. Join the Fall Prevention Center of Excellence and the National Council of Aging (NCOA) to help spread awareness and promote strategies for falls prevention through a variety of education and resources as well as participate in social media discussions. To learn more about this week and access resources, click here. To get information on NCOA's Fall Prevention Awareness Day webinar, Facebook Live event and their twitter chat, click here....

Gateway Rehabilitation Hospital in Florence will host an Active Shooter Preparedness Seminar on October 24.

The program will be presented by Gregory A. Howard, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Protective Security Advisor - Kentucky District since 2009. As a Protective Security Advisor, Howard supports Kentucky’s homeland security efforts by facilitating, coordinating and performing vulnerability assessments for critical infrastructures and assets, and by acting as a physical and technical security advisor to federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. Prior to serving in this role, Howard retired from the U.S. Coast Guard as a Commander with over 22 years of maritime law enforcement, safety and security experience.

To attend, please RSVP to Chad Beasley at Gateway Rehabilitation Hospital (859-426-2373).

The Kentucky Hospital Improvement Innovation Network (K-HIIN) was honored on Friday with the 2018 Team Achievement Award by the Kentucky Association for Healthcare Quality (KAHQ). The KAHQ Executive Committee noted K-HIIN's multiple projects with hospitals to increase quality care along with, "the results obtained throughout the state are quite impressive" as reasons for the award.

K-HIIN is the latest in a multitude of quality and patient safety projects KHA has coordinated and participated in over the years. The hard work of participating hospitals in this project has resulted in progress in several areas, including Adverse Drug Events – Excessive Anticoagulation, CAUTI, CLABSI, Falls, Stage 3 and 4 Pressure Injuries, and Ventilator-Associated Events.

The K-HIIN team is grateful to KAHQ for this recognition of the dedication they and...

The 2019 KHA Legislative Platform will be presented to the Association membership for approval at the annual KHA Health Care Leadership Conference (HCLC) on November 9 at the Louisville Marriott East.

Governor Bevin’s Executive Cabinet Secretary Scott Brinkman will report from the Executive Branch on health care, Medicaid, the drug epidemic and other challenges facing the commonwealth.

Leaders of the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives will reveal plans for the upcoming session and how health care factors into their parties' agendas. A media panel will address the hot topics associated with the 2019 session of the Kentucky General Assembly, the future of politics in Kentucky and its impact at the state and federal levels.

Finally, U.S. House editor...

KHA, in association with The Ridge Behavioral Health System and the Advocacy Action Network, will host a conference on suicide prevention systems on Friday, December 7 at The Marriott Griffin Gate in Lexington. Mark your calendars now!

The focus this year is Suicide: Among All Ages and Stages.

Suicide takes life without regard to age, income, education, social standing, race or gender. Overall, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death for all Americans, the second leading cause of death for adults ages 25-34 and the third leading cause of death for youth ages 15-24. In Kentucky, suicide is the 11th leading cause of death. On average, one person dies by suicide every 12 hours in Kentucky.

The conference has an experienced lineup of presenters, including Kristen Quinlan, PhD, Evaluator for SAMHSA’s CAPT Northeast Resource Team and Epidemiologist for SAMHSA’s Suicide Prevention Resource Center. Dr. Quinlan is a senior research associate at Education Development Center,...

If you are looking to build connections and/or establish affiliations or joint ventures with Kentucky hospitals to better assist them in fulfilling their responsibilities in a cost-effective manner, consider being a sponsor of the Kentucky Hospital Association.

Sponsorships include opportunities at KHA's signature event, the 90th Annual Convention — May 8-10, 2019.

There are several different sponsorship levels to meet your needs. If you have any questions, please contact Claire Arant at KHA (carant@kyha.com) or visit the Sponsorship Opportunities page of our website at www.kyha.com/sponsorship-opportunities.

KHA Solutions Group Affinity Partner FairCode Associates was founded in 2001 by a team of physicians and nurses to improve coding documentation and compliance in hospitals. They are dedicated to the correct documentation of patient acuity, and to ensuring that their clients receive full and fair compensation for the care they render.

FairCode's specially trained physicians and coding professionals have been working with clients nationwide. This list includes academic medical centers, teaching hospitals, rural community hospitals and multi-hospital health systems.

They work closely with your coders and CDI team members to bridge the gap between clinical documentation and the assignment of codes. Using advanced technology to support peer-to-peer communication with attending physicians, a DRG-specific database of historic changes, (to say nothing...

KHA will host a Full Membership Update call on Thursday, September 13 from 2:00 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. (ET). The agenda for the call is as follows:

1. Medicaid Update
2. UPL Update
3. CON Update

To participate, please dial: 1-877-594-8353
When prompted, enter participant number: 16020884

KHA is conducting a survey on hospital policies and procedures regarding Hepatitis A in the emergency department.

Please take a few moments to complete the brief survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KHAHepA2018 by September 14.

If you have any questions, please contact Ashley Peterson at KHA (apeterson@kyha.com).

Open Enrollment for the 2019 Medicaid Plan Year will take place from November 1 - November 30, 2018. While new beneficiaries can enroll in Medicaid at any time, Open Enrollment is the only chance for beneficiaries who are already receiving Medicaid to switch their Managed Care Organization (MCO).

The Open Enrollment period gives beneficiaries the opportunity to consider what MCO offers the best plan for their family's needs and situation.

If beneficiaries want to change their MCO during Open Enrollment, they can visit benefind.ky.gov, visit their local Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) office or talk to their local Assister.

KHA is grateful for the support of its Annual Sponsors! Through their generous donations, KHA is better able to support its members and provide a wide array of services. Please join KHA in thanking Gold Sponsor Barnett Benvenuti & Butler PLLC!

The attorneys and staff of Barnett Benvenuti & Butler (BB&B) are dedicated to the law of health care. Their clients appreciate responsive attorneys, substantive advice and efficient solutions tailored to the particular needs of health care providers. The firm's legal team is driven to provide exceptional service through effective advocacy and wise counsel. Their focus on health law helps you focus on health care.

For more information, visit the BB&B website at http://www.bbb-law.com/....

Emergencies and accidents can happen anytime, anywhere. Are your employees prepared for the financial burdens that could arise due to extremely high medical transportation costs both at home or while traveling the country?

Americans today suffer from a false sense of security that their medical coverage will pay for all costs associated with emergency or critical care transport. The reality is that the majority of people are only partially covered for these costs.

MASA Medical Transport Solutions provides more than just benefits. They provide the ultimate peace of mind from emergency medical transport bills after even the best insurance companies have paid their part.

Here’s what you can expect with MASA:

Payroll deducted - $7 per pay period ($14 a month)....