KHA is always looking for new ways to communicate with its members. To provide a new platform that presents the latest Association information in a convenient format, KHA is proud to present its brand new resource: The Kentucky Hospitals Podcast.

Members can access the latest episodes at www.kyha.com/podcast. Just log in on any desktop or mobile device for a list of episodes. You can click the Subscribe button there to receive email notifications with a new episode is produced.

The inaugural episode covers key issues KHA is currently working on for the membership including "surprise...

When a public health crisis or natural disaster strikes, increased demand may overwhelm your facilitiy’s staff. While every hospital has an emergency plan, updating your plans to include contacting Qualivis for supplemental staffing needs during emergencies is an easy way to improve your strategy. When rapid response staffing is essential to meet health care demands, facilities can count on Qualivis.

How to initiate Qualivis’ Rapid Response Staffing

If a facility needs rapid response staffing, it is simple. You can contact Pam Kirchem at KHA (pkirchem@kyha.com) or your Qualivis account specialist, and they will take it from there to ensure needs are met as quickly as possible.

How Qualivis helps facilities when disaster strikes

Easy access to a nationwide network of health care staffing agencies to simplify and speed the search process, so you can focus on providing patient...

The Kentucky Hospital Association and Collective Medical Technologies are committed to supporting patients with substance use disorder (SUD) and the providers who care for them. Medication-assisted therapy and coordinating care is proven to improve outcomes. As a part of this commitment, Collective Medical is adding Kentucky SUD clinics, behavioral health practices and related treatment facilities to this growing Kentucky network.

In Elizabethtown, Stepworks Recovery Centers is now connected to Hardin Memorial Health. Through the Collective Platform, care managers from Stepworks can now collaborate with Hardin Memorial emergency department (ED) staff when a Stepworks client presents in the ED to ensure that they aren't prescribed medications that could result in a relapse.

Deron Bibb, a board of directors member at Stepworks, explains, “It can be frustrating for centers like ours when patients leave our doors, relapse and return to the hospital — and we have no way of knowing because...

KHA recently received a letter from a company called Widelity which is acting on behalf of the Kentucky Educational Television (KET) system. KET, along with other television stations around the state, is beginning the process of changing the frequencies they broadcast on across the commonwealth, and there is a chance that depending on what your facility is using for wireless devices associated with patient care monitoring and remote operation of equipment, the change in frequencies could potentially create interference if they are within 70 miles of a transmitter.

While the information KHA has received from Widelity seems to indicate that something may have been sent directly to hospitals, it is not clear who in your organization may have received it. It also looks like a commercial solicitation; therefore, it may have been ignored, misdirected or discarded.

Due to the amount of wireless technology that has become part of the patient care system, the risk management exposure...

The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) has issued emergency regulations for Behavioral Health Services Organizations (BHSOs) which became effective July 1. These regulations were issued on an emergency basis to implement the state’s 1115 substance use disorder (SUD) waiver. The public comment period on these regulations will be held in August, with any public comments due by August 31.

One of the regulations amends state licensure requirements for BHSOs offering mental health treatment [902 KAR 20:430]. The remainder address Medicaid coverage and payment for BHSO services.

Action Needed

KHA staff has reviewed these regulations and did not identify particular issues. However, please review the changes, including the new regulation governing BHSO SUD services, and contact Nancy Galvagni at KHA (ngalvagni@kyha.com) by August 15 if changes are needed so KHA can file comments before the August...

All members are invited to join KHA staff on Friday, July 12 to volunteer for the National Veterans Wheelchair Games in Louisville. Staff members will be working at the Motor Rally event at Churchill Downs, but there are other events all over the city.

To volunteer for the rally or any other event you'd like to attend!, visit https://lnkd.in/guEQgDQ.

Earlier today, KHA submitted comments to the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce regarding the No Surprises Act, legislation focused on ending surprise billing.

While applauding and supporting the legislators' plans to protect patients, KHA detailed the ways the proposed legislation could affect Kentucky's hospitals including imposing arbitrary rates on providers and creating unfunded mandates on hospitals.

To see a full copy of KHA's comments, members can visit the Policy page of www.kyha.com.

If you have any questions, please contact Nancy Galvagni at KHA (ngalvagni@kyha.com).

KHA is excited to salute all 93 hospitals who have joined the Kentucky Statewide Opioid Stewardship (KY SOS) so far.

A substantial grant from the Anthem Foundation has equipped physicians treating patients in emergency departments (EDs) across the state with new, state-of-the-art software to help make faster, more informed treatment decisions. The software, called EDie, was developed by Salt Lake City-based Collective Medical Technologies and is being provided at no cost to hospitals across the commonwealth by the Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA) thanks to the $250,000 grant.

The partnership enables KHA member hospitals’ access to the Collective Medical network and EDie solution, a real-time, risk-adjusted event notification and care collaboration platform. This helps KHA members identify and support high-risk patients in need and facilitates collaboration of providers across care settings. As a result, the partnership...

The Advisory Committee for the Kentucky Statewide Opioid Stewardship was recently named and held its first meeting. The Committee will develop standards for the program and is comprised of clinical experts in emergency medicine, addictions treatment, pharmacy and nursing, along with hospital administration and a former patient. These experts, along with KHA staff, will assist participating hospitals with implementation and will gather data to track their progress.

If a CMS surveyor showed up at your hospital tomorrow, would you know what to do? Two upcoming KHA seminars will cover the 2019 changes in the CMS Hospital Conditions of Participation (CoPs). Hospitals have seen a significant increase in survey activity by CMS, so this is a great way to educate everyone in your hospital on all the sections in the CMS hospital manual especially ones that apply to their department.

CMS Hospital Conditions of Participation Made Easy 2019 July 17-18 Brochure Online Registration is closed, but on site registration will be available at the venue.   Revised CMS CAH Conditions of Participation 2019: Ensuring Compliance July 18-19 Brochure...

The Ireland Army Health Clinic will change command of the Medical Activity at Fort Knox from Colonel Kevin R. Bass to Colonel Hugh McLean on Monday, July 8 at Haszard Auditorium in Fort Knox.

The Kentucky Society for Healthcare Public Relations and Marketing (KSHPRM) hosted its Spring Conference on Friday, June 7 at Shaker Village in Harrodsburg.

The conference welcomed public relations and marketers from hospitals and health systems across the state to learn about the rapid advancements in health care marketing.

The speakers for the event included Dr. Kathy Previs (Eastern Kentucky University), Rudy Fernandez (Creative Outhouse), Una Newman (Frederick Swanston) and Michael Cunningham.

“This year’s Spring Conference was one of our best ever! We had four terrific, nationally known speakers, and everyone seemed to enjoy the networking opportunities. We always hold our KSHPRM events in interesting and uniquely Kentucky venues, and Shaker Village may be my favorite yet,” stated...

Earlier today, KHA submitted comments to CMS regarding the proposed fiscal year 2020 inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) prospective payment system rule. The comments are available to members on the Policy page of the KHA website.

KHA specifically commented on the definition of a rehabilitation physician and the proposed weighted motor score.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Nancy Galvagni at KHA (ngalvagni@kyha.com).

A great way to keep up with KHA is via social media. The Association has a Facebook page, a Twitter Feed, a LinkedIn page and event an Instagram account. You can use the links and handles below to find KHA online:

Facebook @KYHospitals

Twitter @KYHospitals

LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/company/kentucky-hospital-association

Instagram @kyhospitals

Nurse leaders and HR professionals are invited to a series of brief webinars on the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) presented by NCSBN. Webinar topics include:

• Overview of the Nurse Licensure Compact
• Update regarding the status of pending legislation in various states
• Explanation of Nursys, the national nurse licensure database and E-Notify
• Requirements when changing primary state of residence
• Answers to Your Questions

For more information and registration, visit https://www.ncsbn.org/nlc-meetings.htm.

The Kentucky Institute for Patient Safety and Quality (KIPSQ) will host its summer deep dive and safe table meeting on July 16 at Baptist Health Lexington. The event will also include a legal update for KIPSQ members.

ECRI Institute PSO’s Deep DiveTM: Meeting Patients’ Behavioral Health Needs in Acute Care explores how hospitals can meet patients’ behavioral health needs in non-psychiatric areas of the hospital. Failing to meet patients’ behavioral health needs has implications for patient safety, quality of care, occupational health, patient and staff satisfaction, security and risk management, legal and regulatory compliance, public relations and the organization’s operations and finances. In acute care settings, leaders should analyze how well the hospital performs in meeting patients’ behavioral health...

KHA salutes Wayne County Hospital and its CEO, Joe Murrell, MHA, FACHE, for being the first hospital in the Cumberland District to join the Kentucky Statewide Opioid Stewardship (KY SOS). Murrell joined the program at the Cumberland District Meeting in March.

Opioid stewardship involves a coordinated effort to reduce opioid-related harm by developing alternative means to manage pain and, when opioids are used, assuring that opioid prescribing and patient monitoring aligns with evidence-based guidelines. KY SOS will focus on reducing opioid overprescribing and improving safe opioid use by providing hospitals and health systems with education and resources on how to attain the highest level of performance on opioid stewardship.

KHA is proud to lead the KY SOS program as hospitals commit to working...

KHA salutes Russell County Hospital and its CEO Scott Thompson along with Taylor Regional Hospital and its CEO Jane Wheatley for being the first hospitals in the Ohio Valley District to join the Kentucky Statewide Opioid Stewardship (KY SOS). Both hospitals joined the program at the Ohio Valley District Meeting in March.

Opioid stewardship involves a coordinated effort to reduce opioid-related harm by developing alternative means to manage pain and, when opioids are used, assuring that opioid prescribing and patient monitoring aligns with evidence-based guidelines. KY SOS will focus on reducing opioid overprescribing and improving safe opioid use by providing hospitals and health systems with education and resources on how to attain the highest level of performance on opioid stewardship.

KHA is proud to lead the KY SOS program as hospitals commit to working together to improve opioid stewardship collectively to combat the opioid epidemic in the commonwealth.

For information about how your hospital can join KY SOS, please contact Donna Meador at KHA (dmeador@kyha.com).

Pictured (top picture) are Russell County Hospital CEO Scott Thompson (center) with KHA's Melanie Moch and Donna Meador.

Pictured (second picture) is Taylor Regional Hospital's KY SOS team with CEO Jane Wheatley (seated, center).

On May 30, KHA submitted comments to CMS on the FY 2020 proposed Medicare inpatient prospective payment rule. The proposed rule includes changes that will increase the wage index for hospitals in the lowest 25th percent, which is all of Kentucky’s rural PPS hospitals. Specifically, this increase would be half of the difference between the hospital’s pre-adjustment wage index and the 25th percentile (0.8482). The increase is budget neutral, meaning that it will be funded by reducing the area wage index of hospitals above the 75th percentile (more than 1.0351). The change provides the greatest benefit to hospitals located in the East South Central census region (which includes Kentucky) while reducing the wage index in the Pacific and New England states.

KHA has long advocated for action to address the widening gap between low and high wage index areas. Kentucky has the 36th lowest rural wage index and no urban area has a wage index greater than 1.0.

The change is estimated to raise Kentucky...

 

The Kentucky Society of Addiction Medicine will host a conference on June 29 in Lexington on Improving MAT in Kentucky. During this program, participants will learn about new research findings in the fields of addiction medicine. Attendees will learn about recent advances and current evidence-based approaches to understanding and treating substance use disorder and addiction. Attendees will acquire new knowledge and skills to improve the care of those with addiction.

The agenda's topics include:

Is it Psychiatric or Substance Induced MAT in a Primary Care Setting Caring for the Displaced Chronic Pain Patient Kentucky's Political Climate and Addiction Treatment Next Phase of Contingency Management - Technology Potential Endocrinopathies with Chronic Opiate Usage The program has been approved for 4.5 hours of HB1-approved CME credits.

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Recently, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) proposed changes to the licensure regulations that govern Medical Detoxification Services. These changes would have restricted the ability of hospitals to offer this needed service, particularly at a time when we are combating the opioid epidemic. KHA discussed these concerns with the OIG and submitted comments, after consulting with the KHA Psychiatric and Chemical Dependency Forum and individual members. KHA is pleased that the OIG agreed with all of KHA’s recommendations and, as a result, they will not finalize the problematic changes.

Specifically, as a result of KHA’s comments, the OIG is eliminating the proposed requirement for medical detoxification services to be provided only by a hospital with chemical dependency (CD) treatment beds. Instead, the rule will maintain the status quo by allowing medical detox services to continue to be provided in any of the following facilities: a chemical dependency treatment program, a general acute care hospital or a licensed psychiatric hospital. The regulation does update the requirements for providing detox services. However, requiring patients to receive medical detoxification services in a licensed chemical dependency bed or only in a hospital with chemical dependency beds was too restrictive, given that there are only seven hospitals with licensed CD beds and it is standard practice for medical detoxification protocols to be initiated on medical/surgical patients hospitalized for other reasons. The OIG’s proposed restriction also created issues related to reimbursement if all detoxification had to be rendered in a CD bed as opposed to an acute bed or, for psychiatric hospitals, in a psychiatric bed....

Did you know that the number one area of deficiencies in the CMS Conditions of Participation (CoP) is regarding restraints? CMS issued a memo summarizing all of the deficiencies against hospitals which is updated quarterly. KHA will host a webinar on June 19 discuss the most problematic standards in the restraint section.

If a CMS surveyor showed up at your hospital tomorrow would you be prepared? Does your staff understand all 50 pages of the CMS interpretive guidelines? This program will also discuss the proposed changes to restraints published in the Hospital Improvement Rule which address changing the term to licensed practitioners so PAs can order restraints.

See the program's flyer for additional details about the webinar. Online registration...

KHA salutes TriStar Greenview Regional Hospital and its CEO Mike Sherrod for being the first hospital in the Twin Lakes District to join the Kentucky Statewide Opioid Stewardship (KY SOS). Sherrod joined the program at the Twin Lakes District Meeting in March.

Opioid stewardship involves a coordinated effort to reduce opioid-related harm by developing alternative means to manage pain and, when opioids are used, assuring that opioid prescribing and patient monitoring aligns with evidence-based guidelines. KY SOS will focus on reducing opioid overprescribing and improving safe opioid use by providing hospitals and health systems with education and resources on how to attain the highest level of performance on opioid stewardship.

KHA is proud to lead the KY SOS program as hospitals...

KHA and the Kentucky Hospital Research and Education Foundation (KHREF) is pleased to continually provide the opportunity for critical access hospital (CAH) CEOs, CFOs and other financial leaders to network and discuss important financial topics. KHA shares the goal with the Kentucky Office of Rural Health (KORH) to provide education, resources and the opportunity for CAHs to collaborate in the collective effort to strengthen the state's rural health network and sustain access to quality health care services. This effort is supported through the Rural Hospital Flexibility Program – a federal grant to support CAHs.

On June 6, KHA will host a meeting of the Kentucky Rural Hospital Financial Network — a meeting for CFOs of small, rural and CAH hospitals — at Baptist Health Richmond.

Please see the flyer for more details. Online registration...

Safety net hospitals struggle to stretch scarce resources to provide crucial services to their patients while meeting their bottom line. It does not have to be this way. When managed compliantly, the 340B program does what it was intended to do: secure the financial future of safety net organizations who serve the nation’s vulnerable population.

The 340B program can have a significantly positive impact for hospitals, their patients and their communities if hospitals know how to administer and manage the program effectively.

KHA will host a 340B Compliance Workshop on June 27 in Louisville where subject matter experts will present insights for safety net hospitals to tap into the benefits of the 340B program, including increasing financial support that enables hospitals to provide better care, improve patient outcomes and help the indigent/uninsured gain access to the discounted medications they need.

View the program flyer...

KHA will host a very timely and informative seminar to assist member hospitals with swing beds in the transition to the Patient Driven Payment Model on June 27 at KHA Headquarters in Louisville.

The Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) is a new case-mix classification system for classifying skilled nursing facility (SB/SNF) patients in a Medicare Part A covered stay into payment groups under the SNF Prospective Payment System. Effective beginning October 1, 2019, PDPM will replace the current case-mix classification system, the Resource Utilization Group, Version IV (RUG-IV).

This program is intended to assist small rural PPS hospitals with training for their staff to ensure they have a good understanding of what is PDPM, what are the changes in the MDS and/or how will it impact their revenue. PDPM is not just a payment shift, it requires a cultural change in care delivery and care delivery models, as well as a clear understanding of what should be expected from staff in implementing new processes.

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KHA sponsor Qventus provides a comprehensive “system of action” that enables hospitals and health systems to optimize patient flow. Incorporating modern principles of behavioral, management and data science, the Qventus platform allows health care organizations to transform their operations by identifying bottlenecks before they occur, orchestrating actions among frontline teams and managing ongoing performance improvement.

With Qventus, leading hospitals and health systems such as Emory University Hospital, Fairview, Mercy, and New York Presbyterian have been able to significantly decrease length of stay, reduce excess days, increase patient volumes and more -- resulting in higher margins, improved caregiver well-being and enhanced patient care.

For additional information, visit www.qventus.com.

The Kentucky Department for Public Health (DPH) along with the Governor’s office is asking Kentucky hospitals for support in reaching at-risk populations in the quest to vaccinate for Hepatitis A. Please see the Department's letter and call to action for details.

This is an extremely important issue, so KHA has contacted hospital CEOs, CMOs and CNOs to act on this opportunity.

If you have any questions, please contact the DPH Immunization Team (502-564-4478).

KHA salutes Harrison Memorial Hospital and its CEO Sheila Currans for being the first hospital in the state as well as the first in Blue Grass District to join the Kentucky Statewide Opioid Stewardship (KY SOS). Currans joined the program at the Blue Grass District Meeting in March.

Opioid stewardship involves a coordinated effort to reduce opioid-related harm by developing alternative means to manage pain and, when opioids are used, assuring that opioid prescribing and patient monitoring aligns with evidence-based guidelines. KY SOS will focus on reducing opioid overprescribing and improving safe opioid use by providing hospitals and health systems with education and resources on how to attain the highest level of performance on opioid stewardship.

KHA is proud to lead the KY SOS program as hospitals...