Immediately after KHA"s Health Care Leadership Conference on November 3, the Kentucky Chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives will provide a program where members can earn 1.5 Face-to-Face Education credits.

The session will focus on "green" hospitals and health care and how health leaders can change the culture in their organizations as they cut long-term operating costs while becoming more visible within the community "as an exemplar for environmental sustainibility."

A brochure is available with session details, and online registration is now open.

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

If you have participated in the Kentucky Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive program in the past and have not been paid through program year 6, the Kentucky Regional Extension Center (REC) can you achieve Meaningful Use and earn the remaining incentive monies. The Kentucky Medicaid EHR Incentive program will continue through 2021.

The Kentucky REC Health IT advisors will assist you through this process by reviewing your Meaningful Use reports, completing a gap analysis and action plan, and assisting with the submission of your attestation. They will also educate and guide you along the way.

The reporting period for 2017 is any continuous 90 days in the calendar year. So, the last 90 days of the year will begin on October 3, 2017. The deadline to submit your attestation is March 31, 2018.

If you registered for the Medicaid Meaningful Use Program in the past, but have only attested to AIU the first year, you will need to attest by October 1, 2017, using a 90-day reporting period in calendar year 2017 to...

KHA and the K-HIIN group recently recognized Sherri Boggs, quality, risk and safety manager at Our Lady of Peace Hospital in Louisville as the latest Patient Safety Hero Awardee. Boggs was nominated by Keith Rankin, the hospital's director of nursing, for her efforts in leading patient safety improvements throughout the facility.  

Rankin called Boggs the "crown jewel" in the efforts that have gone into the building of a great safety culture at Our Lady of Peace over the last 5+ years. She has led the journey by taking the reins and keeping all other leaders and departments on a steady track for success. When starting their "Safety First" journey, the measures that were in place to review events and prevent harm were mediocre at best Rankin noted. It seemed as though serious safety events were frequent and that processes were examined infrequently. Boggs was a key piece of transforming that culture and as a result, OLOP has grown into a facility that places safety at the front of care. Their patients feel safe and the facts show this,. The hospital has extended its time without a Serious Safety Event to over 400 days, which is an incredible feat in a facility with such a high-risk population. 

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On September 8, KHA submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding the Medicare hospital outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) proposed rule for calendar year (CY) 2018. The Association has significant concerns with this proposal's reductions in payment for 340B hospitals as well as changes to remove total knee replacement from the inpatient only list, which is unsafe and will negatively impact hospitals participating in the CMS Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) and the Bundled Payment for Care Improvements (BPCI) programs.

A copy of KHA's comments are available on the Policy page (members only) of www.kyha.com.

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

Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) and Long-term Care Hospital (LTCH) providers are encouraged to review their performance data on each quality measure based on First Quarter 2016 to Fourth Quarter 2016 data, prior to the December 2017 IRF and LTCH Compare refresh, during which this data will be publicly displayed.

Providers have 30 days to review their performance data (September 1, 2017 through September 30, 2017).

Corrections to the underlying data will not be permitted during this time. However, providers can request a CMS review during the preview period if they believe their data is inaccurate.

For more information:

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KHA realizes that keeping employees trained appropriately and ensuring their skills and competencies remain up-to-date are constant challenges for hospitals and health care providers. For that reason, KHA, along with 40 other state hospital associations and the American Hospital Association, partnered to create careLearning, an internet-based education management solution.

careLearning is an online education company designed to help health care organizations by providing reliable, trusted and easily accessible talent management solutions. careLearning’s competency, eLearning and performance products are developed to ensure that your employees are provided with the appropriate training and education based on an assessment of the skills, knowledge and abilities required and an...

The 2018 KHA Legislative Platform will be presented to the Association membership for approval at the annual KHA Health Care Leadership Conference (HCLC) on November 3 at the Embassy Suites Lexington.

As government leaders at the state and federal level are continuing to debate changes to the Affordable Care Act, it is an ideal time for the KHA Health Care Leadership Conference. Kentucky health care leaders can learn how President Trump’s administration will change health care as they join their peers and learn from Kentucky’s Senate and House leaders as well as state and national political experts. The Conference also gives attendees the opportunity to keep Kentucky's elected officials...

Yesterday, Kentucky Medicaid Commissioner Steve Miller announced a one-month delay to the implementation of a new Medicaid policy to no longer pay for early elective deliveries (EEDs) unless certain documentation is provided. This will also apply to Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs). KHA requested the delay to provide additional time for hospitals to obtain more details about the policy and the required documentation, and to implement process changes in their facilities.

Notice of the policy change was initially provided through a June 23, 2017, letter to hospitals, which had a start date of September 1, 2017. Under the addendum, denials will start for claims with dates of service beginning on or after November 1, 2017. Also, hospitals will get a reminder notice of the November 1 effective date on claims paid with dates of service through October 31, 2017, that do not meet the new requirements.

KHA is working with the Department for Medicaid Services to provide a webinar...