The KHA office will close Monday, December 25, and Tuesday, December 26. There will be no KHA Health e-News during the week of Christmas.

The office will close again on Monday, January 1.

Have a wonderful holiday and a Happy New Year!

Register now for the first Kentucky Chapter ACHE program of 2018. A panel of your peers will speak to the importance of medical staff relations. The program will be held on February 22 from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. (ET) — the afternoon of the Kentucky Hospital Day at the Legislature (separate registration).

View the brochure for agenda and registration details.

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

Republic Bank’s Assistant Vice President and Treasury Management Officer, Alisha Deatrick presented KHA President Michael T. Rust with a sponsorship check to the Kentucky Hospital Research & Education Foundation. Republic Bank’s Platinum sponsorship is affirmation that the organization values a strong alliance with health care leaders in the commonwealth.

Headquartered in Louisville, Republic Bank has over 45 banking centers across five states and $5 billion in assets. KHA thanks Republic Bank for its continued support.

Want to become a KHA sponsor? Contact Pam Kirchem at KHA (pkirchem@kyha.com).

The 2017-2019 State Health Plan will go into effect on January 5, 2018. The Office of Health Policy issued the proposed State Health Plan in July and the final State Health Plan with the statement of consideration was released on October 13.

Overall, KHA and its member hospitals were pleased with the outcome. The Cabinet accepted KHA’s comments to allow hospitals to establish home health services if they can demonstrate difficulty in placing patients. Unfortunately, no changes were made to the PRTF Level II criteria; although, when KHA staff met with the Cabinet, they acknowledged the need for more access to this level of care and indicated a desire to continue to work on this with KHA.

The Cabinet modified, but retained, the exception to the nursing facility bed need formula to allow for the development of short-term post acute care/rehabilitation services, as a pilot program – two in urban areas and two in rural areas. The beds will be licensed as NF, which would permit...

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For more information on how Commerce Bank can help your facility or system, please contact Pam Kirchem at KHA (pkirchem@kyha.com).

On or about December 20, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will likely update its Hospital Compare website with new star ratings and release the list of hospitals receiving Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) penalties for fiscal year (FY) 2018. Corrections to the star ratings calculations likely mean that significantly fewer hospitals will receive a three-star rating this year than last. As a result, many more hospitals will receive four or five stars, while additional hospitals will receive one or two-star ratings. In the past, release of the HAC payment penalty list and the star ratings have generated media attention. 

AHA released a Quality Advisory yesterday to help organizations prepare for the public release of the star ratings and...

KHA will host member meetings in each of the four districts throughout the state in the spring and the fall. Please, mark your calendar now. This is a great opportunity to be involved with the Association and network with your peers.

Spring Meetings

March 2  Cumberland District Saint Joseph London        March 16  Blue Grass District  Gateway Rehabilitation Hospital Florence     March 22  Twin Lakes District Baptist Health Madisonville     March 23  Ohio Valley District  KHA Headquarters Louisville

Fall Meetings

September 7 Cumberland District Hazard ARH Regional Medical Center  ...

The Kentucky Trustee is a quarterly newsletter that KHA produces for the benefit of hospital boards. The goal is to provide your trustees with information they need to lead your hospital forward in today’s rapidly changing environment. The winter edition of the Kentucky Trustee is available at http://www.kyha.com/docs/Publications/Trustee/KTWinter2017.pdf.

KHA mails the Kentucky Trustee newsletter to all trustees for which the Association has contact information. This is a good time to ensure KHA has your current board members’ addresses.

If you have suggestions for future issues of the Kentucky Trustee, please contact Pam Kirchem at KHA (502-426-6220 or 800-945-4542 or via e-mail at pkirchem@kyha.com).

Live video will be available on December 13 at 10:00 a.m. (ET) when the U.S. Senate Health Committee will hold a hearing on the mental health provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act. The committee will hear from Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz, Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use at the Department of Health and Human Services.

The 21st Century Cures Act...

KHA will host member meetings in each of the four districts throughout the state. Please, mark your calendar now. This is a great opportunity to be involved with the Association and network with your peers.

March 2 Cumberland District Saint Joseph London 

March 16 Blue Grass District Gateway Rehabilitation Hospital Florence 

March 22 Twin Lakes District Baptist Health Madisonville 

March 23 Ohio Valley District KHA Headquarters Louisville

See the brochure for more details. Online registration will be available after the beginning of the year. If you have any questions, please contact Pam Kirchem at KHA (pkirchem@kyha.com).

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