Don't forget, the KHA 89th Annual Convention starts tomorrow, May 10 and runs through Friday, May 11 at the Hyatt Regency and Lexington Convention Center. There will be no daily news email during Convention.

If you have not registered, on site registration is available with credit card payments. 

Remember to download the Kentucky Hospital Association app to your mobile device for schedules, maps and presentations. The presentations are also available for download on the Convention web page, https://www.kyha.com/kha-annual-convention.

KHA's mobile app is great resource for Convention and beyond! The app not only provides all the details, maps, schedules and presentations for Convention, but also includes information members can use year round!

The app includes:

Hospital Directory; KHA Staff Directory; Events Calendar; Advocacy Information; Sponsors; and More As The App Evolves. If you downloaded the Convention app last year, you can simply update the app on your mobile device. Sometimes after an app update, rebooting your device can be helpful.

For new app users, visit the App Store...

There are now Kentucky Medicaid Waiver resources for hospitals available on the KHA website, www.kyha.com. You must be signed in to view the page, which you can reach directly at https://www.kyha.com/1115-waiver-resources or via the Advocacy page of the website.

If you have any questions, please contact Nancy Galvagni at KHA.

The Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice (MOON) requirements went into effect February 20.The following information and resources will help hospitals ensure they are meeting the requirements correctly.

On August 6, 2015, Congress enacted the Notice of Observation Treatment and Implication for Care Eligibility Act (NOTICE Act) which requires hospitals, including critical access hospitals (CAHs), to provide written and oral explanation to individuals who receive observation services as outpatients for more than 24 hours. The process for delivery of this notice, the Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice (MOON), was addressed in rulemaking, and the resulting regulations are located at 42 CFR Part 489.20(y).

The MOON must be delivered to beneficiaries in Original Medicare (fee-for-service) and Medicare Advantage enrollees who receive observation services as outpatients for more than 24 hours....

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued a proposed rule in the Federal Register that establishes national emergency preparedness requirements for Medicare and Medicaid providers and suppliers to ensure that they adequately plan for both natural and man-made disasters.

The proposed rule addresses emergency preparedness requirements that 17 provider and supplier types must meet in order to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

This proposed rule could have a significant impact on hospitals. For example, the rule includes language that relates to the behavior of the new electronic health record (EHR) systems during a disaster or emergency, and a requirement that EHR systems be redundantly backed up both in region and out of region.

KHA Emergency Preparedness Director Richard Bartlett has prepared resources for hospitals to educate themselves regarding the proposed changes and to prepare in case the rule is approved. Visit http://www.kyha.com/proposed-rule-change-on-cop-related-to-emergency-preparedness/...