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Plan to attend the Kansas Hospital Association's Annual Convention and Trade Show, Nov. 10-12, at the Kansas Expocentre and Capitol Plaza Hotel in Topeka. This year's convention is the pinnacle of our centennial celebration and will provide attendees with excellent education and a number of opportunities to celebrate this milestone of our association. Our keynote speaker will be Henry Winkler. General session speakers include Richard Umbdenstock, Lee Woodruff, David Nash, MD, Chip Madera and Jan McInnis. Video clips for these speakers can be viewed on the convention page of the KHA Web site.
On Wednesday, Nov. 10, help us celebrate by attending the 100th Anniversary Gala. Bill Kurtis will be our Master of Ceremonies for this black tie optional event, where we can look back at what we have accomplished together and look forward to what we can accomplish in the future. In addition, the musical and political comedy group, The Capitol Steps, will perform. This is sure to be a night to remember.
Trustees also may attend the KHA Political Advocacy and Grassroots Breakfast on Thursday, Nov. 11, at no charge. Morton Kondracke, journalist, will share an assessment of the Obama administration, the political landscape of health care, the 2010 election results and provide a look ahead to 2012 elections.
Registration materials have been mailed to hospital trustees and also are available for download on the KHA Web site. An advanced registration discount is available to all participants who register by 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 29. Online registration is available. If you have any questions regarding the KHA Annual Convention and Trade Show, please contact Jennifer Findley at (785) 233-7436.
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On Oct. 22, the Kansas Healthcare Collaborative, along with founding organizations - the Kansas Medical Society and Kansas Hospital Association, will host the second annual Summit on Quality. People who should attend include hospital CEOs and senior-level executives, physicians, nurses, quality and risk managers, clinic managers and trustees from across Kansas. The Summit on Quality will engage all participants in a dialogue geared toward clinical and systems improvement for the benefit of their communities.
Presenters include:
- Michael Henderson, MD, surgeon and chief quality officer for the Cleveland Clinic;
- Jay Kaplan, MD, emergency physician and medical director of the Studer Group and director of service and operational excellence for CEP America Emergency Physician Partners; and
- Brian Wong, MD, family physician and founding partner of Healthcare Performance Solutions and current CEO of The Bedside Project.
Recognizing the vast amount of quality and patient safety work executed in Kansas every day, the morning and afternoon breakout sessions will include valuable information about these existing endeavors from health care professionals working on the frontlines of care. Two broad topic areas will be addressed - culture and leadership development and clinical best practices. Please visit KHC's Web site to download the Summit brochure and to register online; or contact Tonya Crawford at (785) 235-0763.
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A major part of the recent District Meeting discussions concerned the status of health reform implementation efforts at both the federal and state level. Federally, we focused on the "delivery system reform" elements that were contained in the reform law, such as readmissions, value-based purchasing, bundling, accountable care organizations and others. We had great feedback from those in attendance about the possible impact of these provisions. Clearly, there is interest in understanding exactly what an accountable care organization is and how such an entity may fit into a given community or region. There also is concern about the punitive provisions of the readmissions law, as well as concern about how some of the provisions such as bundling may set hospitals up to compete with their physicians. We stressed the importance of regulatory advocacy in the coming months and noted several important regulatory issues, including the threats to the Medicare base rate, the physician supervision issue, the physician fee schedule and changes to the Medicare Cost Report.
With regard to state implementation efforts, we discussed the Kansas Insurance Department's activities related to preparing for health insurance exchanges. We also noted the important role that Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger is playing on a national level with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The Kansas Health Policy Authority's major role in Medicaid expansion efforts was an additional topic.
Another major item discussed at our district meetings was the list of possible issues to come before the 2011 Kansas Legislative session, including the state budget and its implications on Medicaid, tort reform, "opting out" of federal health reform, the implementation of the recently passed nursing home provider assessment law, and possible changes to the state concealed weapons law that could affect hospitals. Attendees were encouraged to visit with their state legislative candidates about these important issues.
A significant portion of our district meeting agenda was devoted to consideration of health information technology and health information exchange issues. We reviewed the current state of the federal rules in the area, and the changes needed in those rules. We also talked about the new Kansas Health Information Exchange Board appointed by Governor Mark Parkinson. We updated attendees on the collaborative efforts among the Kansas Hospital Association, Kansas Medical Society and groups in Wichita and Kansas City, to examine the possibility of forming a statewide HIE. As a special opportunity for district meeting attendees, we were able to have representatives from the Kansas Regional Extension Center for HIT attend to present information and answer questions about HIT issues. The Kansas Foundation for Medical Care has been designated as the Regional Extension Center and is providing education and outreach to stakeholders about various HIT issues.
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Kansas will receive a $150,000 State Health Workforce Development Grant to begin comprehensive health care workforce planning. One-year planning grant projects will assess a state's current health workforce and include activities such as gathering and analyzing data, examining current resources, policies and practices, and identifying ways to remove barriers at state and local levels. States receiving planning grants will be eligible to apply for implementation funding in excess of $5 million. The activities are expected to result in a 10 to 25 percent increase in the primary care health workforce over a 10-year period.
A $2.8 million Health Professional Opportunity Grant also was awarded to the Kansas Department of Commerce. The project will provide low-income individuals access to successful training programs for a variety of health care professions, including CNAs, EMTs, LPNs, RNs, home care aides, medical assistants, pharmacy technicians, dental assistants and health information technicians. Grantees will provide additional supportive services such as transportation, dependent care and temporary housing.
KHA looks forward to continuing to work with the Kansas Department of Commerce and other partners on these outstanding opportunities to address health care workforce challenges. For more information, contact Cara Greve at (785) 233-7436.
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Nine months after receiving a $2 million federal grant for the state's Connect Kansas broadband initiative, the State of Kansas was awarded an additional $4.4 million to extend and expand the initiative.
The funding ─ which comes from the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ─ enables Kansas to: extend mapping and data collection efforts for an additional three years; create regional technology planning teams to develop localized broadband plans; support various broadband initiatives, strategies and planning activities statewide; and commit additional staff to the broadband initiative.
This announcement gives Kansas additional momentum heading into the state's first-ever Kansas Broadband Summit, which will take place Oct. 24-25 at the Wichita Marriot. The Broadband Summit will bring together industry, community organizations, government leaders and the public to discuss Kansas' broadband landscape. For more information, or to register to attend the summit, visit www.connectkansas.org/broadband_summit/.
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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently awarded nearly $49 million to help 48 states and the District of Columbia plan for the establishment of health insurance exchanges. The Kansas Insurance Department is the recipient of the $1 million grant for Kansas. The grant will allow the state to conduct the research and planning necessary to build a better health insurance marketplace and determine how the exchange will be operated and governed. Specifically, Kansas will use the grant to:
- Assess the health benefits exchange function, its market potential and identify gaps that could impede viability;
- Initiate an inclusive statewide planning and communications function to foster input and participation;
- Appoint an advisory panel and work groups to coordinate efforts and identify options;
- Design an exchange model with business rules and a supporting actuarial basis for a viable set of plans and benefits;
- Begin drafting an exchange charter, governing structure, bylaws and set of accountabilities;
- Address all major financial factors and cost drivers impacting the viability of an exchange; and
- Discuss infrastructure elements of the exchange including information technology.
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