(April 14, 2023) – For the past two weeks, the Kansas Hospital Association has been hosting its spring district meetings. The meetings serve as an opportunity for Kansas hospital leaders to gather together to share ideas and discuss those issues most pressing to our industry. The chance to engage and network with our peers serves many purposes, but most of all is an opportunity to learn from each other and to share our experiences.
Each KHA district meeting was kicked off with a discussion surrounding the latest happenings to address the health care workforce shortage. Members learned about the Health Professional Shortage Area designation and the criteria used to determine eligibility. The HPSA designation identifies areas facing a critical shortage of health care professionals and enables those areas to obtain additional resources to address unmet primary, dental and mental health needs. A few of the federal programs that rely on the HPSA designation include the National Health Service Corps and the J-1 Visa Waiver Program.
We also touched upon the new opportunity for Kansas hospitals to engage in apprenticeship programs. The registered apprenticeship program is an industry-driven, high-quality career pathway where employers can develop and prepare their future workforce, and individuals can obtain paid work experience, classroom instruction and industry-issued, nationally recognized credentials. In health care, apprentice roles may include CNAs, dietary, medical coders, phlebotomists and LPNs.
We discussed health care workforce incentive programs like the Kansas Nursing Service Scholarship, Kansas Promise Act and the Rural Opportunity Zone program. If you would like to learn more about these opportunities, I encourage you to reach out to Jaron Caffrey on the KHA team.
Another topic touched upon during the KHA district meetings centered on hospital financial sustainability and the need to reduce administrative burdens related to insurance organizations. One solution being considered by the KHA membership is the development of an all-payor scorecard. Stay tuned for more information on this opportunity in the coming months. We also highlighted the KanCare request for proposals process, interested bidders and the Medicaid policy changes we will be requesting.
Members had the chance to learn the latest on KHA's advocacy efforts on the state and federal level. On the federal side, members heard about the advocacy issues on the horizon that included the Congressional debt ceiling deadline, the status of the 340B Drug Discount Program, modifications to the Rural Emergency Hospital program, and potential changes to the Medicare payment policies.
We also discussed the status of several state legislative priority issues that have been considered in Topeka. While the health care industry saw positive results with the passage of several budget enhancements, including grants for apprenticeship programs in health care, there are still a handful of outstanding items that remain, such as the health care worker protection legislation. Throughout this session, the KHA advocacy team also had to play a lot of political defense to overcome several policy proposals that were detrimental to the hospital and health care industry.
During our meetings, we also collected valuable feedback on the initiatives occurring in Kansas communities to improve preventative health care services. Some of the initiatives highlighted included strategies to improve health screenings from colonoscopy and mammography screenings to physicals and wellness visits. Members shared ideas that are improving immunizations in their communities, as well as ideas they are implementing to improve overall physical and mental health. KHA staff will compile these strategies and work with members to share more details on these best practices in the coming months. Several other updates were shared with the membership that included the KHA Drug Diversion Prevention Toolkit and Resources; new economic impact resources; the KHA awards program; resources for the Medicaid unwinding and RFP process; and KHA's educational programs. As always, we greatly appreciate our KHA sponsors who shared valuable information from KHSC, APS and KAMMCO.
Thanks to all of you who attended our in-person meetings. Your participation and involvement was much appreciated! If, however, you weren't able to join us for one of the meetings, we will be hosting a virtual KHA district meeting from 9 a.m. to noon on April 18. Registration is available online. Don't hesitate to let us know if you have any questions or need additional assistance!
--Chad Austin