MHA Update Newsletter
May 22, 2015
MHA Annual Membership Meeting

 June 1 and 2, 2015

Four Seasons

Hotel Baltimore

 

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Executive Committee Minutes
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A Safe Landing

There are dozens of steps in the landing sequence to return an airplane to terra firma and, if conditions aren't just right for each, touching down safely becomes a much riskier proposition.

 

With less than three weeks to go before the Health Services Cost Review Commission (HSCRC) votes on hospitals' global budget update for the coming year, the conditions are favorable for a safe landing ... but conditions can change.

 

Over the past month, MHA staff have been meeting with HSCRC staff as well as commissioners themselves. The result is a shared understanding of what hospitals need to help the state succeed under the now 18-month-year-old waiver agreement - an understanding that has been translated into an HSCRC staff recommendation for fiscal year 2016 that hospitals can get behind. The update is a healthy 3.1 percent average per capita, which includes funds for investment in long-term waiver success. A majority of commissioners at last week's HSCRC meeting seemed inclined to vote for the recommendation.

 

But we're not on the ground just yet.

 

At the meeting, MHA testified in support of the staff recommendation, with a couple of minor changes, and yesterday we submitted a letter echoing that testimony. Now, the task at hand is to ensure that our final approach is a smooth one and the global budget update lands as recommended.

 

MHA will continue to meet with commissioners and HSCRC staff to reinforce the need for resources to mitigate the long-term, inherent and substantial risk in caring for an unknown number of patients with unpredictable care needs within a fixed global budget. And we'll be on full watch for any signs that could push the landing path off course.

 

Pilots refer to the final steps before a landing as an "approach plate" - a series of pathways and precise altitudes that, if followed carefully, will guarantee a safe path to the runway. The approach plate often has to be adjusted for changing factors, like wind speed and load weight. The global budget update is now in this phase - the moment when pilots tell their passengers to fasten their seatbelts - because we're beginning our final approach
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In This Issue
Today is the Last Day to Register for the Annual Membership Meeting


Maryland Senate President Mike Miller will join us at our Monday evening reception, June 1, 6-8 p.m.

 

During the Tuesday, June 2, morning general session, share the pride we all feel when hospital leaders and staff go above and beyond the call of duty ...we'll tell a very special story as we present the MHA Distinguished Service Award.

 

Learn from your colleagues how the transformation of health care in Maryland is taking place - community by community, through three peer-to-peer breakout sessions: Creating Community and Consumer Partnerships, HEZs and House Calls, and The Move to Population Health: Is It Working?

 

And don't miss our notable speakers: Paul H. Keckley, Ph.D., Managing Director, Navigant Center for Healthcare Research and Policy Analysis; and Leana Wen, M.D., SSc., Commissioner, Baltimore City Health Department.

 

We look forward to seeing you June 1 and 2 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Baltimore. Click here for a copy of the invitation brochure.

 

Online registration ends TODAY! Click HERE to register!

 

Contact: Kathy Gotwalt
Work Continues for Innovation in Graduate Medical Education Group
Earlier this year, a Health Services Cost Review Commission work group was formed to develop a new model for Graduate Medical Education (GME) training in Maryland to help sustain the health system transformation under the all-payer model. As required in the agreement with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), the state must "develop a five-year plan that will serve as a blueprint for improvement elements necessary to sustain health transformation initiatives in Maryland and which will be generalizable to other schools across the United States." The work group's final report is due to CMMI by January 1, 2016. Greater Baltimore Medical Center President & CEO and MHA Executive Committee member Dr. John Chessare serves on the work group, which will be holding additional meetings in June and later this fall to receive public input on its draft report and recommendations. More information on the work group and its upcoming public meetings can be found here.
MHEI Assisting with "2014 Top Trends" Programming
MHEI new logo

Last fall Forbes magazine produced its list of "Ten Top Workplace Trends." Among them was the movement of members of the "millennial" generation into management and leadership roles. The article goes on to suggest that these individuals "were never trained on how to be good managers..." MHEI offers two programs to help members meet the needs of their new and untrained management workforce. Management BootCamp provides basic information that every new manager should know as soon as they assume their new position. CORELeadership takes over where BootCamp leaves off to assist managers in becoming leaders who know how to actively engage their staff, create accountability and ownership, and achieve results - all within the context of the current, but ever-evolving, organizational culture. Visit mhei.org to find out more about these and other leadership development programs.

 

Contact: Kelly Heacock
Thank You to Our 2015 Annual Membership Meeting Sponsors

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The Week Ahead

MHA offices will be closed Monday, May 25 for Memorial Day.

 

Wednesday, May 27

MHA Joint Quality-Finance Work Group meeting

In Case You Missed It
The American Hospital Association's latest advertorial ran this week in The Wall Street Journal. It focuses on cooperative efforts to give patients better care and how important it is to continue to coordinate care as health care delivery models evolve.
Top News from This Week

 

 

CareFirst Asks for Average Rate Increase of as Much as 30.4 Percent
The Baltimore Sun, By Andrea K. McDaniels, May 15

 

Hospitals Turn to Friendlier Tools to Collect Unpaid Bills
Modern Healthcare, By Beth Kutscher, May 16

 

Paramedics Steer Non-Emergency Patients Away From ERs
Kaiser Health News, By Anna Gorman, May 18

 

Hospitals Move to Limit Low-Volume Surgeries
U.S. News & World Report, By Steve Sternberg, My 19

 

State Grants Give Competing Baltimore Hospitals a Reason to Work Together
Baltimore Business Journal, By Sarah Gantz, May 19

 

Heroin Deaths Continuing to Rise in Maryland
The Baltimore Sun, By Jean Marbella, May 19

 

The Changing Role of Pharmacy
Hospitals & Health Networks, By Todd Sloane, May 20

 

Study: Md. Seniors Not Getting Hospital Care Needed
The Daily Record, By Daniel Leaderman, May 20