05.09.2016

Southcoast health, Care New England advance affiliation process, and more...

Southcoast health, Care New England advance affiliation process

Southcoast Health and Care New England announced Tuesday that each organization’s Board has voted to move forward with their proposed affiliation into an eight-hospital system spanning southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Charles R. Reppucci, Board Chair for Care New England, and Jean F. MacCormack, Board Chair for Southcoast Health, said that both parties will now move toward the execution of the affiliation agreement and subsequent initiation of the required regulatory review processes in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Meanwhile, both organizations will continue their collaborative due diligence reviews, and begin to develop plans to operate an integrated health system capitalizing on each organization’s strengths in patient services and population health management.

“Southcoast Health and Care New England are among the pioneers in this latest move toward accountable care,” said Lynn Nicholas, FACHE, MHA’s President & CEO. “Cross-state and regional affiliations like this are going to become more common, providing health systems scale necessary for assuming risk for covered lives, recruiting top-notch specialized talent and most importantly providing opportunities to more seamlessly complement and enhance clinical services that require special expertise and technological investment.” 

Under the proposed framework for the new entity agreed upon by each Board, Southcoast Health President and CEO Keith Hovan will serve as the President and CEO of the new health system parent company; Care New England CEO Dennis Keefe will become CEO of the population health initiative for the unified system; Care New England’s Board will select the new Chair of the system parent Board, and the Southcoast Health Board Vice Chair will serve as its Vice Chair. Southcoast Health and Care New England will each select 10 individuals in all to serve on the new system parent Board of Trustees.

HPC approves ACO certification criteria

Massachusetts’ latest healthcare reform law, Chapter 224, requires the Health Policy Commission (HPC) to “establish a process for certain registered provider organizations to be certified as accountable care organizations (ACOs).” On April 27, the HPC Board approved final ACO certification criteria, after introducing draft criteria in January followed by a public comment period. During the public comment period, MHA and member organizations provided written feedback, met with thte HPC, and pointed out significant concerns with some of the requirements; as a result HPC staff made meaningful revisions to the criteria.

The certification is voluntary – although it will likely be required by MassHealth for participation in its ACO program— and is designed to promote healthcare delivery transformation by improving quality, efficiency, and reducing costs. 

The HPC plans on developing an implementation guide for providers by the end of this summer; the program is expected to launch in September 2016.

Senate takes up transgender rights bill

On Thursday, the Massachusetts Senate takes up a bill that would protect the rights of transgender residents. The legislation would add “gender identity” to the state’s civil rights law for public accommodations, and build upon previous laws that provide legal protections for transgender people in the areas of credit / lending, housing, employment and public education. By adding explicit protections in the law, the legislation will help all residents of the commonwealth feel empowered to lead healthy lives and improve the overall health of the state. MHA is a proud member of the Freedom Massachusetts coalition, which is leading support of the legislation.

BID-Plymouth Hospital guarantees $15 minimum wage

Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth has agreed to a $15 minimum wage as part of a recently ratified union contract. The pay increase is effective immediately.

The new minimum wage will primarily benefit cafeteria workers, housekeepers and CNAs. The hospital also committed to increase its minimum wage by 8.5 percent over the next three years, meaning that by 2019, the starting rate for BID-Plymouth workers will be $16.08 per hour. Prior to the increase, some workers were earning $12.83 an hour.

The minimum wage in Massachusetts is $10 per hour.

Collaborative arrangements with registered dietitians OKay'd in Mass.

Prior to the revision of federal regulations, only clinicians could order or change diets for patients. Changes to the regulations now allow hospitals to develop internal policies that would allow collaborative practice arrangements with dietitians and nutritionists to order and change diets for patients. The Massachusetts Board of Registration of Dietitians and Nutritionists recently clarified for MHA that these requirements are consistent with state scopes of practice and regulations, and therefore permitted in the commonwealth. 

MHA encourages its members to consider adopting policies that would allow registered dietitians (RDs, also known as registered dietitian nutritionists, or RDNs) to have clinical order-writing privileges. 

Special MHA conference on equity of care

Twenty-eight Massachusetts hospitals have signed the American Hospital Association’s #123forEquity Pledge to Eliminate Health Care Disparities.  By doing so, the hospitals pledge to choose a quality measure to stratify by race, ethnicity or language preference or other sociodemographic variables, and then determine if a healthcare disparity exists in this quality measure. If there is a disparity, the hospitals design a plan to address the gap.  Hospitals also design plans to provide cultural competency training for all staff and ensure that the hospital Board and leadership address the diversity issue. 

On Monday May 16, MHA is bringing together a dynamic group of people from across the U.S. to address equity of care.  DPH Commissioner Monica Bharel, M.D., MPH will be joined by Peggy Harris, MHA, FACHE, assistant VP of diversity & inclusion at Carolinas HealthCare System, which developed an action plan for addressing racial and ethnic disparities. Tomas Leon, MBA President & CEO of AHA’s Institute for Diversity in Health Management will directly address the #123for Equity Pledge and Toni Flowers‐Jefferson and Kinneil Coltman, diversity officers from health systems across the nation will discuss the varied benefits of a diverse healthcare workforce.

This MHA forum is funded with the support of the HRET and the MA Hospital Engagement Network. Massachusetts is the first state to hold such a conference under the banner of the #123forEquity pledge.

MHA holds 50th annual human resources/labor forum

Some 100 healthcare HR professionals attended the Massachusetts Hospital Association’s 50th Annual Human Resources/Labor forum on Friday. Featured speakers on the theme of new, emerging and shifting healthcare roles included Amy Goble, Vice President of the American Hospital Association’s Health Career Center, a panel of hospital HR and Operations leaders from across the state, and Kristin McGurn, Esq., a Partner at Seyfarth Shaw LLP.

MHA Solutions, the association’s insurance and benefits affiliate, also presented their annual Allied Health Scholarship, given to enhance professional development in the healthcare field, at the Forum. Tracy Rousseau, a longtime 911 emergency dispatcher who is pursuing a degree in Respiratory Care, was this year’s recipient of the $2,500 award. 

The promise of telemedicine

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22; 9:00 A.M. - 2:30 P.M.
MHA CONFERENCE CENTER, BURLINGTON, MASS.

As the healthcare system seeks to transform itself to adapt to new technologies and reformed payments systems, telemedicine has risen to the fore as a promising method to streamline and improve care. Recent legislative initiatives here in Massachusetts may make telemedicine more accessible and widely reimbursable by insurance. When that happens we’ll see an expansion of services; providers should be ready for this new world. Join us at this conference where we’ll learn more about the regulatory and legislative efforts making telemedicine more accessible here in MA. We’ll also hear from providers already engaged in telemedicine practices and learn more about how they are transforming care. 

John LoDico, Editor