09.21.2020

New PPE Exchange

MHA Offers New PPE Exchange Program to Help Amass Critical Supplies

The problem of finding and amassing personal protective equipment (PPE) has been an ongoing challenge since the first few weeks of the pandemic revealed the inadequacies of the national PPE stockpile.
  
To help address the situation, MHA has partnered with PPE Exchange to expand access to verified PPE vendors. MHA rolled out the service to its membership at the beginning of September, and after a brief pilot it is making the service available to other healthcare organizations throughout the state.
  
PPE Exchange is an online marketplace of regional and national suppliers of PPE. Through the exchange, hospitals, providers, and other healthcare organizations can connect virtually to a marketplace of verified suppliers to search for PPE, schedule orders, compare prices, and complete transactions online.
  
Benefits of sourcing supplies on PPE Exchange include: a process for aggregate or bulk ordering for smaller volume providers that typically don’t meet the required minimums; the ability to price shop across numerous suppliers and to track orders from placement of order to delivery; access to a vetted list of more than 200 regional and national suppliers; the ability to source from Massachusetts-based suppliers; and a “request a quote” feature to compare current pricing with pricing from PPE Exchange’s large network of suppliers.
  
To access and explore the MHA marketplace on PPE Exchange, click here, then click on "Become a Buyer" within the Purchase with Confidence box. Fill out the form and “request access.” After entering your information, you will receive an automatic e-mail prompting you to reset your password and login for the website. You will need an approved username/password to access the marketplace before beginning a search. For any questions about PPE Exchange, please contact Kim Stevenson, MHA’s Senior Manager, Clinical Affairs at KStevenson@mhalink.org.
 

CMS Rescinds MFAR Proposed Rule

Faced with overwhelming criticism of its proposed Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Rule (MFAR), CMS last week announced the rule would be withdrawn.

 

Issued in December 2019, MFAR was immediately criticized by hospitals, a bipartisan collection of governors, patient advocates, MHA and American Hospital Association, and more. If enacted, MFAR would have increased federal oversight over states’ unique Medicaid financing arrangements. The legal and long-accepted intergovernmental transfers and supplemental payment methodologies that states like Massachusetts use to maximize the federal Medicaid match would have been at risk of being denied by CMS. MFAR also would have hampered the state from rightly claiming federal revenue for Medicaid-covered services across state agencies such as the Department of Public Health and Department of Mental Health. Independent analyses determined up to $49 billion a year in federal reimbursement would have been lost due to MFAR. The proposed rule’s financial hit to states would have been magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic, during which many more people have enrolled in Medicaid.

 

MHA, the state’s MassHealth leadership, and Gov. Baker through the National Governors Association all vociferously opposed MFAR in January letters to CMS Administrator Seema Verma. Verma tweeted last week, “We’ve listened closely to concerns that have been raised by our state and provider partners about potential unintended consequences of the proposed rule, which require further study. Therefore, CMS is withdrawing the rule from the regulatory agenda.”

 

MHA President & CEO Steve Walsh welcomed the news and thanked the Baker Administration for its forceful objections to MFAR. “The coordinated response between hospitals and the governor’s office, assisted by key members of our delegation, helped turn the tide against a proposed rule that would have seriously threatened the funding needed to support care provided to low-income patients in the commonwealth,” Walsh said. “We appreciate CMS’s reconsideration of this policy and look forward to working with state and federal government to ensure stability and adequate support for all those that rely on the MassHealth program.”

Mass., MHA Prepare for Flu Season

Flu vaccines are especially important this year to avoid the flu hitting the populace at the same time as a resurgence in COVID-19, which could overrun the healthcare system as well as being severely dangerous to patients battling both ailments at once.
  
Last week, the state released information about the flu vaccination for the upcoming season. As has been reported, Governor Baker has ordered all childcare attendees over six months to receive a flu shot this year, along with all students from kindergarten to grade 12, and all post-secondary students under the age of 30. All the students must receive influenza vaccine for the current season by December 31, 2020.
  
During last year’s flu season, there were 40,698 laboratory-confirmed cases reported to DPH, 55,000-60,000 ED visits for flu, and 7,000-8,000 hospitalizations, according to DPH data presented to the Public Health Council last Thursday. Last year, DPH purchased 900,000 flu doses; this year there will be a 28% increase to 1.156 million doses. Vaccination rates in acute care hospitals, nationally and in Massachusetts have surpassed 90%.
  
MHA created and distributed to its membership a Fighting the Flu toolkit, and hospitals and clinicians across the state are using their platforms to promote the importance of getting vaccinated. 
  
 

BMC on Prenatal Alcohol Exposure; Baystate’s Health Education Efforts

Boston Medical Center (BMC) has received a three-year, $2.9 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to fund a program aimed at reducing the incidence of prenatal alcohol exposure and improving the outcomes in children with suspected or diagnosed fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). BMC will collaborate with Minnesota-based Proof Alliance to use a virtual education platform where primary care providers will learn from experts about FASD and how to screen for and counsel women about the risks of alcohol use during pregnancy. Pediatric providers will receive training on identifying and caring for children and adolescents with suspected or diagnosed FASD. 
  
Baystate Health recently awarded $25,000 in scholarships to 26 Baystate Springfield Educational Partnership (BSEP) students and alumni. BSEP offers Springfield high school students hospital-based learning experiences that provide opportunities to explore different careers, engage in more comprehensive observation experiences, and prepare for potential internships or employment. BSEP has supported more than 400 internships and work opportunities that have led to over 125 permanent employment opportunities for BSEP alumni.
 

Anyone Over Age 14 Can Take This DPH Community Impact Survey

DPH’s COVID-19 community impact survey is now live. DPH is attempting to focus COVID-19 assistance on communities where help is most needed. To do that, the state issued the survey that is intended for anyone over the age of 14 living in Massachusetts with emphasis on reaching those populations who may be disproportionately affected by COVID-19, such as people of color and older adults. The survey is completely anonymous and is offered online in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Haitian Creole, and Vietnamese. Take the survey by clicking here and please share it with your networks and communities to help get the best possible response rate. 

Webinar: The Intersection of Treating Substance Use, HIV, and Hepatitis C 

This Wednesday, September 23, from 12 to 2 p.m., the New England AIDS Education and Training Center (NEAETC) is holding the first webinar in a series that focuses on the intersection of treating substance use, HIV, and hepatitis C, as well as how to use proven clinical and social strategies to improve quality of life. Please register by clicking here. Education credits are available. 
 
Established in 1988, NEAETC is one of eight regional education centers funded by the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program of the Health Resources and Services Administration and is sponsored regionally by the Department of Family Medicine & Community Health at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
 

Schwartz Center’s Virtual Compassion in Action Healthcare Conference 

The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare’s ongoing Virtual Compassion in Action Conference continues through September, with the next offering -- Mitigating Stress and Trauma Among Healthcare Professionals – scheduled for tomorrow, September 22, from 1 to 2 p.m. Registrations are still being accepted here. The healthcare workforce caring for COVID-19 patients and families is experiencing, and will continue to experience, high levels of psychological stress from multiple sources. During this session, panelists will discuss the effects of trauma on healthcare workers, teams, organizations, and systems. Among those presenting will be David C. Henderson, M.D., Psychiatrist-in-Chief, Boston Medical Center.

PICCK’s Inaugural Annual Meeting Taking Place Sept. 26

Partners in Contraceptive Choice and Knowledge (PICCK) will hold its first annual meeting via Zoom on Saturday, September 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The meeting is free and CME/CNE credits are available. 
 
PICCK is the state-funded clinical and public health program designed to promote contraceptive choice and effective contraceptive counseling in Massachusetts. MHA supports this multi-year program, which launched in early 2019 and is housed at Boston Medical Center/Boston University School of Medicine.
 
Click here for more information or to register.

Two Can't-Miss Programs -- September 22 & 24

 

Annual Leadership Forum: Healthcare Reimagined
Thursday, September 24; 9 to 11:30 a.m. 
Virtual Webcast | #MHALeaders

Health equity is a critically important issue in healthcare. At MHA’s upcoming Annual Leadership Forum, local healthcare experts will lead a session on “Health Equity and the Urgency of Now” to deliberate how healthcare systems can best foster equitable outcomes within their healthcare systems and communities at-large. The panel will be moderated by Mallika Marshall, M.D. and panelists include:
• Thea James, M.D., VP of Mission and Associate CMO, Boston Medical Center
• Frank Robinson, PhD, VP, Public Health, Baystate Health
• Carl Sciortino, VP of Government and Community Relations, Fenway Health
Join us at MHA’s Annual Leadership Forum for this panel and other engaging sessions where local and national thought leaders will discuss what the future holds healthcare. Don't miss your chance to register!
 
 
The Final 2021 Inpatient Hospital PPS Rule 
Tuesday, September 22; 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Virtual Webcast

Join us at MHA’s annual program to review the final IPPS inpatient rule. We’ll cover all of the critical changes and updates important to hospitals. Learn from expert speaker Valerie Rinkle during this virtual session as she covers financial updates to standardized amounts, changes to codes and MS-DRG groupings; new technologies approved for add-on payment and how to ensure appropriate payment given caps; uncompensated care, including codification of bad debt policies that would impact charity care and disproportionate share; and market-based pricing, including the new requirement to report median negotiated payment rates via the cost report and plans to use the data for 2024 rate setting. Register here.

John LoDico, Editor