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In this SNI Bulletin:
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Contra
Costa Regional Medical Center Honored at IHI Annual Forum
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CMS Plans Transition from Pay-for-Reporting to Pay-for-Performance
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Public Hospital Systems
Focus on Integrated, Coordinated Care
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SEED
Diabetes Care Improvement Program Hits One-Year Mark
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LAC+ USC Medical Center Featured in
LA Daily News for Joining HCIN
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SNI/HCIN/Kaiser Conference
on Quality Hospital Interpreting a Success
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Report
Shows Lower Usage of ED Services by Undocumented Immigrants
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Specialty
Care Access Initiative November Roundtable
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Deadline
and Upcoming
Events
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Contra
Costa Regional Medical Center Honored at IHI Annual Forum |
Congratulations
to the Contra Costa Regional Medical Center (CCRMC), which was honored Dec. 11 at the Institute
for Healthcare Improvement’s
Annual Forum for its innovation and implementation of medication reconciliation. CCRMC
was one of only six hospitals worldwide to receive this honor. Medication reconciliation
helps assure that accurate medication hand-offs occur at admission, transfer and discharge. As
a result, patients are less likely to be harmed by medication errors. CCRMC also was featured
as one of two hospitals for "collaboration amongst clinicians" for the work in reducing harm
from ventilators. The hospital was in good company: the other hospital was Johns
Hopkins.
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CMS Plans Transition from Pay-for-Reporting to Pay-for-Performance
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On
Nov. 21, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a report to Congress
on options for a plan to implement a hospital pay-for-performance program under
Medicare. CMS' Value-Based Purchasing (VBP), as the program is called, links payments to
performance on hospital quality of care measures for acute myocardial infarction, heart attack,
pneumonia, surgical care improvement, and HCAHPS patients' perspective survey data. The plan
would phase out current pay-for-reporting incentives tied to the Medicare Annual Payment
Update. If authorized by Congress, a Medicare Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program would
go into effect beginning Oct. 2009. To read the Department of Health and Human Services news
release on this topic, click
here. To access the full report to Congress, click
here. Please contact Lance Mageno if you have any
additional questions.
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Public
Hospital Systems Focus on Integrated, Coordinated Care
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At
CAPH’s Annual Conference on Dec. 7, five public hospital leaders wrestled with the
question of how public hospital systems can evolve into more coordinated, integrated systems
of care. In a discussion moderated by Roger Coleman of Coleman Associates, executives
from public hospital systems in the Bay Area and Virginia highlighted challenges, innovations
and successes coordinating primary, specialty, emergency, inpatient and community-based services
for patients, including those with chronic illness. See their presentations at www.safetynetinstitute.org.
For example, San Mateo Medical Center’s CARE program uses a proven model to smooth
transitions from hospital to home, thereby reducing readmissions. Spending on readmitted
Medicare patients has brought increased scrutiny from regulators, as highlighted in a recent Wall
Street Journal article.
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SEED
Diabetes Care Improvement Program Hits One-Year Mark
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SNI’s SEED
program (Spreading Effective and Efficient Diabetes Care) is wrapping up the first of
two years’ activity. So far, 20 public clinics in 10 CAPH member organizations
have spread electronic registries and other components of the Chronic Care Model to an additional
2,500 patients, in addition to their patients already managed with registries. Patient motivation
tools, group visits, follow-up phone calls to patients, and standardized treatment protocols
have resulted in better care that will improve outcomes for patients.
The team at Roybal Comprehensive Health Center of the LAC+USC Healthcare Network, for example,
has exceeded program goals in cardiac risk reduction, with 85% of indicated patients in the
target population now on ACE/ARB, statins, and aspirin/antithrombotics. In 2008, the
initial teams will spread these improvements to more patients and be joined by twenty-two
new teams. SEED
is funded by the California HealthCare Foundation.
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LAC+
USC Medical Center Featured in LA Daily News for Joining HCIN |
In
the Nov. 30 issue of the Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles County+ USC Medical Center is
highlighted as one of the first LA County public hospital system to join the Health Care
Interpreter Network (HCIN). HCIN is a network of qualified interpreters shared through
advanced remote voice and videoconferencing and telephone technolog ies (insert link to hcin.org).
By the end of the year, Olive View-UCLA Medical Center and Harbor-UCLA Medical Center are
expected to join Los Angeles County + USC Medical Center, Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation
Center, San Joaquin General Hospital and San Joaquin Behavioral Health Services, Contra Costa
Health Services, San Mateo Medical Center, Riverside County Regional Medical Center, and
Kern Medical Center in the network, increasing the number of qualified interpreters while
expanding language access to patients in LA County and beyond. To read the article, click
here.
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SNI/HCIN/Kaiser Conference on Quality
Hospital Interpreting a Success
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The
Quality Interpreting in California Hospitals Conference, held Nov. 7-8 in Oakland with funding
from Kaiser Permanente and The California Endowment , brought together hospital executives,
interpreter services directors and language access experts from more than 30 hospital systems
and other organizations from California and beyond. Attendees shared challenges and strategies
to providing quality interpreting services to limited English proficient patients . In the
panel on “Building Institutional Support for Interpreter Services,” hospital
administrators described different paths organizations take on the language access continuum. Maria
Servin from Kaiser Permanente, Greater Southern Alameda Area, shared how she is “trying
to take what you learned in public hospital systems into Kaiser Permanente,” reflecting
a general acknowledgement of public hospital leadership in this area. To see presentations
visit the SNI
Website. For more information, contact Erin Bowman. |
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Report
Shows Lower Usage of ED Services by Undocumented Immigrants |
The
LA Times published an article on recent research conducted by UCLA which shows that undocumented
immigrants from Mexico and other Latin American countries are less likely than US-born Latinos
to use emergency department services in California. The study’s lead author, Professor
Alexander Ortega of UCLA, states, “The current policy discourse that undocumented
immigrants are a burden on the public because they overuse public resources is not borne
out with data, for either primary care or emergency department care.” To view the
article in its entirety, click
here.
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Specialty Care Access Initiative November Roundtable |
The
CAPH/SNI, Kaiser Permanente (KP), and California Primary Care Association partnership to
address the widespread problem of access to specialty care convened its second Specialty
Care Access Initiative Roundtable on Nov. 5. The Roundtable brought representatives from
community clinic health centers and public hospital systems together to explore innovative
e-Health systems, share promising practices, and network with each other. A third roundtable
is scheduled for Mar. 6, 2008
on primary care scope of practice. To access the agenda, presentations, and minutes from
the Roundtable, please visit our website,
or contact Sarah Brooks. |
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Deadline and Upcoming Events |
Dec.
31, 2007: Deadline
for Nominations for CHCF Health Leadership College
Feb. 8, 2008: CEO/Executive
Team Forum on Building Internal Capacity
Feb. 13, 2008: Lumetra Care Transitions
Conference, Sacramento |
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