On August 20, KHA will host a program on the Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project (MBQIP) for critical access hospital (CAH) quality leaders.

MBQIP provides an opportunity for individual hospitals to look at their own data, measure their outcomes against other CAHs and partner with other hospitals in the state around quality improvement initiatives to improve outcomes and provide the highest quality care to each and every one of their patients.Conference participants will:

Develop strategies for improving social media and communications. Identify challenges to timely and appropriate care transitions. Review relevant and timely quality data See the program brochure for additional details. Online registration...

On August 20, KHA will host a program on the Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project (MBQIP) for critical access hospitals (CAHs). Please save the date and make plans now to attend.

If you have any questions, please contact Sharon Perkins at KHA (sperkins@kyha.com).

KHA and the Kentucky Hospital Research and Education Foundation (KHREF) is pleased to continually provide the opportunity for critical access hospital (CAH) CEOs, CFOs and other financial leaders to network and discuss important financial topics. KHA shares the goal with the Kentucky Office of Rural Health (KORH) to provide education, resources and the opportunity for CAHs to collaborate in the collective effort to strengthen the state's rural health network and sustain access to quality health care services. This effort is supported through the Rural Hospital Flexibility Program – a federal grant to support CAHs.

On June 6, KHA will host a meeting of the Kentucky Rural Hospital Financial Network — a meeting for CFOs of small, rural and CAH hospitals — at Baptist Health Richmond.

Please see the flyer for more details. Online registration...

KHA and the Kentucky Hospital Research and Education Foundation (KHREF) are providing a one-day seminar for Critical Access Hospital (CAH) swing bed coordinators. The content of the seminar will promote swing bed program growth, care quality and compliance with Conditions of Participation. This program is provided to KHA CAH members through the Rural Hospital Flexibility Program. A registration fee of only $50 will be charged to cover meal expenses.

The program brochure provides agenda details. Online registration is available for your convenience.

If you have any questions, please contact Elizabeth Cobb at KHA (ecobb@kyha.com).



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The KHA Small, Rural and Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Forum will meet on March 4 at 2:00 p.m. (ET) via webinar/conference call. All small, rural and CAH CEOs, CFOs and COOs are invited to attend.

Agenda Topics Include

1. Welcome and Roll Call
2. Kentucky General Assembly Update – KHA Lobbying Team Member
3. Federal Policy Update and Report on Washington DC Trip – Elizabeth Cobb
4. Staffing Issues – KHA Solutions Group Partner Qualivis
5. KHA Swing Bed Update and CAH Survey Results – Elizabeth Cobb
6. EDie – ED Information Exchange Update and Post Acute Issues – CMT Technologies
7. Upcoming Education Events

If you have information you would like to present or share, or you need to obtain participation information, please contact Elizabeth Cobb at KHA (ecobb@kyha.com).

The KHA Small, Rural and Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Forum will meet on March 4 at 2:00 p.m. (ET) via webinar/conference call. All small, rural and CAH CEOs, CFOs and COOs are invited to attend.

Agenda Topics Include

1. Welcome and Roll Call
2. Kentucky General Assembly Update – KHA Lobbying Team Member
3. Federal Policy Update and Report on Washington DC Trip – Elizabeth Cobb
4. Staffing Issues – KHA Solutions Group Partner Qualivis
5. KHA Swing Bed Update and CAH Survey Results – Elizabeth Cobb
6. EDie – ED Information Exchange Update and Post Acute Issues – CMT Technologies
7. Upcoming Education Events

If you have information you would like to present or share, or you need to obtain participation information, please contact Elizabeth Cobb at KHA (ecobb@kyha.com).

The Kentucky Hospital Association and the Kentucky Hospital Research and Education Foundation (KHREF) will host an education session for Critical Access Hospital (CAH) quality leaders on February 6 at KHA Headquarters in Louisville.

KHREF partners with Cynosure Health to provide quality improvement education, tools and technical assistance through both the Rural Hospital Flexibility Program (Flex Grant for CAHs) and through the Hospital Improvement Innovation Network (HIIN). Barb Debaun will lead this educational session, working with quality leaders in reviewing data, learning best practices and discussing innovative strategies in improving patient discharge, transition and post-acute care.

View the agenda for program details. Online registration...

KHA is pleased to host a Critical Access Hospital Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer Meeting on December 12 at KHA Headquarters in Louisville. This is the second CEO/CFO roundtable meeting with Greg Wolf and Jon Pantenburg from Stroudwater Associates. The first meeting, held in July, had a great turnout and those attending noted it was one of the most beneficial and interesting meetings they had attended in a long time! Join your colleagues from across the state next week.

View the agenda for program details. Online registration is available for you convenience through Monday, December 10.

If you have any questions, please contact...

The KHA Small Rural and CAH Forum will meet via webinar on October 25 at 3:00 p.m. (ET). The session's guest speaker/presenter is Brock Slabach, vice president of the National Rural Health Association. Slabach will provide a federal policy update. Additionally, Chris Neville with Collective Medical will discuss the special emergency department (ED) program being expanded in Kentucky.

If you have additional topics you would like covered, or need participation information, please contact Elizabeth Cobb at KHA (ecobb@kyha.com).

If a CMS surveyor showed up at your hospital tomorrow, would you know what to do? Two upcoming KHA seminars will cover the 2018 changes in the CMS Hospital Conditions of Participation (CoPs). Hospitals have seen a significant increase in survey activity by CMS, so this is a great way to educate everyone in your hospital on all the sections in the CMS hospital manual especially ones that apply to their department.

• CMS Hospital Conditions of Participation Made Easy 2018
  September 10-11
  Brochure
  Online Registration
   
• Revised CMS CAH Conditions of Participation 2018: Ensuring Compliance
  September 11-12
  Brochure
  Online Registration

Are you looking to improve your emergency department ( ED) processes? If so, you won’t want to miss the opportunity to attend this highly interactive session to gather ideas from your peers that you can immediately try in your hospital. KHA will host a two-day conference on August 9-10, at Jeptha Creed in Shelbyville, which is designed for hospital CEOs and emergency department leaders to support CAH emergency care growth and quality. The conference addresses operations efficiency, opioid abuse challenges, culture and quality. Learn how to improve your data collection and analysis and ways to provide even better and more efficient care to enhance your patient experience.

View the brochure for program details. Register online...

The CAH Swing Bed Management Training with Supplemental Review of the UMRHRC PI/QI Measures from the Pilot Project will be held June 6-7 at KHA Headquarters in Louisville.The program is intended to assist small rural CAH hospitals with training for their staff to improve the quality of their swing bed program.

It will optimize the patient outcome, increase utilization and revenue while preventing denials for their swing bed services. Given the longer training program, more time than in the past will be spent on discussing day-to-day operations.

For details, visit the event page. You can register online to secure your place in this training event.

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On December 12 from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. (ET), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will host a webinar for critical access hospitals (CAHs) covering the New Medicare Card Project, implementation of new Medicare numbers, the format of the new number, timeline & milestones, the transition period, outreach & education and what you need to know to get ready for the new number. To register, visit https://events-cms.webex.com/events-cms/onstage/g.php?MTID=ebf0437f7bcf95893626354a3ab14c717.

The KHA Small, Rural and Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Forum will meet on July 27 at KHA Headquarters in Louisville. All small, rural and CAH CEOs, CFOs and COOs are invited to attend.

This meeting will include a CAH swing bed cost reporting workshop, an update from KHA on the Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) distribution model, MACRA resources for rural hospitals and a KHA Swing Bed Workgroup planning session.

Registration is due by July 20 at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/rural717.

If you have any questions, please contact Elizabeth Cobb at KHA (ecobb@kyha.com).

The Mid-South Critical Access Hospital Conference, representing rural health care in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee, will be held August 16-18 in Nashville. 

Held annually, this August marks the 15th year for the Mid-South CAH Conference. Nearly 150 critical access hospital (CAH) C-suite executives and management teams, along with community leaders and agencies focused on rural issues, will convene at this premier event to discuss health care for rural populations. There will be multiple peer networking opportunities and numerous face-to-face educational credits through the American College of Healthcare Executives, as well as continuing education for nursing, nursing home administrators...

KHA is pleased to offer the 2017 Swing Bed Conference series for both critical access hospitals (CAHs) and prospective payment system (PPS) hospitals. Mary Guyot, a nurse consultant with Stroudwater Associates and the leading expert in Swing Bed management will present. The PPS conference will take place on June 6-7 and the CAH conference will take place June 8-9.

Program and registration details are available below:

PPS Hospital Program June 6-7 Brochure Online Registration   CAH Program June 8-9 Brochure...

Administrators of Kentucky's small, rural and critical access hospitals are invited to join KHA staff on March 23 at KHA Headquarters in Louisville for a formal presentation on timely and critical policy issues.

A complete agenda along with registration information is available in the brochure. Topics include:

• ACA Update
• Upper Payment Limit (UPL) Project Update
• Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) Methodology
• Swing Bed Strategey
• Pre-Conference Seminar for CAH CEOs on Cost Reporting Issues
• Other Hot Topics

If you have any questions, please contact Elizabeth Cobb at KHA (ecobb@kyha.com).

If a CMS surveyor showed up at your hospital tomorrow, would you know what to do? Two upcoming KHA seminars will cover a record breaking year of changes in the CMS Hospital Conditions of Participation (CoPs) This is a must-attend program for anyone with direct patient care in the hospital. This program will cover the entire CMS hospital manual to ensure you are in compliance.

Seminar on CMS Conditions of Participation for PPS Hospitals March 1-2 Brochure



Seminar on CMS Conditions of Participation for CAHs March 2-3 Brochure



The seminars will be conducted by Sue Dill Calloway, a well-known speaker on CoP.



If you have any questions, please contact Carol Walters at KHA (502-426-6220 or 800-945-4542 or via email at...

Administrators of Kentucky's small, rural and critical access hospitals are invited to join KHA staff on Wednesday, January 25 at 2:00 p.m. (ET) for the first Forum meeting of 2017. Topics of discussion will focus on legislative activities at both the federal and state levels.

This meeting will be held via webinar. Please contact Elizabeth Cobb at KHA (ecobb@kyha.com) to register and receive login information.

The Kentucky Hospital Association, in partnership with the American Heart Association, is providing a webinar series for small and rural hospitals with the goal to provide rural hospitals with a clinical update on improving recognition, treatment and sometimes transfer of stroke patients in a timely manner. Rural hospital emergency department staff and other nurses and physicians involved in the care of potential stroke patients are invited to attend.

View the brochure for program details and registration information.

The Kentucky Hospital Research and Education Foundation (KHREF) is partnering with Blue and Co. to provide a summer series of webinars and a face-to-face conference for critical access hospital (CAH) CEOs and CFOs along with other financial leaders in the CAH setting. These programs are provided to Kentucky CAHs through support by the Rural Hospital Flexibility Program (Flex Grant) and the Kentucky Office of Rural Health.

Webinars will be held August 16 and 25, and an in-person workshop is planned for September 15 in Louisville.

View the brochure for program details and registration information.

If you have any questions, please contact Elizabeth Cobb at KHA (ecobb@kyha.com).

KHA, through support from the Rural Hospital Flexibility Program, will host a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Quality Leader Boot Camp on August 23,. This one-day program addresses critical topics for CAH quality leaders including strengthening your QI program with effective planning and benchmarking, preparing for changes in Conditions of Participation (CoP) and other important clinical topics.

View the brochure for program details and register today to reserve your seat.

The 2016 KHA Small Rural and Critical Access Hospital Conference is Wednesday, June 8. The conference is designed to help small rural hospital leaders understand changes to the health care delivery system and think strategically about how to best position their hospital for top performance.

View the brochure for more details, and register online in the Events section of www.kyha.com.

If you have questions, contact Elizabeth Cobb at KHA (ecobb@kyha.com).

KHA will host two Swing Bed Seminars for Prospective Payment System (PPS) hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs) at KHA Headquarters in Louisville as follows:

PPS Hospitals

- April 11-12

CAHs

- April 13-14

Follow the corresponding links above for program details and registration information.

Mary Guyot with Stroudwater Associates will instruct both courses. The seminar is supported by the Rural Hospital Flexibility Program in an effort to keep costs as low as possible for rural hospitals.

If you have any questions, please contact Elizabeth Cobb at KHA (502-426-6220 or 800-945-4542 or via email at ecobb@kyha.com).

The KHA Small Rural and Critical Access Hospital Forum will meet via webinar tomorrow, November 11, at 2:00 p.m. (ET).  Administrators who have not received the call in information should contact Elizabeth Cobb at KHA (ecobb@kyha.com).

Agenda topics will include a Certificate of Need (CON)/State Health Plan update, hospital requirements for sexual assault response, preserving emergency care in rural areas and more.

On August 12, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (ET), KHA will host a webinar for the Small Rural and Critical Access Hospital Forum. Attendees will hear a state and federal policy update along with a special presentation by Pete Lawson, of Raymond James, on rural hospital financing in the post-ACA world.

Administrators should have received an e-mail with webinar access information on Friday. If you did not, or you have additional questions, please contact Elizabeth Cobb at KHA (ecobb@kyha.com).

The 13th Annual Mid-South CAH Conference will be held in Nashville on August 19-21. Details on the agenda, registration information, host hotel and more are available at https://www.signup4.net/public/ap.aspx?EID=20153355E&OID=50.

KHA, through support from the Rural Hospital Flexibility Program, will host a Rural Hospital Quality Leader Boot Camp for small rural and critical access hospital patient safety and quality leaders August 5 and 6. The 1 ½ day program includes training on TeamSTEPPS skills followed by a general quality leadership education workshop. The program will help quality leaders hone their communication and leadership skills as well as improve focus on best practices, data collection and benchmarking and engaging team members and leaders.

The event will be held at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill in Harrodsburg. For details, view the event brochure. Online registration is available at https://secure.kyha.com/imispublic/....

Through the Rural Hospital Flexibility Grant Program Funded by the Health Reseources and Services Administration's (HRSA’s) Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) in partnership with the Kentucky Hospital Association and the Kentucky Office of Rural Health (KORH), a one-time grant opportunity is available for networks/coalitions across rural Kentucky. For grant guidance and additional information, visit https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/22ca89b5-e928-4f2c-afb6-0783d10e1d3c.

The purpose of the Kentucky Flex Program Quality Improvement Grant (KYFP-QIG) is to initiate multi-organizational quality improvement efforts in rural communities, where at least one critical access hospital (CAH) serves as an active member in the defined network. KYFP-QIG grantees do not have to be a currently formalized network, but it is encouraged that new networks from the KYFP-QIG would pursue formalization through...

KHA will host its annual Small Rural and Critical Access Hospital Conference April 13-14 in Louisville. The conference is designed to help small, rural hospital leaders understand changes to the health care delivery system and think strategically about how to best position their hospital for top performance.

The conference begins with a dinner for critical access hospital (CAH) leaders on the evening of April 13 with conversation targeted on CAH policy issues.

There will be a full-day meeting on April 14 with presentations centered on rural health policy, financial stability and improving operation strategies.

See the brochure for details and registration information. If you have any questions, contact Elizabeth Cobb at KHA (502-426-6220 or 800-945-4542 or via email at ecobb@kyha.com).

Please note, the increase in state licensure fees has been approved and will take effect on January 5, 2015. Any hospital that is re-licensed after that date will be subject to the new fees.  This will equally impact accredited hospitals as there is now no fee difference between hospitals that get deemed status for licensure and non-accredited hospitals that are inspected.  

The new fees, which apply to acute, psychiatric and physical rehabilitation hospitals, are as follows: Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs): $750 + $25/bed All other Hospitals:  $1,000 + $25/bed The fee for CAHs represents a reduction from the original proposed fee as a result of KHA comments.  Other changes were made in response to KHA comments to assure hospitals would not be threatened with disciplinary action for not producing records that are protected as patient safety work product under the federal Patient Safety and Quality Act when a hospital is participating in a Patient Safety Organization (PSO) such as KHA’s PSO,...

According to a bulletin released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on August 29, to more quickly reduce the volume of patient status claim denials pending in the appeals process, CMS is offering an administrative agreement to any acute care hospital or critical access hospital (CAH) willing to resolve their pending appeals (or waive their right to request an appeal) in exchange for timely partial payment (68 percent of the net payable amount). CMS encourages hospitals with patient status claim denials currently in the appeals process to make use of this administrative agreement to alleviate the burden of current appeals on both the hospital and Medicare system.

More details about the providers and claims eligible for an administrative agreement, as well as the documents needed to request such an agreement, can be found on the CMS Inpatient Hospital Reviews web page.

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On September 17, KHA is kicking off a collaborative improvement project focusing on improving care and outcomes (including reducing readmissions) for pneumonia patients. This is a particularly tough challenge for small and rural hospitals as pneumonia patients often have comorbidities and other barriers to follow up care. The September 17 conference will be presented by Mary Guyot with Stroudwater Associates. Guyot is a long-time faculty for KHA Swing Bed programs and other quality education. She has 40 years of experience in nursing care and hospital leadership.The brochure, available at http://www.kyha.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/PneumoniaCollaborative.pdf, includes program details and registration information. The conference is open to all small and rural hospitals.

On September 18, KHA will host a conference for Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). The program will assist...

KHA will host two Swing Bed Seminars for Prospective Payment System (PPS) hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs) at the Hilton Garden Inn Northeast in Louisville as follows:

PPS Hospitals - October 7-8

CAHs - October 9-10

Follow the corresponding links above for program details and registration information.

Mary Guyot with Stroudwater Associates will instruct both courses. The seminar is supported by the Rural Hospital Flexibility Program in an effort to keep costs as low as possible for rural hospitals.

If you have any questions, please contact Elizabeth Cobb at KHA (502-426-6220 or 800-945-4542 or via email at ecobb@kyha.com).

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KHA will host its annual Small Rural and Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Conference June 5-6 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Louisville. The conference is designed to help small, rural hospital leaders understand changes to the health care delivery system and think strategically about how to best position your hospital for top performance. Small, rural and CAH hospital chief executive officers, chief nursing officers, chief financial officers, other senior leaders and trustees are encouraged to attend.

A flier with details, an agenda and registration information is available at http://www.kyha.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/StrengtheningKentuckyRuralHospitalPerformance.pdf.

For further information, please contact Elizabeth Cobb at KHA (502-426-6220 or 800-945-4542 or via email at ecobb@kyha.com).