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.

...

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).

...

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).