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October 18, 2020
Challenges, Opportunities in a Virtual Session
With just three months to the start of the 2021 legislative session in Annapolis, we’ll need to adapt to yet another new challenge brought on by the coronavirus: communicating with lawmakers remotely.

The General Assembly’s upcoming virtual session means delegates and senators will see few, if any, advocates in person. They’ll also be inundated with texts, calls, emails, and online meetings.

At the same time, legislative leaders plan to limit action to a select few priorities, such as police reform and the state’s fiscal challenges.

The abrupt shift to online hearings and decision-making earlier this year in Annapolis offers insight into what we can expect. With those lessons in mind, MHA is preparing to make our case differently.

On Thursday, MHA hosted your government affairs and public relations leads to discuss the challenges of a virtual session and the need to communicate early, often, succinctly, and visually.

Our primary focus will be to tell your COVID story to remind legislators how you are Caring for Maryland. The lifesaving work our hospitals and health systems are doing has earned our industry tremendous goodwill during this time of crisis. We plan to leverage the favorable sentiments with your help.

The most powerful messengers we have are the people who are closest to the care—our state’s dedicated hospital workers and the patients and community members they have healed and inspired.

We’ll partner with your hospitals to use grassroots techniques. We’ll maximize social media, digital communication, and videos. Plus, we’ll use messages of hope and healing as we advocate for our priorities and fend off unjustified attacks on our organizations, workforces, and patients.
Bob Atlas
President & CEO
MDH Hosts Webinar Oct. 22 on PrepMod
Results of MHA’s COVID-19 vaccine survey earlier this month show there are questions related to the use of PrepMod, the online clinic management & appointment scheduling system the state has decided to use for mass COVID vaccination. Based on this feedback, MHA asked the Maryland Department of Health to hold a webinar for hospital partners to learn about PrepMod. The webinar will be held Oct. 22 from 1 p.m.-2 p.m.
 
To Attend:
Audio:1 440 482 5430
Pin: 371548064
HSCRC Discusses Evolution of Model, MPA and Efficiency Recommendations
Wednesday’s public meeting of the Health Services Cost Review Commission (HSCRC) included a discussion about how Maryland’s Total Cost of Care Model is evolving. Commissioners discussed the all-payer nature of Maryland’s rate-setting system relative to Medicare savings expectations, balancing HSCRC policy improvement with the need for stability, and overall stakeholder accountability within the system. HSCRC staff also presented recommendations to revise the Medicare Performance Adjustment methodology and implement the Integrated Efficiency Policy.

For more information, read this month’s Newsbreak or contact Brett McCone.
MDMOM Webinar on Pregnancy-related Outcomes Dependent Upon Colorism
MDMOM is hosting its fifth webinar in a series to help health care providers offer high-quality care to pregnant and postpartum women. The webinar, Pregnancy-related Outcomes Dependent Upon Colorism, is Oct. 28 at noon, and registration information is available online. Additional details are on the MDMOM Program website.
Best Practices for Community Engagement
A Health Services Cost Review Commission work group now is preparing a report for the General Assembly about community benefit reporting and the process to develop a community health needs assessment (CHNA). MHA is proposing a set of best practices for CHNA engagement for the work group to include in its report.
 
To develop the best practices draft, which was sent to every hospital on Oct. 12, MHA reviewed guidelines from the American Hospital Association, Catholic Health Association, the Community Health Assessment Toolkit from the Association for Community Health Improvement as well as the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney, whose guidelines were referenced in the work group early on. We also looked at the engagement process outlined in member CHNAs and received initial feedback from hospital members of HSCRC’s technical subgroup on community benefit reporting. We are accepting feedback through Monday. For questions or to offer feedback, contact Nicole Stallings.
MHA, Legislative Leadership Liability Meetings
MHA recently met with House and Senate leaders to discuss the Maryland Health Care Heroes Protection Act, which is the field’s top 2021 legislative priority. The legislation provides enhanced liability protections for health care facilities and providers during catastrophic health emergencies. Hospital leaders stressed the importance of liability protections to protect hospital workers from threat of frivolous lawsuits while on the front lines of an unprecedented public health crisis. MHA continues to work with the Liability Work Group and Legislative Strategy Group to advocate for the bill’s passage. For additional information, contact Nicole Stallings or Brian Frazee.
Virtual Human Trafficking Training Nov. 12  
MHA will host a free 90-minute human trafficking training in partnership with the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, University of Maryland SAFE Center and Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center. Subject matter experts will cover the basics of human trafficking and provide an overview of Maryland’s recently updated Human Trafficking Guidelines for Health Care Providers. Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions and exchange ideas with hospital-based human trafficking champions from across the state. This training is open to all hospital employees, but registration is required. Continuing Education Units will be available. Please contact Jane Krienke with any questions.  
Updated Policies and Procedures for Maryland Conrad 30 (J-1 Visa Waiver) Program, Accepting Applications
The Maryland Department of Health’s (MDH) Office of Population Health Improvement updated policies and procedures for the Maryland Conrad 30 (J-1 Visa Waiver) program for fiscal year 2021, which allows foreign-born physicians to remain in the U.S. after completing graduate medical education or training. Under the updates, in addition to mailing a physical copy of the application, an electronic copy must be submitted via email. Each year Maryland receives 30 J-1 Visa Waiver slots. After reviewing applications, the Maryland Office of Workforce Development makes recommendations to the U.S. Department of State for foreign-born physicians requesting waivers from their J-1 Visa in exchange for agreement to work in an under-served area for three years. MDH prioritizes applications for primary care providers working in Health Professional Shortage Areas, medically underserved areas and with underserved populations. The policies and procedures document and additional resources are available on the Office of Population Health Improvement’s website. For questions about the program, contact the Maryland Office of Workforce Development
HGO Joint Subcommittee Briefing on Telehealth
The Maryland House Health & Government Operations Committee’s Health Occupations and Long-Term Care and Health Insurance subcommittees held a joint briefing Oct. 15 on telehealth. Representatives from the Maryland Heath Care Commission (MHCC), Maryland Insurance Administration (MIA), and Maryland Department of Health (MDH) shared their respective agency’s actions and observations regarding the expanded use of telehealth during the COVID-19 catastrophic health emergency. MHCC highlighted its intended policy work through its telehealth work group, of which MHA is a member. MIA gave an overview of payer data on telehealth but indicated that legislative action is required for continued coverage expansion for private payers. MDH gave an overview of the flexibilities that were granted by Medicaid for telehealth, as well as areas where health occupations boards needed to weigh in on issues or concerns because they were out of Medicaid’s scope. MHA will engage with these agencies and legislators to advocate for meaningful and expansive flexibility for telehealth. For additional information, contact Jennifer Witten.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Expands Telehealth Services Under Emergency Authority
CMS is adding 11 new services to the Medicare telehealth services list since the May 1 publication of the COVID-19 Interim Final Rule with comment period (IFC). Medicare will begin paying eligible practitioners who furnish these newly added telehealth services effective immediately, and for the duration of the public health emergency (PHE). These new telehealth services include certain neurostimulator analysis and programming services, and cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation services. The list of these newly added services is available on the CMS website. Note, the expanded services do not include those furnished via audio-only technologies (i.e., telephone-only devices). CMS modified the process for adding or deleting services from the Medicare telehealth services list to allow expedited consideration of additional telehealth services during the PHE.
CMS Releases Data, Insight on Expansion of Telehealth
CMS is releasing a supplement to its State Medicaid & CHIP Telehealth Toolkit: Policy Considerations for States Expanding Use of Telehealth, COVID-19 Version that provides lessons learned from states expanded telehealth during COVID. The updated supplemental information is intended to help states explain and clarify to providers and other stakeholders what policies are temporary or permanent. It also helps states identify services that can be accessed through telehealth, which providers may deliver those services, ways providers may use in order to deliver services through telehealth, as well as the circumstances under which telehealth can be reimbursed once the PHE expires.

Data released provides a snapshot on telehealth utilization among Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries. The analysis shows beneficiaries accessed 34,538,375 telehealth services between March and June 2020, marking a 2,632% increase from the same time period the year before. Among these beneficiaries, working age adults made up the largest portion of those accessing telehealth, followed next by children and then by adults 65 years old and above. MHA will review these reports and determine how the data might be used in our state advocacy efforts to preserve flexibilities for providers. For additional questions contact Jennifer Witten.
AHA Releases PSA, Resources Urging the Public to Seek Care
The American Hospital Association recently released a new public service announcement urging the public not to delay getting the preventive, scheduled, and emergency services they need, and noting that hospitals and health systems are always there, ready to care. The PSA, available in English and Spanish, can be adapted by AHA members with their organization’s logo for their use. In addition to the PSA, related social media, talking points and other materials are available for hospitals and health systems to customize and use these resources in their communities. 

AHA also continues to add new material to both their Wear a Mask and United Against the Flu campaign. All of the material can be used by AHA member hospitals and health systems. Additional resources are available from the Ad Council. View and download the partner toolkit: getmyflushot.adcouncilkit.org. They’ll continue to update this website in the coming weeks as new assets become available.
Inpatient Case Mix in Maryland Hospitals
Source: Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) Facility Resources Emergency Database (FRED) Daily Survey Submission
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