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February 16, 2020
Keeping Caregivers Safe
You work every day to provide a safe and happy setting for patients to get great care. Yet sometimes violence erupts, often directed at caregivers in the hospital.

Stemming violence against caregivers is a priority for hospital and health system leaders. In collaboration with the Maryland Nurses Association, MHA compiled best practices and resources and we’ve been in touch with your teams to connect them with state’s attorney liaisons in each county.

Recent data show you are uniting with frontline staff to better protect them; investing more in security; and, if your employees are ever harmed, helping them to press charges against offenders and supporting them as they navigate the justice system.

We’ve also created a new issue brief on workplace violence that outlines where hospitals need outside support, including from law enforcement and the legislature. We’re sharing your stories with elected leaders as we advocate for bills in Annapolis to strengthen health care workplaces. Legislation proposed this session would reform the peace order process and allow employees to keep their full names private on name badges .

MHA will continue to support you in protecting your most valuable assets: your people.
Bob Atlas
President & CEO
#Caring4Md Focus on Patient Care
This week’s #Caring4Md messages are focused on the special care hospitals deliver to patients—inside and outside their four walls. Social media graphics are available here . Your active participation in the campaign ensures our message reaches legislators and influencers in Annapolis. As we continue to build content for #Caring4Md, we want to hear from you. Do you have existing blogs or patient stories that we should include and link back to your site? Are there messages or content that would be helpful to you? Please email us at [email protected] .
HSCRC Approves New MA Hospital Quality Improvement Partnership, More
HSCRC approved a new Medicare Advantage (MA) Hospital Quality Improvement Partnership grant program. The program offers up to $50 million of statewide funding in rate year (RY) 2020 and RY2021 to any Maryland hospital that applies for and is awarded an MA partnership grant. HSCRC also approved a resolution on the state of the Maryland Primary Care Program (MDPCP) and its effect on the model. Read more in MHA’s HSCRC Newsbreak .
Annapolis Update
Last week, MHA testified in support of two of the hospital field’s top priorities: enhancing Maryland’s Loan Assistance Repayment Program for physicians and physician assistants (LARP) and expanding access points for Marylanders in a behavioral health crisis beyond hospital emergency departments. Lyle Sheldon, president and CEO of University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health, and Dr. Jeffrey Sternlicht, chairman of emergency medicine at Greater Baltimore Medical Center, testified in support of MHA’s behavioral health legislation Wednesday.

MHA worked closely with the University of Maryland, Baltimore on the LARP legislation, which would help bolster the primary care workforce in underserved areas statewide. On Thursday several past LARP recipients and hospital executives testified in support the bill, including Dr. Jay Perman, chancellor of the University System of Maryland; Dr. Bruce Jarrell, president of University of Maryland, Baltimore; Susan Lawrence, senior government affairs specialist with University of Maryland, Baltimore; Dr. Karin DiBari, vice president of Peninsula Regional Medical Group/chief physician executive at Peninsula Regional Medical Group; and Tiffany Sullivan, senior vice president of Clinical Integration and Ambulatory Services at University of Maryland Capital Region Health. For more information on bills MHA is tracking, click here . 
Review, Commit to Voluntary, Statewide Human Trafficking Guidelines
Thank you to those hospitals that already responded to a letter asking for commitment to voluntarily adopt the recently updated Human Trafficking Guidelines for Healthcare Providers . Your commitment will move Maryland forward in developing a statewide, champion-based response to human trafficking. MHA worked in partnership with the University of Maryland SAFE Center, the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force and forensic nurse examiners and child abuse experts, to update the guidelines to align with national best practices and recommendations. Hospitals are encouraged to return their completed form to Jane Krienke by March 6. 
Nominate a Health Care Hero
The Daily Record is calling for nominations for its Health Care Heroes awards . MHA is an event partner for the awards, which honor organizations and individuals who have made an impact on the quality of health care in Maryland. Nominations are due March 4. For more information and to fill out a nomination form or application, click here .
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