The Statewide Prevention and Reduction of C. difficile (SPARC) Collaborative running now provides onsite gap assessments and resources to hospitals and is hosting a series of webinars to address common needs across hospitals. Hospitals interested in an onsite gap assessment may contact Rebecca Perlmutter . In a webinar June 12 at 1:30 p.m., Dr. Stuart M. Levine, FACP, will discuss the important role senior level and executive leadership play in helping drive C. difficile rate reduction. Registration information is here , and additional information is here .

An upcoming program sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Hospital Association, “Let’s Make a C-DIFFerence: The CDI Prevention Collaborative," is recruiting hospitals with opportunity for improvement as identified through the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Targeted Assessment for Prevention (TAP) Reports. The 12-month learning collaborative will begin in the fall. In the next few weeks, identified hospitals will be invited to participate. Contact the program team at [email protected] .

Cardiac rehabilitation can cut both cardiovascular deaths and hospitalization by roughly 30%. But only one in five people who could benefit take part in cardiac rehabilitation. Raising the participation rate to 70 percent could save an estimated 25,000 lives and prevent about 180,000 hospital admissions a year. A learning network will collaborate with and train up to 100 hospitals and health systems to increase rehabilitation referrals, enrollment and retention. These efforts will apply strategies in the new Million Hearts®/AACVPR Cardiac Rehabilitation Change Package and the team will work with hospitals to adopt two proven strategies: automated referrals of patients who qualify and a trained liaison to help make the referrals happen.Read more here . Contact with any inquiries: [email protected]

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced the award of new, five-year Beneficiary and Family Centered Care Quality Improvement Organization (BFCC QIO) contracts. Effective June 8 Livanta will hold the BFCC QIO contract in Maryland and Virginia; this role was previously held by KEPRO. As the BFCC QIO, Livanta will review beneficiary appeals and quality of care complaints.

 

Please note: Health Quality Innovators (HQI) continues to serve as the Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) for Maryland and Virginia.

 

Providers are asked to take the following steps:

Learn more:

Livanta Transition website

Livanta Provider Bulletin

The 2019 Maryland Hospital Association Hospital Capital Bond Program provides an opportunity for hospitals to apply for state allocated funding to complete private capital projects. Hospitals applying for funding under this program must submit their applications via the hospital-specific SharePoint site by Friday, June 21. Additional information and application documents are available on MHA’s website . If you have questions, please contact  Brett McCone ,  Jennifer Witten , or  Jane Krienke .

In the coming weeks, your Maryland Hospital Association will ask for your help to further efforts to address challenges with workforce supply and workplace violence. On Monday:

Information collected through these efforts will help MHA develop recommendations for programming, resources, policy, and advocacy efforts to support your health care workforce.

For more information, contact Jane Krienke , 410-540-5061.

Registration is open for the Maryland Healthcare Education Institute’s fall Practice of Leadership program for physicians. The sessions — in September, October, November and December — are focused on preparing physicians for the complex role of leading groups of individuals responsible for accomplishing critical strategic goals within constantly changing organizations. Details can be found here , and a recent MHEI blog post on this topic can be found here . For questions and registration details, contact Alison Burrows .

Your Maryland Hospital Association’s 2019 Annual Membership Meeting will kick off Monday with an evening reception, and the general session is scheduled for June 11, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The lineup of speakers includes a keynote address from Captain “Sully” Sullenberger, a safety expert and author known for the successful water landing called the “Miracle on the Hudson.” Adam Boehler, senior adviser to the Secretary for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, discusses new models with MHA’s SVP Government Affairs & Policy, Nicole Stallings, and Dr. Pritpal Tamber, founder of the Creating Health Collaborative and former physician editor of TEDMED, will speak about social determinants of health. For questions, contact Kathy Gotwalt .

Congratulations to our members who were named The Daily Record’s 2019 Health Care Heroes, honoring organizations and individuals who have made an impact on the quality of health care within our state. MHA is proud to be the event partner for this year’s event, which is June 27. A full list of winners and event details can be found here.