Better Hospitals, Better Health
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Patient safety and the delivery of quality care are central to every decision Maryland’s health care leaders make. It comes as no surprise, then, that evidence is accumulating showing that our hospitals are making great strides in improving patient safety and raising quality.
Longstanding, statewide work on quality improvement has focused on reducing readmissions and hospital-acquired infections. Increasingly, hospitals’ efforts include reaching out into the community, where we are addressing social determinants of health, including nutrition, housing, transportation, and more. That is why, this year, MHA expanded our report to cover population health.
We’re also pleased this year to feature hospital-specific examples to make this a strong
advocacy
piece on behalf of the hospital field. Note that we’ve just passed the halfway point of the legislative session in Annapolis.
Your MHA will continue to showcase how Maryland’s hospitals are innovating in the interest of delivering high-value, safe, patient-centered care.
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Bob Atlas
President & CEO
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AHA Releases Principles on Surprise Billing
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Several bills have been introduced during the Maryland General Assembly’s legislative session related to surprise billing, and lawmakers in the US Congress also are considering steps to limit surprise billing. This occurs when a patient receives a bill they were not expecting or when a bill is much higher than a patient expected. A common cause for surprise billing is when a patient receives care out-of-network. In response to this issue, the American Hospital Association on Wednesday released a set of principles for surprise billing. The principles demonstrate the commitment of hospitals and health systems to protect patients from surprise bills.
To view the principles, click
here
.
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Council Set to Discuss MPA Efficiency Adjustment
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On February 19, hospital representatives and Health Services Cost Review Commission (HSCRC) staff met to discuss the proposed Medicare Performance Adjustment (MPA) Efficiency Adjustment. The proposed MPA Efficiency Adjustment is designed to ensure that Maryland will achieve the annual Medicare savings targets in our Total Cost of Care Model. The policy implications of this proposal will be discussed at the March 5 Council on Financial Policy meeting. For more information, please contact
Brett McCone
or
Traci La Valle
.
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Md. General Assembly Update
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This week marked the halfway point of the 2019 legislative session in Annapolis. With just over three weeks until the General Assembly’s “crossover” deadline, which is the date by which each chamber must send to the other chamber those bills it intends to pass, legislative committees are considering hundreds of bills and scheduling several workgroup meetings on bills that are expected to move forward. This week, your Maryland Hospital Association (MHA) team weighed in on bills relating to the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, minimum wage, and HIV prophylaxis. MHA also testified in support of Gov. Larry Hogan’s proposed fiscal year 2020 Medicaid budget, which includes a $40 million reduction of the Medicaid Deficit Assessment. For more information on bills MHA is tracking, please click
here
.
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Stakeholder Innovation Group Continues Work
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The Stakeholder Innovation Group (SIG) will
meet
Monday to discuss stakeholder engagement and provider-driven innovation, opportunities to participate in federal payment models, and more. The SIG — which includes physicians, hospitals, post-acute and behavioral health providers, payers and consumer groups — works to provide recommendations to the Secretary of Health and state agency partners on opportunities to sustain and spread health care delivery transformation. Your Maryland Hospital Association will continue to update you on their work. For more information, click
here
.
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MHA Welcomes New VP of Communications
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This week MHA welcomes Amy Goodwin as our new Vice President of Communications. Amy brings two decades’ worth of experience in health care communications and public affairs. She joins us from Children’s National Health System (an MHA member) and previously served at Johns Hopkins Medicine and Kaiser Permanente. MHA President & CEO Bob Atlas said, “I’m excited to complete our Communications team so that we can be even more effective in getting out the field’s message about advancing health care and the health of all Marylanders.”
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Awards Honor Health Care Field
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The Daily Record is calling for nominations for its Healthcare Heroes awards. Your Maryland Hospital Association 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 5. For more information and to fill out a nomination form or application, click
here
.
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Maryland’s hospitals had a:
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8.2%
drop in Medicare readmissions from 2013 to 2017
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21.8%
reduction in MRSA between 2015 and 2017
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12%
reduction in C.diff between 2015 and 2017
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Maryland Hospital Association | www.mhaonline.org
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