Revitalizing an FQHC, the Operational Plan, and the Health of the Community: A Case Study

Oct 27, 2017 8:00am ‐ Oct 27, 2017 9:30am

Identification: IFE1

In an age when funding for health care is uncertain, this session highlights a case study of a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) that succeeded in developing a Patient-Centered Medical Home model, as part of transitioning their location. Through the process, Family Healthcare of Hagerstown was able to increase patient access and expand physical capacity to increase services, resulting in higher volume, increased patient satisfaction, higher physician retention, and greater personal accountability in individual care. Attend this session to learn how Family Healthcare of Hagerstown determined financial feasibility, appropriate site and space planning, market validation, and rebranding as part of their pre-planning efforts.

Presenters will highlight how this FQHC not only revitalized its space and patient experience, but also its community, by repurposing an abandoned building.

  • Describe financial feasibility, market validation, and service rationalization processes driven by community needs.
  • Identify successful tactics to improve patient satisfaction and experience while keeping value and cost of care as top priorities.
  • Explore the place of a new FQHC in population health improvement of the greater community.

340B Pharmacy: A Close Examination of the In-House Versus Outsourcing Pharmacy

Oct 27, 2017 10:00am ‐ Oct 27, 2017 11:30am

Identification: IFA2

There are many considerations involved in deciding to have an in-house pharmacy or to use a contract 340B pharmacy. A "contract pharmacy" is a pharmacy that is owned by an organization other than the health center. Contract pharmacies include both large retail chains and independent community pharmacies. When deciding whether to use an in-house pharmacy, one or more contract pharmacies, or a combination of both, at a minimum an FQHC should consider several factors.

This session will discuss the pros and cons of both models.

  • Identify key compliance responsibilities for in-house and contract 340B pharmacies.
  • Understand the impact on patient access with each 340B model.
  • Understand upfront and ongoing costs for both contract and in-house 340B pharmacies.

Implementing Cloud Services in Production and Business Continuity Environments

Oct 27, 2017 10:00am ‐ Oct 27, 2017 11:30am

Identification: IFB2

This session will outline the considerations for utilizing cloud technologies to enhance disaster recovery and business continuity planning for health care organizations. Presenters will outline the concerns and issues related to cloud integration, and "proof of concept" example projects will be demonstrated.

  • Understand the differences between data backups, disaster recovery, and business continuity and the level of protections offered by each solution.
  • Develop a list of both “line of business” and support/corporate systems that should be considered for cloud integration.
  • Understand the concerns and limitations of cloud integration into your business continuity plan (BCP).

Grants Management: Financial Policy Considerations in Preparation for HRSA Site Visits

Oct 27, 2017 10:00am ‐ Oct 27, 2017 11:30am

Identification: IFC2

Session presenters will review the Financial Capacity Review document, currently utilized by the Division of Financial Integrity (DFI) of HRSA, to analyze financial policies and procedures in place at health centers. This document contains 17 management control areas that HRSA believes will ensure that grant recipients have policies in place that are compliant with the Uniform Grants Guidance and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Grants Policy Statement.

Special consideration will be made for findings most commonly disclosed in single audit reports, HHS Office of Inspector General reports, HRSA Operational Site Visit reports, and DFI grant reviews which are designed to ensure health centers have safeguards in place for the appropriate financial stewardship of federal funds.

  • Identify language that HRSA feels “must” be included in financial policies.
  • Understand rules surrounding record keeping in the general ledger related to grant funds, time and effort reporting, and property and procurement standards.
  • Identify the revisions to the Uniform Grant Guidance Compliance Supplement for 2017, specifically sliding fee and UDS testing, along with common single audit findings.

Implementation and Scalability of a Clinic-Based Medical Assistant Training Program to Improve Recruitment, Retention, and Continued Team-Based Care Transformation

Oct 27, 2017 10:00am ‐ Oct 27, 2017 11:30am

Identification: IFD2

Currently, training programs for medical assistants (MAs) have not caught up with the national move toward Patient-Centered Medical Home recognition and value-based care. Therefore, recruiting MAs trained for these advanced roles is challenging. Moreover, the leading primary care agencies bear the burden to provide extensive practical training for individuals they hire. These challenges result in extra recruitment and training costs, inefficiencies from staffing shortages, and lack of proper support for providers. A response is to create clinic-based training for MAs.

Implementing an academic training program from the ground up requires a significant commitment and investment of resources: financial and human capital. Projections during the planning and initial start-up year for the National Institute for Medical Assistant Advancement (NIMAA) indicated a substantial need and demand for this service. While the initial investment was significant, it was projected that once the program was up and running the payback would be fairly rapid and that, over time, the project would offer significant Return on Investment that could be used to further support the mission of the health centers along with ensuring a viable answer to the challenge of recruiting highly-trained individuals into these more advanced MA roles.

  • Discuss the challenges regarding the recruitment and retention of MAs in roles at clinics defined as Patient-Centered Medical Homes.
  • Understand how an MA training program was designed and implemented from the ground up to ensure enhanced education for MAs.
  • Understand the financial analysis required to project return on investment when reviewing and supporting innovative initiatives.

Improving Quality Family Planning Service Provision Through Interoperability Solutions and Clinical Measures

Oct 27, 2017 10:00am ‐ Oct 27, 2017 11:30am

Identification: IFE2

Health centers play an integral role in the provision of family planning services to reproductive-aged women and men. To support delivery of family planning in FQHC settings, the Office of Population Affairs is laying the foundation for new eMeasures, for contraceptive care, that measure the percentage of reproductive-aged women provided a most effective (i.e., sterilization, contraceptive implants, intrauterine devices or systems) or moderately effective (i.e., injectables, oral pills, patch, ring, or diaphragm) contraceptive method and who have access to long-acting reversible contraceptive methods.

A core set of family planning and reproductive health data elements needed to calculate the measures, including new data elements for pregnancy intention, sexual activity, and contraceptive method provided during a clinical encounter, have been mapped to new and existing code sets (including LOINC, SNOMED CT, and RxNorm). Also, two interoperability mechanisms, one that is based in Consolidated Clinical Document Architecture (CCDA) and one that utilizes Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR), are being developed to capture standardized, patient-level data on family planning and reproductive health. Health centers can use these measures to improve the provision of quality family planning services to their clients and ensure these clients have access to the full range of contraceptive methods.

  • Describe new clinical eMeasures that can be used to monitor family planning service provision within the health center context.
  • Explain the data elements needed to use the contraceptive care measures for quality improvement.
  • Describe the two interoperability mechanisms that will be available for capturing family planning service provision in electronic health records.

Essential Elements of Employee Retention

Oct 27, 2017 12:30pm ‐ Oct 27, 2017 2:00pm

Identification: IFA3

This session explores the extraordinarily high cost of employee turnover and offers some practical solutions to provide both the organization and the new employees a greater likelihood of having made a great mutual decision. Through both new employee orientation and onboarding, the process of connecting the new hire to the organization occurs. To the extent that we get it right, we greatly heighten our chances of retaining the new hire in our organization.

We'll talk about the investment we need to make if we wish to decrease employee turnover. And it doesn't end once the employee has been with your organization for a while.

We'll explore the power behind 'stay interviews' with all of our existing employees, and how our staff follow and advance through relationships.

  • Design a New Employee Orientation Program that introduces new hires to the organization, its key people, and policies and procedures.
  • Create a New Employee Onboarding Program which will set new employees up for success in their initial first few months.
  • Positively impact your organization's ability to retain its talent, increase employee engagement, and curb the expense associated with employee turnover.

Why Clinical Coding Matters... The Impact on Future Compensation

Oct 27, 2017 12:30pm ‐ Oct 27, 2017 2:00pm

Identification: IFB3

Value-based care and quality payment models have made coding an integral part of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), and Quality Payment Program (QPP). While CHCs are eligible, but not obligated to report via QPP and penalties for 2017 data do not impact CHC PPS payments, CHC exclusion won't last forever. Learning how current CHC coding/billing patterns impact how your organization, individually, and CHCs, collectively, are perceived may change the historic CHC tune of "coding does not matter."

During this session, attendees will gain a better understanding of the evolution and the future of the value-based care national landscape including the insurance industry perspective. Leave with tools that allow you to execute an effective 'top-down' QPP game plan including ICD-10 coding specifics and physician documentation improvement.

  • Better understand the past and future implications of value-based care models.
  • Grasp the importance of clinical coding in fiscal success as we move towards QPP.
  • Create a ‘top-down’ education plan to ensure success in the face of QPP.

Medicare Update Including Medicare Cost Reporting and How It Intersects With Revenue

Oct 27, 2017 12:30pm ‐ Oct 27, 2017 2:00pm

Identification: IFC3

As the population ages and the Medicare percentage of total patients increases for most community health centers, a focus on optimizing revenue from this important payer continues. This session will explore the key drivers of Medicare revenue including G-Code rate development, Chronic Care Management (CCM), and others.

Presenters will discuss completion of the Medicare cost report and how the information from that completed report can be used to help monitor your performance and provide you with information on opportunities with this important program.

  • Recognize the importance of an accurately completed Medicare cost report to use as a management decision tool.
  • Identify the key drivers of Medicare revenue and tips and hints to help ensure that Medicare revenue has been optimized.
  • Understand the need to have a Medicare strategy so that opportunities to increase Medicare market share are utilized.

CMS Emergency Preparedness Final Rule: Make Sure Your Health Center Is Ready

Oct 27, 2017 12:30pm ‐ Oct 27, 2017 2:00pm

Identification: IFD3

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its long-awaited final rule establishing emergency preparedness requirements for 17 healthcare providers and suppliers participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs, which specifically includes Federally Qualified health centers. The rule establishes consistent emergency preparedness requirements across provider types. The rule went into effect on November 16, 2016, and Medicare and Medicaid participating providers and suppliers, including health centers, must comply by November 17, 2017.

The new rule is far-reaching and requires providers to conduct annual risk assessments and develop emergency plans. Providers must develop and implement policies and procedures to successfully execute their emergency plans, while addressing risks identified during their most recent assessment phase. Providers must also establish a communications plan to communicate and coordinate patient care within and outside their facilities during an emergency. Finally, providers must demonstrate ongoing training and testing of their emergency management programs, including conducting exercises.

This session, led by FTLF attorney Dianne Pledgie and Primary Care Emergency Preparedness Network (PCEPN)'s Lead Liaison Alexander Lipovtsev, will discuss the four core elements included in the new rule and the implications for health centers:

  1. Risk Assessment and Emergency Planning
  2. Communications Plan
  3. Policies and Procedures
  4. Training and Testing Program

It will also help you:

  • Articulate the four core elements of the CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule.
  • Evaluate your organization’s compliance with the four core elements of the CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule.
  • Identify internal resources and processes necessary to maintain compliance with the CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule.