2017 Financial, Operations Management / IT Conference

Jones Loflin is an internationally recognized speaker and trainer, and the coauthor of Juggling Elephants and Getting to It, as well as the author of Getting the Blue Ribbon. He has developed and delivered solutions for many Fortune 500 companies in the areas of work-life satisfaction, time management, change, and leadership. Jones has made it his life's work to deliver powerful ideas and practical solutions to individuals around the world so they can achieve more of what is most important to them. His books are described as "illuminating" and his presentations as "unforgettable." In his 22 years as a speaker and trainer, Jones has helped countless people regain confidence in their abilities to achieve greater success in work and life.

Sponsored by the 2017 Leader Sponsors: BKD, Centene Corporation, McKesson, NextGen Healthcare, and OCHIN

With ever-shrinking grant funding, billing incomes are the number one source of revenue for community health centers (CHCs). As CHCs add new programs, open new access points, or operate in Medicaid expansion regions, the billing department grows not only in importance but in complications as well. This will become ever more critical with proposed changes to the insurance market in 2017 and beyond. This high-level overview gives CHC Leadership easy-to-use tools that allow them to measure and benchmark their organizations against similar CHCs in their own states as well as nationally.

These tools will allow you to track payments per encounter, denial (nonpayment) rates, proper staffing, and the overall performance of your billing department.

• Understand the billing and collections process at a CHC and how changes in the ACA affect this important source of revenue.
• Analyze data available from different sources (billing systems, UDS Reports, etc.) to find trends, post-ACA, for those CHCs in Medicaid expansion states and those that did not expand.
• Understand best practices and benchmarks in relation to billing and collections employed by CHC organizations nationally.

This session will cover the five areas where supply chain management can reduce cost and drive efficiency in your center. Hear tips, best practices, and success stories for implementation of these strategies. You will understand the drivers of cost in the supply chain system, learn how to drive efficiency and formulary management across locations, as well as understand how to optimize GPOs and local contracts.

• Understand the importance of supply chain analytics and what to look for.
• Understand how to apply SKU standardization.
• Acquire information on how to better leverage your contracts and GPOs.

There are several threats to health center funding at the federal level–the 330 funding cliff, repeal of the Medicaid expansion, and block grants/per capita caps. This session will present analytical tools to measure the financial impact of each potential change.

Presenters will also evaluate strategies that health centers can develop now to address funding changes.

• Identify new strategies to address significant issues in your health center.
• Apply these principles to evaluate the potential impact in federal funding changes.
• Discover new or pending policy changes.

Many community health centers have access to a plethora of data that are not fully utilized and analyzed. In collaboration with the University of California at Irvine (UCI) Division of Hematology, we sought to take a closer look at two rare blood disordersthrombocytosis and erythrocytosis. The initial screening for these disorders can be easily noted from a CBC with evidence of an elevated platelet count or hemoglobin level. We sought to run a data mining pilot project to delineate how many of our patients could potentially have these rare blood disorders.

In our initial data filter, there were about 100 patients who had elevated levels of platelets which will need further investigation. The researcher and hematologist/oncologist at UCI will also address our providers on this topic and our future research collaboration, as approximately 20 percent of these patients may also have an associated co-morbid inflammatory bowel disease and would benefit from genetic testing.

This pilot project will demonstrate how partnerships between community health centers and major university research institutions can function in the future models of population health and data analytics/mining.

• Explain the advanced role of Population Health 2.0.
• Identify the steps involved in undergoing a data analytic approach (presented by an informatics health specialist).
• Elaborate on how to collaborate with major university research organizations.

LGBT people face stigma and related health disparities in health care. In spite of the advancements in LGBT acceptance and policy, many LGBT people remain largely invisible to their providers. Meaningful Use Stage 3 includes the requirement that all certified EHR systems have the capacity to record sexual orientation (SO) and gender identity (GI). HRSA now requires that all FQHCs report SOGI data on their annual Uniform Data Systems (UDS) reports. Collecting SOGI data of patients is critical in order for health care organizations to provide a welcoming, inclusive environment and allow HCPs to better understand their LGBT patients.

Routine SOGI data collection in the EHR can be used to measure and track health outcomes at the individual and population levels. The EHR is an important tool for managing quality for populations and developing quality and monitoring reports, like a Transgender Dashboard, that can help reduce health disparities. Experiences and processes of implementing changes within the EHR and workflows will be shared. Training all staff, including non-clinical staff, are key to the successful implementation of SOGI data collection and creating a LGBT-inclusive environment in primary care.

• Describe how the customization of an EHR can improve communication, data, and quality management activities including the collection and reporting of patient-level information, clinical outcomes, and better care coordination.
• Understand the impact SOGI data collection will have on key stakeholders (patients, staff, and management).
• Identify methods to actively engage and educate staff on the importance of collecting SOGI data and how to do so, and its impact on health disparities.

Growth is a primary objective of most health center strategic plans and is often accomplished through the addition of new sites. Many organizations focus on the planning and construction, and the excitement of that first day. But there are myriad regulatory steps to perform to ensure you receive appropriate payment for the services delivered at your new site. BPHC, Medicare, and Medicaid each have specific requirements, as do NCQA and other accrediting bodies. Incomplete or missing forms can delay eligibility for payment and result in cash flow challenges.

Presenters will discuss these various requirements and provide a tool for tracking needed activities.

• Understand the various Medicare enrollment requirements.
• Identify examples of state-specific Medicaid enrollment requirements.
• Develop a tool for ensuring the timely completion of all forms and for predicting cash flow.

This workshop will take the operational results of an average health center and look at the risks of maintaining the status quo. Presently, health centers have incentive to analyze their operational results and going forward they will have a need. The presenters will discuss the recent trends related to health center cost of care and model both the operational and financial effects of moving the needle up or down on various cost drivers.

• Understand the financial implications of total cost of care.
• Identify ways that you might analyze your operating results.
• Identify recent trends related to health care costs.

Demonstrating the value of a health center in a simple format is harder than it looks. The Massachusetts PCA, HCCN, and Capital Link worked together to produce a one-page, easy-to-read handout that highlights the data that presents health centers in a positive light. Figuring out which data to use and which to omit was difficult, but the end result is an easy-to-use, flexible document that can serve a variety of needs for any health center.

• Understand uses for different types of data.
• Determine which data uses are appropriate in different settings.
• Select data specific for advocacy.

Managers play a key role in creating a patient-centered experience. This session will give managers an action plan to redesign their management style so their processes are truly patient-centered. Managers and administrators will leave with the ability to give constructive, objective, data-driven feedback to employees that will immediately start transforming their patient experience.

• Complete a self-assessment for patient-centeredness.
• Develop measures for patient-centered management you can immediately apply.
• Use your self-assessment to develop an actionable plan to measure your employees’ performance using patient-centered data.

Review current trends in health information exchange (HIE), including regional and national successes that do or could impact CHCs. OCHIN has experience working in multiple states to improve interoperability for the FQHC and safety-net clinics they support. Meaningful Use requirements drive many focuses at the clinic level, but there are HIE opportunities available that can help with care coordination and could produce better patient outcomes.

• Identify current challenges in the national landscape of HIE.
• Identify areas of interoperability where organizations have been successful and the factors that made these areas successful.
• Take suggestions back to your organization for improving care coordination.

In August 2017, HRSA issued the final Health Center Program Compliance Manual, providing a streamlined and consolidated resource to assist health centers in understanding and demonstrating compliance with the Program Requirements. The Manual replaces several Policy Information Notices (PINs) and Program Assistance Letters (PALs), consolidating guidance into one document addressing the elements of the Program Requirements, methodology for documenting compliance, and specific areas of flexibility. HRSA also indicated it is "field testing" a new assessment protocol aligned with the Manual, which, once final, will replace the current Health Center Program Site Visit Guide for assessing compliance during Operational Site Visits (OSVs).

Of importance, the Manual was effective immediately upon publication. What does that mean for health centers with upcoming grant applications and OSVs? While the requirements outlined in the Manual continue to reflect the statutory and regulatory mandates, the Manual incorporates a new approach to "everyday "compliance, providing both specific steps to demonstrate compliance and explicit areas where health centers retain discretion to tailor their programs appropriately.

Join FTLF as they explore key differences between the prior guidance, the Manual and implications for health center operations. Participants will discuss "tips" to implement specific compliance steps and utilize the discretion afforded their specific projects.

• Understand the key differences between the prior guidance and the new manual and its impact on OSVs.
• Understand the specific steps necessary to demonstrate compliance and areas where health centers retain discretion.
• Identify PINs and PALs that have been replaced by the new manual and current guidance that is still effective.

Provider retention and reduced burnout are concerns for all community health centers. This session will share the experience of one health center and its data surrounding these issues. The Open Door Community Health Centers began implementation of Google Glass technology in Spring 2017 to connect remotely with scribes to improve their providers' work/life balance.

This session will include a demonstration of the devices, and device experts will be on site to answer questions from participants.

• Understand the infrastructure that is required to implement Google Glass.
• Understand the mistakes made by others to ensure a smooth implementation.
• Understand that allowing scribes into the health center is not a one-type-fits-all situation.

Health center leadership must be able to analyze and act upon financial information as part of an overall approach to strategic decision-making. This training will focus on the use of forecasting, budgeting, and scenario planning to support leaders in recognizing the underlying economic logic of programs, and adapting quickly to ensure business model sustainability. The presenter will address current regulations and issues that impact health centers. The development and use of internal and external financial reports will be discussed with an emphasis on using financial information in decision-making. Tools and techniques of financial statement analysis, interpretation, and presentation will also be discussed and practiced during the session.

This training is designed to improve financial fluency across agency leadership, including: the practice of critical and analytical thinking; the ability to synthesize and plan; the knowledge of how to evaluate and respond quickly; and the skills to effectively communicate financial data. We will address the real challenges, problems, and opportunities of health centers dealing with and responding to the current economic environment.

• Develop and use financial forecasting and budgeting tools to support an overall approach to strategic decision-making.
• Identify techniques to effectively communicate financial information with key decision-makers across your agency.
• Define the underlying economic logic of your health center business line and use that information to support and sustain a healthy business model for your health center.

Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) are uniquely poised to leverage new health care funding to expand their capacity in underserved communities. To access these funds, FQHCs use their expertise and community assessments to determine where health care deserts exists; however just opening a new clinic in an underserved community does not guarantee that it will be highly accessed by the surrounding population. Since 2015, Brightpoint Health has opened six new clinics and increased its patients' visits from 20,000 visits to 180,000 by year's end.

This session will discuss a four-point strategy for building a flourishing clinic. These strategies are: a traditional community-level marketing campaign, targeted outreach to community partners, integration of wrap-around and clinic services, and the incorporation of local private physicians with pre-existing patient panels. This combined strategy is replicable in other communities and states, and offers key lessons learned that can be utilized in a variety of diverse settings.

• Apply successful growth practices in your FQHC.
• Build a comprehensive and sustainable business development strategy.
• Evaluate local markets to determine best opportunities for mergers, acquisitions, and affiliations to maximize patient growth.