House Meets and Overrides Governor's Veto of Campaign Finance Program
The State House of Representatives met on Friday, August 13, and voted to override, by a vote of 106 to 30, Governor M. Jodi Rell's veto of SB 551, An Act Concerning Clean Elections. The House action follows the Senate override of the bill on August 5.
Enacted on July 30, SB 551 was the General Assembly's attempt to address the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals' recent decision that found portions of Connecticut's campaign finance law unconstitutional. Most notably, SB 551 increases the size of the grants to those running for Governor and amends the law relative to the ability of lobbyists and state contractors to solicit and make political contributions.
Hospitals and CHA Meet with HHS Regional Administrator
On Friday, August 13, senior hospital administrators from Bristol Hospital, Eastern Connecticut Health Network, Hartford Hospital, Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, the Hospital for Special Care, and CHA staff met with Christie Hager, the new Health and Human Services (HHS) Regional Administrator. Ms. Hager reports directly to Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and has the primary responsibility of implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in the New England region. Ms. Hager will also serve as a conduit to the Secretary’s office for other significant issues hospitals may raise with HHS.
Previously, Ms. Hager was Chief Health Counsel to the Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives during the development, drafting, and first three years of implementation of the 2006 Massachusetts health reform law. Ms. Hager holds an AB from Smith College, an MPH from the Boston University School of Public Health, and a JD from the University of Connecticut School of Law.
Ms. Hager indicated that Secretary Sebelius has given clear direction that HHS will provide flexibility in implementing the new law, and stated that she is pleased to have been assigned to New England because of the innovativeness of the healthcare industry and policy makers.
The third learning session for the Reducing Heart Failure Readmissions Collaborative has been scheduled for Monday, November 8, 2010, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Harlan Krumholz, MD, SM, an international expert and distinguished lecturer and researcher in the field of cardiac disease, will be the keynote speaker.
Dr. Krumholz’s research is focused on determining optimal clinical and population-based strategies for improving the prevention, treatment, and outcome of cardiovascular disease. The research and its application have contributed to elevating the quality of practice, eliminating disparities, defining new treatment standards, improving professional standards, and guiding healthcare policy. Dr. Krumholz is the Harold H. Hines, Jr. Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale University School of Medicine, where he is Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program. He is also the Director of the Yale-New Haven Hospital Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE). He leads the Hospital To Home (H2H) initiative of the American College of Cardiology, and was recently designated as a Distinguished Scientist of the American Heart Association. Dr. Krumholz has published more than 500 articles and is the author of The Expert Guide to Beating Heart Disease.
Readmissions Collaborative Learns Importance of Daily Goals from Stop BSI Expert
The Reducing Heart Failure Readmissions Collaborative gathered by webinar in early August for some cross-collaborative learning with an expert from the “On the CUSP: Stop BSI” national collaborative aimed at eliminating central line-associated bloodstream infections. Melinda Sawyer, RN, MSN, and Patient Safety Officer, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Hospital, joined the group to discuss the importance of setting daily patient goals, and understanding how they are one tool to improve teamwork and communication.
Ms. Sawyer, who is a senior research coordinator working with Peter Pronovost, MD, has implemented the Comprehensive Unit-Based Safety Program (CUSP) for the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and works closely with the ICU teams that are part of the Stop BSI collaborative, as the Connecticut-assigned project faculty. She noted that communication errors are the most common contributing factor for all types of sentinel events reported to The Joint Commission. She discussed the “science of safety,” and the importance of understanding that the system and processes, including daily goals, enhance communication and determine performance. “Teams make wise decisions with diverse and independent input,” she told the collaborative. “It’s important to standardize care, create independent checks for key processes, and learn from mistakes.”
As she reviewed the daily goals checklist that was developed for the Stop BSI project, Ms. Sawyer emphasized the need to be explicit. “Ask ‘what needs to be done for discharge? What will we do today? What is the patient’s greatest safety risk?’” The daily checklist is completed on rounds and stays in the chart. The checklist can be found on the On the CUSP: Stop BSI website and should be tailored to the needs of the individual unit.
Ms. Sawyer suggested an action plan to the Readmissions Collaborative that included presenting the idea of a daily checklist to their teams and drafting a daily goals form, then beginning a pilot test on one patient and expanding it.
For more information about implementing the Daily Goals Checklist or CHA’s Reducing Heart Failure Readmissions Collaborative, contact Alison Hong, MD, Interim Vice President for Quality and Patient Safety, at hong@chime.org.
September 2010 CHA Education Programs
Crucial Conversations Program on Tuesday, September 14 and Wednesday, September 15 from 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
The highly acclaimed training for healthcare professionals, Crucial Conversations, will be hosted at CHA September 14 and 15 in response to numerous member requests. The program content has been presented to more than 500,000 people worldwide and focuses on teaching skills that are needed where the issues are critical, the subject matter controversial, the opinions are strong, and the stakes are high. While we know that clear, collaborative communication is essential for safe, effective patient care, we are also confronted with the reality that poor communication continues to be a cause of serious medical errors.
We are extremely pleased to have Emily Hoffman, MD, as the program speaker. Dr. Hoffman received her MD from the University of Utah, and an MBA from the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University. She has taught the program at leading healthcare institutions including UMass Memorial Healthcare, Endo Pharmaceuticals, The National Library of Medicine, and the American Association of Critical Care Nurses.
The Connecticut Hospital Association is an Approved Provider of Continuing Nursing Education by the Connecticut Nurses’ Association, an Accredited Approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation (15 contact hours). As an independent chartered Chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the Connecticut Association of Healthcare Executives is authorized to award 15 hours of Category II continuing education credit toward advancement or recertification in the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). Participants in this program who wish to have it considered for Category II (non-ACHE) credit should list their attendance when they apply to the American College of Healthcare Executives for advancement or recertification. This activity has been submitted for review to the HR Certification Institute for continuing education credits. This activity was submitted to the National Association of Healthcare Quality for CPHQ CE credits.
CHA has negotiated a 40 percent discount of the public price for this program for CHA members. We will accept the first 50 registrations. Click here to register. Click here for the full brochure.
Healthcare Reform—Round One: Meaningful Use on Thursday, September 23 from 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) released final regulations implementing the provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) that will provide incentive payments, as early as 2011, for adopting and successfully demonstrating meaningful use of certified electronic health records (EHR) technology. This program will review major provisions of the final rule including the set of standards and implementation specifications that electronic health record (EHR) technology will need to address to support the achievement of stage 1 meaningful use, including core and menu set objectives, and the certification process for EHR technology.
For more information, contact Christine Prestiano at (203) 294-7257 or prestiano@chime.org.
Leaping From Staff to Management: The Next Steps on Wednesday, September 8 from 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Whether recently assigned to the role of manager or a seasoned veteran, it is important to periodically step back to review your knowledge of management theory and practice, and determine how well your problem-solving and decision-making skills are keeping pace with the ever-changing and challenging healthcare environment. If you attended our first program “Leaping from Staff to Management: You’re a Manager – Now What?” in June, or are a manager who wants to improve your skills and learn practical techniques for dealing with conflict, leading change initiatives, responding to the “dead horse” dilemma, coaching employees for better performance, and using time management strategies, this highly interactive session will help you manage both the people and business components of your job more effectively. Vic Walton, routinely rated as an outstanding leadership and management-development educator, will present this program. Click here to register.
The Connecticut Hospital Association is an Approved Provider of Continuing Nursing Education by the Connecticut Nurses’ Association, an Accredited Approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation (5.75 contact hours). This program is pending approval of Category II credit through American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). This activity has been submitted for review to the HR Certification Institute for continuing education credits.
CBISA Advanced Training on Thursday, September 16 from 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Lyon Software will present CBISA Advanced™ training, a course designed specifically for community benefit professionals. All attendees need a basic level of experience and understanding of CBISA™ (data entry, defaults, previewing reports) and community benefit background (definitions, categories, importance). Participants will learn how to use the defaults and utilities in CBISA for more complete community benefit reporting, techniques to successfully evaluate and improve current programs, and how CBISA aligns with the Guide for Planning and Reporting Community Benefit. Click here to register. Click here for the full brochure.
Update Publication Schedule
This is the last edition of Update published in August. Our regular schedule will resume on Thursday, September 9, 2010.