KENTUCKY REGIONAL EXTENSION CENTER

Kentucky REC 2023 Client Hospital Awards

Kentucky REC 2023 Client Hospital Awards

Kentucky REC advisors are proud to work with numerous Kentucky hospitals on the CMS Promoting Interoperability Program. Awardees were chosen by the advisor team and presentations were made at our Annual Conference. Below are the organizations chosen in 2023 for their exemplary performance.

Distinguished Large Hospital System Award - ARH

The Healthcare System of Appalachia, ARH is ranked as one of the Top 10 Employers in Kentucky by Forbes Magazine. They are a not-for-profit health system operating 14 hospitals: Barbourville, Hazard, Harlan, Highlands, Mary Breckinridge, McDowell, Middlesboro, Morgan, Our Lady of the Way, Paintsville, Summers County, Tug Valley, and Whitesburg in Kentucky; as well as Beckley in West Virginia.

We began advising ARH on the Medicare PI Program at the beginning of 2021. We scheduled regular, recurring calls for the PI team and dug into the work- providing education, drilling-down on program details, and monitoring reports. We’ve watched them work together as a team and improve their performance tremendously. We’re proud to report that for the past two years, ARH has successfully attested to the Medicare PI program for all 14 hospitals. This year, they are on track to do the same with near perfect scores. We are so proud of them, their performance, and their teamwork! Congratulations, ARH!

Hospital Legacy Award - Russell County Hospital

Russell County Hospital is a twenty-five-bed community hospital that has served the residents of Russell Springs, KY and surrounding areas since 1981. We have worked with RCH since the inception of the Kentucky REC in early 2011, advising them on what was then the original EHR Incentive Program, when we used to call it Meaningful Use. We began that original work under a grant from the Office of the National Coordinator. When we transitioned over to a sustainable model, they stuck with us. Over the past 12 plus years, RCH has used nearly every service offering provided by the Kentucky REC, from MU to PI, SRA, PTN, VBPS, MIPS and every acronym in between. We enjoy working with the RCH group – they are a really great team. We appreciate our relationship and hope to work together for another 12 years. To show our appreciation we are awarding them with the KY REC Client Hospital Legacy Award. Congratulations Russell County Hospital!

 

Multi-State Hospital Partnership Award - Rural Hospital Group

Rural Hospital Group is in the business of investing in small-to-medium sized rural hospitals located primarily in less populated and more remote areas of the Central United States. This is where rural hospitals are usually the sole provider of emergency, acute care inpatient and outpatient clinic services to their communities.

While we have advised Crittenden Community Hospital in Marion, KY on the Medicare PI Program for many years, at the beginning of 2022 we added several other RHG facilities: Hillsboro Community Hospital in Hillsboro, Kansas; Lauderdale Community Hospital in Ripley, Tennessee; Drumright Regional Hospital in Drumright, Oklahoma; and Salem Memorial District Hospital in Salem, Missouri. Some were struggling to keep up with the ever-evolving requirements of the Medicare PI Program and were also reaching the program’s limit of allowable hardship exceptions at some locations. We’ve provided education and support, getting them back on track. We host a monthly conference call, bringing together the Promoting Interoperability team from each location.

This Community of Practice, bringing together multiple states, is acting as a collaborative environment to communicate, connect, and share best practices. As a result, all five hospitals have greatly improved their performance and successfully attested to the Medicare PI program. We’ve enjoyed crossing state lines and value this multi-state partnership and are very proud of their accomplishments! Congratulations, Rural Hospital Group!

Kentucky REC 2023 Client Grant Awards

2023 was a very busy year for grant funded quality improvement programs. Kentucky REC is proud to work with so many organizations committed to improving the health of our fellow Kentuckians. Awardees were chosen by the advisor team and presentations were made at our Annual Conference. Below are the organizations chosen in 2023 for their exemplary performance.

Hypertension Learning Collaborative: The Blood Pressure Buster Award

University of Kentucky North Fork Valley Community Health Center participated in the Hypertension Learning Collaborative over the past year. Their focus has been to improve hypertension in their population of focus, by identifying patients to refer to and educate patients through the CARE SMBP program and implement workflows that improve rates in statin therapy.

North Fork Valley has a wonderful physician champion, Dr. Douthitt, along with a great team that helped to facilitate the PDSA cycles that were tested and provide CARE SMBP education to their patients. They met and exceeded all of the goals that were set for each measure of the Collaborative and had great patient success stories throughout the process. This in itself is a huge accomplishment, but they were also able to make these improvements during a very hard time for Eastern Kentucky with the devastating floods that impacted their patients and staff. This clinic’s strong desire for their community of patients and their health outcomes is a driving force in their success. Congratulations to North Fork Valley for their “Blood Pressure Buster Award!”

The Colorectal Cancer Crusader Award

Pennyroyal Healthcare Services is headquartered in Princeton, Kentucky and became a FQHC in 2013. They have 3 locations: Princeton, Oak Grove, and Hopkinsville. They have participated over the past several years in multiple grants around improving Colorectal Cancer screening rates.

They have implemented several PDSA cycles such as provider assessment and feedback reports, provider reminders, and patient reminders such as writing due dates of FIT tests, and wonderful community events have led to CRC screening improvement across all clinic locations. They recognize the need to work in multiple areas to improve this measure. This clinic’s commitment spans across their staff: from their CEO, Quality Improvement Coordinator, providers, and staff, make their work a true team effort.  Congratulations to Pennyroyal for their “Colorectal Crusader Award!”

Asthma Grant Practice Innovation Award

The Kentucky REC Team would like to recognize King’s Daughters Medical Center (KDMC) for their outstanding performance in the first year of their participation in Asthma Improvement grant. KDMC is a not-for-profit, regional referral center covering a 150-mile radius that includes southern Ohio and eastern Kentucky. KDMC’s primary service area encompasses four counties in two states, Boyd, Carter and Greenup counties in Kentucky, and Lawrence County, Ohio.

The organization serves a population of approximately 175,000 lives. As part of the first year of this grant, KDMC has engaged an internal multidisciplinary team comprised of Pulmonology Administration, Pharmacy, AS-ME Certified Educators, Health Informatics, Data Analysts, and Marketing resources to lead this quality improvement opportunity across their organization. KDMC is piloting focused improvement with three adult primary care provider practices and their outpatient pulmonology practice to develop, test, and optimize successful workflows that will be scaled throughout the ambulatory population.

KDMC has developed a system-wide database to identify and monitor patients with asthma for targeted outcome improvement. They have expanded AS-ME services and have launched marketing campaigns to outreach to the community to create awareness of asthma as a disease state and how their services can help.

The improvement team has created Clinical Decision Support tools such as EHR-embedded asthma screening tools, developed built-in alerts to aid providers in identifying patients with asthma to complete ACT screenings, and have developed a more robust AS-ME referral process and tracking mechanism to monitor completion of education so that no patient falls through the cracks who could benefit from services. KDMC has hosted numerous community engagement activities increasing asthma awareness and AS-ME resources since the start of this partnership.

The team has conducted health screening fairs, provided asthma awareness education to middle schoolers across the region and have conducted in-service trainings for school nurses, athletic trainers & coaching staff as well as area fire & rescue personnel as part of this grant.  Additionally, in an effort to promote the implementation of Kentucky’s Stock Albuterol program, KDMC has partnered with Greenup County Public School System school-based clinics to provide clinic staff training & guidance in the implementation of this valuable and potentially life-saving resource for area children.

Prediabetes Learning Collaborative: Diabetes Prevention Pioneer Award

KDMC is a hospital system based in Ashland, Kentucky. They also have locations in Boyd, Carter, Johnson, Floyd, Elliott, Lawrence, Greenup Counties in KY; Lawrence, Scioto Counties in Ohio. They are currently working with patients of 2 providers; Jane Strader, MD and Shayne Bennett, APRN, for their population of focus in the Prediabetes Learning Collaborative.

These two providers currently have 1776 patients between them. Their goal is to improve the health outcomes of their patients with prediabetes by referring them to the National Diabetes Prevention Program. They are also working on identifying patients with prediabetes who are not currently listed as prediabetic in their chart. They have made impressive strides in improvements with all these measures, surpassing all goals in just the first six months of the project. This clinic’s commitment from their provider champions and improved workflow is a driving force in their success. Congratulations to KDMC for their “Diabetes Prevention Pioneer Award!”

Exemplary Coverdell Stroke Grant Partner

Cumberland Family Medical Center has been instrumental in helping to grow our work within the Coverdell grant. Their excitement and dedication for utilizing the CARE Collaborative program to help their patients has led to numerous stories of success within their patient population by improving the self-management of their own blood pressure and encouraging lifestyle modifications.

Beyond the success they’ve had with their patients, they have also provided best practices for implementation and monitoring of the CARE Collaborative program as it has spread to other grant participants. Their stewardship on implementing the CARE Collaborative and cooperation to share their barriers as well as successes has made working with this practice extremely beneficial and enjoyable. We can’t thank them enough for their hard work on the Coverdell Stroke Grant.

Diabetes Learning Collaborative: The Sweet Success Award

Mt. Sterling clinic is a small practice in Montgomery County, Kentucky.  They currently have 3 providers and are utilizing one of those providers in the current Diabetes Learning Collaborative with us and the Kentucky Department for Public Health.  They currently serve nearly 2500 patients in their rural practice.  Their goal is to improve the health outcomes of their diabetic patient population by improving A1C Poor Control, BP Control, Referrals to the DSMES program and Diabetic Eye Exams.

They have made strong strides in improvements with all these measures, nearly surpassing all goals ahead of schedule, and achieved this while learning their newly implemented EHR software earlier in the year.  They’ve also begun electronic DSMES referral usage with eClinical with staff and clinicians; resulting in more workflow efficiencies for their staff. This clinic’s strong desire for their community of patients and their health outcomes is a driving force in their success.  Congratulations to Mt. Sterling Clinic for their “Sweet Success!”

PILL PODCAST: A Look into the KHIE Image Exchange

PILL PODCAST: A Look into the KHIE Image Exchange

Mobilizing Clinical Images with KHIE: A Look into the KHIE Image Exchange

Andrew Bledsoe is back with another exciting episode! Join cohosts Brent McKune and Stephen Williams as they sit down with KY State HIT Director and KHIE Deputy Executive Director, Andrew Bledsoe. Gain a comprehensive overview of KHIE’s role in facilitating health data exchange, with a special focus on the Image Exchange component. If you’re a healthcare organization looking to connect, find out how KHIE can assist you on this journey. Tune in for valuable insights into enhancing healthcare interoperability and ensuring seamless data exchange.

Learn more about KHIE at their website, KHIE.ky.gov

Andrew Bledsoe is currently KY State HIT Director and KHIE Deputy Executive Director

The intersection of health information technology with quality care delivery has provided Andrew with a unique perspective over his nearly 20 years in healthcare. Starting his career in a regional hospital, he quickly learned the challenges in healthcare, especially rural medicine, and began investing in the concept of leveraging health information technology to improve outcomes for patients. His current appointment within the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services primarily focuses on implementing the KHIE Strategic and Operational Plan, promoting the statewide exchange of patient health information, spearheading a number of new services designed to improve care coordination, and offer new avenues to reduce reporting burdens and foster inter-agency collaboration.

Listen to our podcast on Buzzsprout, or Spotify and Apple Podcasts. All previous episodes are available.

If you need assistance with health information technology, contact the Kentucky REC at 859-323-3090 or by email.

QPP Webinar Dec 12: QPP Final Rule First Look

CMS released the 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) Final Rule on Nov 2, 2023. This final rule includes updates to the MIPS/MVP and APM Tracks of the Quality Payment Program (QPP), Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) models, as well as other need-to-know updates, including adjustments to PFS payment rates, SDOH & telehealth services reimbursement.

As part of this 2024 Final Rule, CMS has moved to finalize 5 new additional MVPs to further expand this pathway of the QPP in coming years. CMS also finalized policies regarding the reporting expansion of the Promoting Interoperability Performance Category. Lastly, CMS has finalized additional Cost Performance Category measures that Eligible Clinicians (ECs) and groups may be evaluated on in the upcoming 2024 performance year. This webinar will help you learn what these and other critical updates will mean for your practice.

Already a QPP client or interested in becoming one? Get a jump start on preparing for the new year by joining our upcoming webinar. As a client, you receive exclusive access to our analysis of this regulation.

Mark your calendars for “Client Only QPP Final Rule First Look” on Tuesday, December 12th at 12pm EST.

Additional open to the public webinars will be available in 2024 highlighting major updates and implications to eligible clinicians and practices related to this final ruling.

To speak with the team on how we can best support you, feel free to contact us HERE.

For additional information on the 2024 PFS/Quality Payment Program Final Rule, the final ruling can be downloaded from the Federal Register HERE.

The CMS 2023 Final Rule overview fact sheet, PFS fact sheet, and MSSP Fact Sheets are available through these links:
PFS/QPP Fact Sheet: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/calendar-year-cy-2024-medicare-physician-fee-schedule-final-rule
MSSP Fact Sheet: https://edit.cms.gov/files/document/mssp-fact-sheet-cy-2023-pfs-final-rule.pdf

Contact YOUR Experts at the Kentucky REC for all your QPP, MIPS/MVP, and APM Track questions. We are here to help. Call us at 859-323-3090.

QPP Year 7: Client Only Final Rule First Look*
Tuesday Dec 12, 2023 @ 12PM ET

*This webinar is for Kentucky REC contracted QPP clients only. If you are interested in this topic and would like to learn more about becoming a client, please contact us at (859) 323-3090 or email us at KYRec@uky.edu. We aim to be your trusted healthcare advisor!

Important Notice for MIPS Participants: Data Validation and Audit (DVA) for Performance Year 2022

MIPS Data Validation and Audit (DVA) for Performance Year (PY) 2022 is set to commence from November 2023, as outlined in a recent CMS update.

This initiative, overseen by Guidehouse on behalf of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), aims to ensure the accuracy and completeness of reported submissions in the MIPS program for PY 2022. If selected for the DVA, participants will receive an email notification through their Health Care Quality Information Systems Access, Roles, and Profile (HARP) account.

The notification process will begin in November 2023 and extend through March 2024. Participants are required to furnish requested information within 45 days, which may include primary source documents such as claims, medical records, and other relevant resources used in data calculations.

Please be aware that non-compliance could result in negative payment adjustments and increase the likelihood of future audits.

For further details and inquiries, please refer to the MIPS DVA Fact Sheet PY 2022 (PDF, 226KB) or contact your Kentucky REC advisor!

Contact the expert advisors at Kentucky REC with all your questions related to the QPP. We’re here to help: 859-323-3090.

Kentucky REC Annual Conference Oct 26: HIPAA Presentation

Hybrid Event with Special Guest Speakers – In Person and Virtual

Oct. 26 2023, Lexington Kentucky, Harper Hall

Kentucky REC HIPAA Team Speaker: Amy Daley

Security Incident Response Planning

Security incident response and reporting is a required standard of the HIPAA Security Rule. All covered entities are required to have security incident procedures in place. Ransomware is the #1 security threat for all healthcare organizations, making this security standard more important than ever.

During our time together, Kentucky REC HIPAA team lead Amy Daley will provide guidance and templates for creating a security incident response plan, which focuses on a cyberattack.

Amy Daley, CHPS, has been a Health IT Advisor for Kentucky Regional Extension Center since 2014, and is the HIPAA Team Lead. She specializes in HIPAA Security guidance for healthcare organizations across the state. Amy obtained her B.S. in Computer Information Systems from the University of Louisville. She has been a guest speaker at various conferences in Kentucky presenting on topics related to HIPAA Security, and Promoting Interoperability (formerly Meaningful Use). Her background includes expertise in the areas of implementation, training and management of EHR systems.

 

Questions? Contact us at Kentucky REC or call us at 859-323-3090.