2023 Rural Health Care Symposium: Resources

April 10-11, 2023

Governance Education Pre-Conference Workshop 

Location: CalChamber California Room*
1215 K St., Suite 1400
Sacramento, CA 95814
Parking – Esquire Plaza
*Check in at the front desk of the Esquire Plaza Lobby


12:30 – 1:00 p.m. | Badge pick up and grab a boxed lunch

Presentations will be available online only; download today.
Be sure to download the materials in advance; WiFi access on-site may be limited.

1:00 – 5:00 p.m. | Interactive Workshop

5:00 – 6:00 p.m. | Welcome Reception

Location: CHA Office*
1215 K St., Suite 700
Sacramento, CA 95814
Parking – Esquire Plaza
*Check in at the front desk of the Esquire Plaza Lobby

Location: Kimpton Sawyer Hotel
500 J Street
Maple Suite, Third Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814


Presentations will be available online only; download today.
Be sure to download the materials in advance; WiFi access on-site may be limited.

9:00 – 10:00 a.m. | Opening/Conversation with Carmela 
Peggy Wheeler, Carmela Coyle, California Hospital Association 

Hear top-level insights and up-to-the-minute updates, and pose your question directly to CHA’s CEO.

10:00 – 11:00 a.m. | Rural Hospital Closures and the Drive Toward Value 
Brock Slabach, Chief Operations Officer, National Rural Health Association; John Supplitt, Senior Director, Rural Health Services, American Hospital Association 

In this session speakers will review rural hospital closures and what drives them to the decisions they make. Presenters will consider what is driving value-based payments, how rural hospitals manage risk and examples of their success (or not). The session will include examples of new models of payment and delivery and approaches towards affiliation.

11:00 – 11:30 a.m. | Break/Exhibitor Engagement 

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | Rural Hospital Financial Best Practices – A Checklist for Improvement, Part I 
Eric Shell, Chairman, Stroudwater Associates 

Stroudwater has identified specific strategies, tactics and benchmarks that successful rural hospitals have deployed to set them apart from the others. This presentation provides a check-list of dozens of improvement approaches successfully implemented at peer rural hospitals. The approaches discussed will range from strategic plans to clinical operations to revenue cycle to Medicare cost reports, and the facilitated workshop environment will encourage hospital leaders to share success stories.

12:30 – 1:30 p.m. | Hosted Luncheon 

1:30 – 2:30 p.m. | Rural Hospital Financial Best Practices – A Checklist for Improvement, Part II 
Eric Shell, Chairman, Stroudwater Associates 

Stroudwater has identified specific strategies, tactics and benchmarks that successful rural hospitals have deployed to set them apart from the others.  This presentation provides a check-list of dozens of improvement approaches successfully implemented at peer rural hospitals. The approaches discussed will range from strategic plans to clinical operations to revenue cycle to Medicare cost reports, and the facilitated workshop environment will encourage hospital leaders to share success stories.

2:30 – 3:30 p.m. | Applied Data Analytics 
Dr. Scott Masten, Hospital Quality Institute

Data aberrations are usually considered a nuisance by analysts, but HQI’s Sentinel Signal Detection Systems convert data abnormalities into useful information. In this session Dr. Masten will discuss how HQI’s signal detection works to identify emerging trends to provide early hospital notification and ultimately decrease the risk of harm to patients.

3:30 – 3:45 p.m. | Break/Exhibitor Engagement 

3:45 – 5:00 p.m. | CEO Roundtable

Karma H. Bass, MPH, FACHE    
Via Healthcare Consulting
Over her more than 20-year career, Karma Bass has been a sought-after speaker, facilitator, and consultant with deep knowledge and experience in governance, strategic planning, philanthropy, healthcare policy, and board effectiveness. Her experience gives her a uniquely valuable perspective as a consultant to hospital and health systems boards today. Before co-founding Via Healthcare Consulting, Karma worked as vice president for Accord Limited, a Chicago-based consulting firm. She served two years as president and CEO of Alliance Healthcare Foundation in San Diego, where she reported to an independent, 11-person not-for-profit board. Notably, Karma spent 10 years at The Governance Institute, holding various positions including vice president of membership services and director of research and publications. She also oversaw the prestigious biennial hospital governance practices survey tracking trends in nearly 5,000 U.S. hospitals and health systems.

Carmela Coyle 
President & CEO 
California Hospital Association 
Carmela Coyle began her tenure as president and CEO of the California Hospital Association, the statewide leader representing the interests of more than 400 hospitals and health systems in California, in October 2017. Previously, Ms. Coyle led the Maryland Hospital Association for nine years, where she played a leading role in reframing the hospital payment system in Maryland and moving to a value-based methodology.

Scott Masten, PhD 
Vice President, Measurement Science & Performance Analytics 
Hospital Quality Institute (HQI)  
In his work for HQI, Dr. Masten focuses on improving health care data quality and reducing patient injury, including the development of both data intake and data analytics platforms. He does this by bringing over 20 years of applied research and data experience including teaching research methods and statistics courses at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Eric Shell, CPA, MBA
CEO
Stroudwater
Eric Shell is an industry leader in supporting rural health care in its transition to population health management. For his nearly 30 years in health care financial management and consulting, Eric’s passion for sustainable and accessible rural healthcare has driven him to help hundreds of rural health systems achieve improved financial and operational performance. As health care transitions from fee-for-service reimbursement towards value-based payment, Eric and his rural team provide vital strategic, financial and operational improvement services to ensure that rural health systems continue to provide local, high-quality, and accessible patient care.

Brock Slabach
Chief Operating Officer
National Rural Health Association

Brock Slabach is Chief Operating Officer of the National Rural Health Association (NRHA)  and has been a rural hospital administrator for more than 20 years. Mr. Slabach specializes in rural health system development that encompasses population health and the varied payment programs moving rural providers into value-based purchasing models. He is a member of the National Quality Forum’s Measures Application Partnership (MAP) Rural Health Workgroup and serves on the Board of Directors of Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC).

John Supplitt
Senior Director, Rural Health Services
American Hospital Association

John Supplitt is senior director of the Section for Small or Rural Hospitals of the American Hospital Association. Since 1993 he has worked on behalf of the AHA’s 2000 small or rural hospital including 975 CAH members to identify, develop, and advance their unique health care interests, issues, and perspectives. Mr. Supplitt manages the Section’s member services, governance, and communications including its Web site, newsletters, and technical advisories.

Platinum Sponsor:

Five Star Bank is guided by purpose-driven banking, community stewardship, regional and industry expertise, a speed to serve and a commitment to economic development. Our experienced Healthcare Banking Group offers high-tech solutions with a community bank high-touch approach. We utilize best-in-class technology and financial solutions customized to meet the unique needs of providers to improve processes, automate workflows and optimize cash flow.

Michelle Monaco
Managing Director
mmonaco@fivestarbank.com

Michael Shea
Managing Director
mshea@fivestarbank.com


Silver Sponsors:

INSAT Healthcare LLC can assist medical organizations as well as communities build creative and customizable solutions of state-of-the-art Nephrology services including dialysis, in a cost-efficient manner. Services include:

  • Identifying and providing customized solutions for dialysis In the community and Nursing homes
  • Outpatient Tele Nephrology services
  • Assisting in Physician Coverage Gaps
  • Assist in Night Calls
  • Provision of Nephrology services in outpatient dialysis units
  • Education and training for nursing and primary care providers.

Access to Nephrology/dialysis services should no longer be limited by location. Dialysis patients and CKD patients can seek treatment in their home hospital/community. We are committed to delivering, “accessible care anywhere and anytime” while providing the best and most advanced services to our patients including access to renal transplants.

Inderpreet Sekhon, MD
Co-CEO
inderpreet@insathealth.com


Novus Health Systems offers solutions to Medi-Cal, Medicaid, Managed Care, and Commercial receivables issues for Hospitals, Medical Groups, and related industry vendors through two business segments. The software solution segment provides data-aggregation and revenue cycle management tools to Novus’ 150+ subscriber clients via its proprietary web-based BillPro™ application. A subscription to BillPro™ includes access to specialty tools, reference tables, form templates, single instance and batch data-retrieval modules, and analytics/reporting capabilities. BillPro™ utilizes data pulled from multiple sources including remits, eligibility, authorizations, and claims-status information, and makes it all available through one user-friendly application via a single, searchable database. The receivables management segment of Novus delivers expert billing and follow-up services for new and aged Medi-Cal, Medicaid, Managed Care, and Commercial receivables.

Terrence McQuaid
Vice President
tmcquaid@nhsystems.net


Prevail is a highly specialized insurance brokerage working exclusively in the health care space with hospitals and large medical groups. Our team is well-known for our proven ability to reduce the cost of risk by 17% to 38% or more in the first year of engagement. We have proven ideas and strategies that can help you save money on premiums, lower risk, and significantly improve your overall insurance and risk transfer solutions.

Devin Eckhardt
President
devin@prevailims.com


Via Healthcare Consulting’s mission is to use our expertise to help boards help their organizations help communities help people live healthy, meaningful, connected lives. Our services include:

  • Customized Board and Governance Consulting
  • Outsourced Board Management
  • Strategic Planning
  • Education & Training for Healthcare Leaders

Karma Bass, MPH, FACHE
CEO/Managing Principal
kbass@viahcc.com


Wipfli’s team of health care consultants helps organizations to see an increasingly complex landscape with clarity and confidence. From improved financial operations and regulatory compliance to digital transformation and talent management, our health care specialists provide the unique solutions to more than 2,500 hospitals, health systems and clinics.

We focus on providing solutions such as graduate medical education, market planning and feasibility studies, revenue cycle, reimbursement, strategic planning and audit and tax services. We also work closely with health care leaders and professions to support their goal of improving quality, patient safety and achieving the Quadruple Aim.

Jeffery Johnson
Partner
jjohnson@wipfli.com


For additional assistance and other inquiries, email CHA’s Education Department at education@calhospital.org.