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Today, the Department of Health Care Services sent hospitals invoices covering the first six fee-for-service cycles of the 2017-19 Hospital Fee Program. The first invoice has a due date of Feb. 5 and covers Jan 1. 2017 – March 31, 2017. Hospitals will receive the first fee-for-service payment on Feb. 26. The estimated implementation schedule for the 10 fee-for-service cycles is attached.

CHA is in the process of updating the fee and payment model to reflect final invoice amounts, as well as the fee-for-service payment amounts recently approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The updated 2017-19 Hospital Fee Program model is scheduled for release next week, with hospital-specific schedules to be distributed soon after.

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The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has released the attached All Facilities Letter 18-09, detailing requirements for requesting a temporary program flex for increased patient accommodations, such as medical tents, during a disease outbreak or unexpected events such as a disaster or mass casualty incident. The department reminds providers that requests for program flex must include justification and supporting documentation that patient care will not be compromised. Program flex requests are intended for a temporary increase in patient accommodations, surge tent use or space conversions related to emergencies; they are not to be used as long-term solutions for chronic problems such as emergency department overcrowding. Facilities that wish to request a program flex should contact their CDPH district office.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now has an expanded-access investigational new drug protocol in effect with the Food and Drug Administration to make miltefosine available directly from CDC for treatment of free-living ameba infections in the U.S. A recent update issued by the Health Alert Network — including background information, recommendations and links to additional resources — is available on the CDC website at http://emergency.cdc.gov/HAN/han00354.asp.

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To help providers as they transition to the ICD-10 diagnosis and procedural coding system on Oct. 1, 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services last week presented the attached overview, including information about benefits and structure, coding examples and suggested training strategies. For additional resources, FAQs and more information on the transition to ICD-10, visit www.cms.gov/Medicare/Coding/ICD10/index.html?redirect=/icd10.

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued the attached Survey & Certification Letter 18-08 describing an initiative to address facility-initiated discharges from skilled-nursing facilities that violate federal regulations. CMS notes that while federal law protects skilled-nursing facility residents, including their right to remain in the facility except under certain specific circumstances, state long-term care ombudsmen report frequent complaints of facility-initiated discharge or eviction. 

CMS notes that the most commonly reported reasons for facility-initiated discharge or eviction are behavioral, mental or emotional expressions or indications of resident distress. In some cases, residents become homeless or remain in hospitals for extended periods. 

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The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) released the 2016 health care-associated infection (HAI) report this week. Overall, California hospitals perform better than the national baseline on three types of infections — surgical site infections (SSI), central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) and methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus  bloodstream infections (MRSA BSI). California hospitals perform worse on Clostridium difficile diarrheal infections(CDI). Data are reported using a standardized infection ratio (SIR), with the national average of 1. The CDPH Licensing and Certification Program considers high HAI rates when prioritizing hospitals for surveys.

CDPH is publishing reports in a more streamlined format and has updated its website to include a web page for HAIs in each hospital that allows users to compare results for two or more hospitals side-by-side. Detailed infection-specific data tables, as published in prior years, are available only via the California Health and Human Services Open Data Portal. CDPH has also provided an interactive map. To assist hospitals in responding to inquiries about the data, CHA has developed the attached talking points.

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Covered California will hold its next board meeting in Sacramento on Jan. 18 from 10:30 a.m.– 3 p.m., with an open session estimated to begin at noon.

The agenda includes a report from Executive Director Peter Lee and Covered California staff on the status of policies and programs. The board will discuss 2019 qualified health plan issues, including proposed standard benefit design and the qualified health plan certification policy. The board is scheduled to take action on readoption and permanent rulemaking authorization of the Covered California for Small Business eligibility and enrollment emergency regulations.

Information on participating by webcast or telephone is available in the attached agenda. Meeting materials will be posted in advance of the meeting on the Covered California website.

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The full agenda for CHA’s Rural Health Care Symposium is now available. The two-day event, scheduled for March 22 and 23, offers an excellent opportunity for attendees to learn from field experts how to stay ahead of and address health care changes specific to rural hospitals. In addition to the annual CEO roundtable discussion, topics for this year’s symposium include:

Leadership’s responsibilities in establishing organizational culture
Establishing profitable and meaningful health plan contracting relationships
Utilizing a CEO dashboard to improve operational efficiencies and patient care
Measuring patient satisfaction and implementing change using data
Partnering with the community to treat patients with behavioral health issues
How changing community needs affect hospitals’ delivery of patient care

Rural hospital executives also have a unique opportunity before the symposium to participate in CHA’s 2018 Health Policy Legislative Day on March 20-21. Separate registration is required to attend this event.

For more details about the symposium and to register, visit www.calhospital.org/rural-symposium.

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Covered California will host the third Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Advisory Group webinar of the year on Aug. 14 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. (PT). The SHOP Advisory Group provides advice and recommendations to Covered California staff to help refine policies that ensure Covered California offers value to small businesses that purchase coverage through SHOP. Stakeholders may attend in person or via webinar.
To attend in person:The meeting will be held at Covered California, 560 J Street, Suite 290 in the Yosemite and Lassen conference rooms.
To register for the webinar, visithttps://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/77977716695614720