The newsroom includes access to CHA News, which provides timely information to members every Thursday and is at the core of CHA benefits. In addition, it is also home to resources such as toolkits and talking points designed to help member hospitals and health systems communicate with internal and external audiences on a range of current health care-related issues. Links to CHA media statements and press releases can also be found here.
Newsroom
CHA Disaster Planning Conference Focuses on Lessons Learned
What’s happening: CHA held its annual Disaster Planning Conference in Pasadena on Sept. 10 and 11. Topics included best practices for communication and collaboration in an emergency, treatment of special pathogens, enhancing health care cybersecurity, and fundamentals of radiation protection.
What else to know: More than 500 people attended the conference, including emergency preparedness directors and coordinators; members of hospital disaster planning teams; compliance, nurse, and case managers; and quality and safety executives.
Furthering the Fight for FEMA Funds
Even years after the COVID-19 public health emergency has ended, the long tail of the pandemic continues to trip up health care in our state.
CHA Develops New APOT Resource Page for Members
What’s happening: CHA has created a new web page that houses all resources related to ambulance patient offload time (APOT) to assist hospitals with Assembly Bill (AB) 40 compliance.
What else to know: CHA plans to regularly update the web page with AB 40 regulation developments, news, advocacy materials, and information on educational events like the next Emergency Services Forum on May 5, 2025.
California Rural Hospitals Invited to AHA Town Hall
What’s happening: The American Hospital Association (AHA) Region 9 will hold a virtual Rural Advocacy Town Hall on Oct. 9, 10-11 a.m. (PT) through Microsoft Teams. Region 9 includes California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington State, Alaska, Hawaii, and the Pacific territories.
What else to know: The call will be led by AHA’s rural advocacy experts in Washington, D.C.: Travis Robey, vice president, political affairs, and Shannon Wu, PhD, director, payment policy. Susan Doherty, vice president for field engagement and rural health segment lead, will also join. All CHA member hospitals with membership in the AHA are welcome to register.
Hospital Fee Program Invoices Due Sept. 25
What’s happening: Payments for the 2022 Hospital Fee Program fee-for-service payment cycle 5 are due to the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) on Sept. 25.
What else to know: Invoices were mailed to hospitals from DHCS on Sept. 5.
DHCS Takes Steps to Expedite Access to Enhanced Care Management
What’s happening: Effective Jan. 1, 2025, Medi-Cal managed care plans (MCPs) must implement presumptive authorization arrangement with select providers of enhanced care management (ECM).
What else to know: The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is releasing updates to the ECM presumptive authorization policy parallel to the ECM Referral Standards that, together, are designed to ease the administrative burden of the referral and authorization process on ECM providers and community referral partners.
CMS Updates Training on Post-Acute Care and More
What’s happening: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering a web-based training course on the post-acute care (PAC) patient assessment instruments (PAI) and quality reporting programs (QRPs) for all PAC settings.
What else to know: The updated training provides a high-level overview of data elements within the patient/resident assessment instruments across PAC settings, including inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs), skilled-nursing facilities (SNFs), long-term care hospitals (LTCHs), and home health (HH) agencies, and discusses the relationship between these data elements and the QRP for each setting.
CHA to Host Webinar on New Reimbursement Options for Inpatient Psychiatric Care
What’s happening: CHA is hosting a members-only webinar on Sept. 30 at 1 p.m. (PT) on new Medi-Cal reimbursement options for inpatient psychiatric care.
What else to know: During this webinar, expert speakers will describe new options for hospitals seeking reimbursement for the inpatient psychiatric care they provide to Medi-Cal beneficiaries. Registration is open.
OSHPD to Host Webinar on Hospital Construction Review Process
What’s happening: The Department of Health Care Access and Information’s (HCAI) Office of Statewide Hospital Planning and Development (OSHPD) is hosting a webinar to share updates about its review process for hospital construction projects.
What else to know: The webinar is scheduled for Sept. 25 at 1 p.m. (PT) and is free. Registration is open.
Mental Health Parity Rules Finalized
What’s happening: The departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services have finalized rules to improve access to mental health services by requiring health plans to make changes when inadequate access is provided.
What else to know: The final rule reinforces the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA), which requires health plans to ensure that access to mental health or substance use disorder care is not more restrictive than access to medical and surgical benefits.
