Newsletter

February 28, 2022

 


Program Spotlight:

Discover How to Lead for Safety in Today’s Environment

At ACHE, we believe healthcare leaders are guided by the highest calling—to care for those who entrust their care to us, and to make a difference. That is why the topics of quality and safety feature prominently at the 2022 Congress on Healthcare Leadership. Following is a preview of some of the quality and safety-focused sessions available.

  • Although high reliability is clearly possible in complex industries, the question remains how to achieve it in healthcare. During the High-Reliability Healthcare Boot Camp, M. Michael Shabot, MD, and Rod Brace, PhD, both founding partners of Relia Healthcare Advisors, will teach the organizational requirements for starting on a high-reliability journey and the tools to achieve it over time. (Healthcare leaders can participate in the High-Reliability Healthcare Boot Camp as part of their Congress experience or participate independently.)
  • While the healthcare field has made significant strides in improving quality and moving toward zero patient harm, disparities in access to and quality of care remain prevalent and have only been exacerbated by the pandemic. Join Ronald Wyatt, MD, vice president/patient safety officer, MCIC Vermont, and Kedar S. Mate, MD, president/CEO, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, for Leadership Insights: Health Equity as a Safety Imperative as they share why the healthcare field must shift its thinking toward health equity as a patient safety imperative.
  • During Master Series: Masters of Quality and Safety, you’ll hear from Nicole Thomas, FACHE, president, Baptist Jacksonville, and C. Wright Pinson, MD, deputy CEO/chief health system officer, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, as they discuss advances in the field of healthcare quality and patient safety, as well as new challenges posed by the ongoing global pandemic.

Visit ache.org/Congress to explore all of this year’s offerings, and be sure to register by March 21 for early bird registration prices. Congress registrants who are interested in attending the Virtual Leadership Symposium, April 11–12, can register for that event with a discount of more than 50% off the regular fee by adding it to their in-person Congress registration, or they can register separately just for the Virtual Leadership Symposium.

New Frontiers Journal Explores Digital Strategies

The spring issue of Frontiers of Health Services Management offers varied perspectives on the theme of digital strategy.

In their feature article, Penn Medicine system leaders Kevin B. Mahoney, DBA, and Allison P. Wilson-Maher, FACHE, write about how the new $1.6 billion Pavilion at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania reflects a collaborative design to support tomorrow’s technology today, and they share how their approach is working.

Another feature, written by Adrin Mammen, FACHE, associate vice president/patient access transformation officer, describes how Montefiore Health System’s digital transformation initiative is centered on patients, with digital engagement at every significant touchpoint in their care journey.

Then, Houston Methodist’s executive vice president/CIO Roberta Schwartz, PhD, FACHE, writes about the system’s focus on digital innovation to empower patients and target the opioid epidemic, and how the key to success is enabling a bidirectional patient–provider relationship.

Visit ache.org/Journals to access the spring issue of Frontiers of Health Services Management to learn more about these and other digital strategies that healthcare leaders are employing in their hospitals and health systems.

Renew Your ACHE Member Benefits in 2022

Thank you for being part of the ACHE community of more than 48,000 healthcare leaders who make a difference in the field by advancing healthcare leadership excellence and keeping our communities safe and healthy. We look forward to continuing to deliver your member benefits in 2022. Today, we’d like to remind you to renew your ACHE membership so you can continue to receive exclusive member benefits while also staying connected with your healthcare leader peers across the country.

Online auto-renewal is a quick and easy way to ensure uninterrupted access to programs, products and services that will support your care for the patients and communities you serve.

Log in at ache.org/Dues using your username and password. If you have forgotten your password, use the Forgot Your Password? feature to create a new one. (Make sure ACHE emails are not filtering to your spam folder.) While you are online, you can also print a dues statement or receipt for reimbursement and update your profile so we can better personalize our communities.

For questions about your dues, contact our Customer Service Center at contact@ache.org or (312) 424-9400. 

Inside a Rural Health Model

Prior to joining the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model, Endless Mountains Health System, a 25-bed critical access hospital in Montrose, Pa., had seen year-over-year declines in revenues. Then, it joined the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model, a seven-year demonstration project aimed at helping rural hospitals improve their financial footing while reducing avoidable hospital expenditures and improving access to high-quality care. Learn how this was a “game changer” for Endless Mountains Health System in a Q&A with CEO Loren Stone, FACHE, and Janice Walter, COO, Rural Health Redesign Center, which oversees the rural health model for Pennsylvania.

Visit HealthcareExecutive.org/WebExtras for more fresh, exclusive content. 

CMS COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate: What Hospital Leaders Should Know

Enforcement of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ COVID-19 vaccine mandate began Jan. 27. CMS is taking a phased approach to enforcement to allow time to develop and implement policies, procedures and processes to ensure all staff are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 (or to document a delay or allowable exemption). With this phased approach, there are specific targets that must be met at 30 days (Phase 1), 60 days (Phase 2) and 90 days (full enforcement) with different enforcement dates for different groups of states.

In this ACHE Blog post, Brent Ibata, PhD, JD, FACHE, system director for accreditation and quality assurance for Lee Health, explains the mandate and provides useful information for healthcare leaders about enforcement deadlines. Visit ache.org/Blog for more timely and relevant topics trending today in healthcare management. 

CMS Announces Redesign of ACO Model

The Global and Professional Direct Contracting Model is transitioning to the ACO Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health Model, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The redesign, announced Feb. 24, is intended to provide better care for people with traditional Medicare, according to the CMS press release.

The ACO REACH Model provides novel tools and resources for healthcare providers to work together more closely to improve the quality of care for people with traditional Medicare. To help advance health equity, the ACO REACH Model will require all participating ACOs to have a robust plan describing how they will meet the needs of people with traditional Medicare in underserved communities and make measurable changes to address health disparities. Additionally, under the ACO REACH Model, CMS will use an innovative payment approach to better support care delivery and coordination for people in underserved communities.

Learn more about the redesigned ACO here.