Newsletter

June 5, 2023


Health System Simulation


Leadership Spotlight:

Embedding a High-Reliability Culture in Your Organization

Although air travel is considered the safest mode of transportation in the world, airlines have been making front-page news recently for struggles around cancellations and lost luggage as well as serious incidents of tarmac and runway mishaps, including a collision between a jetliner and a shuttle bus.

“These examples can rattle the public’s confidence, but it also has shaken the unwavering infatuation healthcare quality and safety leaders have of that industry,” writes Steve Mrozowski, FACHE, CPPS, in a recent ACHE Blog post. “We strive to be like them, yet they, too, are experiencing constraints like staff shortages … As healthcare leaders, who do we look to when those industries we try to emulate experience an ‘in-flight emergency’ and drift in their records of success?” says Mrozowski, vice president, External Peer Review & Patient Safety, Chartis Clinical Quality Solutions.

How can healthcare leaders proactively respond to signs of drift when it comes to safety? Visit ache.org/Blog to learn more.

Each June, the National Safety Council observes National Safety Month as an annual initiative to help keep workers safe by highlighting leading causes of preventable injury and death so people can live their fullest lives. In observance of National Safety Month, ACHE encourages everyone in healthcare to become familiar with or revisit the resources and tools available on ache.org/Safety, including Safer Together: A National Action Plan to Advance Patient Safety and Leading a Culture of Safety: A Blueprint for Success.

Quest

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Recent Grads: Upgrade to Full Membership for No Additional Cost

Now through Aug. 30, Student Associates can upgrade to full membership for no additional cost and experience all the benefits of being a Member. Full membership means eligibility for our Early Careerist Network, being able to begin accruing tenure toward the one-year ACHE membership requirement to become a Fellow and participating in ACHE’s Leader-to-Leader Rewards Program. Recent graduates can jumpstart their career today by visiting My ACHE to upgrade to Member status. Visit ache.org/Students for more information about upgrading.

 

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Summer Frontiers of Health Services Management Explores Financial Strategies

Evidence shows that margin optimization is not just about reducing costs by eliminating expenses, negotiating better pricing and exploring shared services. The summer Frontiers of Health Services Management features a variety of successful financial strategies, as outlined by Carla Jackie Sampson, PhD, FACHE, in her editorial.

In a feature, Dan Majka and Dawn Samaris, managing directors at Kaufman Hall, share tools that healthcare leaders can use to make a hypercritical assessment of their entire operations so their organizations can thrive well into the future.

Alan S. Kaplan, MD, FACHE, CEO of UW Health in Madison, Wis., explains in another article how organizations such as his are assuming the roles of both payer and provider to capture more revenue and reduce expenses through operational and administrative efficiencies.

Then, in another feature, Aimee Quirk, CEO of Ochsner Ventures, shares how Ochsner Health System embraces diversification in line with the organization’s capabilities and needs. She also describes the levers that hospitals can deploy to support a financial strategy of investment and partnerships.

And, while the implementation of bots can potentially pay dividends in efficiency, organizations should not simply “botonize” a bad process, warns author Rose T. Dunn, FACHE, in another article. Rather, Dunn writes that opportunities for technology adoption also demand robust process improvement.

Visit ache.org/Journals to read the full summer issue.

 

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IHF Award Submission Deadline Extended

Entries for the International Hospital Federation’s 2023 Awards are now due June 30, and World Hospital Congress early bird registration rates are available until July 31.

Launched in 2015, the IHF Awards honor excellence in hospitals and healthcare organizations around the world. IHF invites hospitals and health service providers to submit entries that demonstrate outstanding projects, programs and services by June 30 for the following categories:

  • American College of Healthcare Executives Excellence Award for Leadership and Management.
  • Dr. Kwang Tae Kim Grand Hospital Award.
  • Seddiqi Holding Excellence Award for Corporate Social Responsibility.
  • Ashikaga-Nikken Excellence Award for Green Hospitals.
  • Sultanate of Oman Excellence Award for Health Services During Crisis.
  • American Hospital Association Excellence Award for Healthcare Workers' Wellbeing.
  • Austco Excellence Award for Quality and Patient Safety.

The IHF Awards will be presented to winners during a ceremony at the 46th World Hospital Congress. Visit the IHF Awards webpage to learn more. For inquiries, please contact awards@ihf-fih.org.

The World Hospital Congress, scheduled Oct. 25–27, in Lisbon, Portugal, will bring together leaders, managers and professionals from hospitals, healthcare organizations, academia, governments and nongovernmental organizations to share global learning that leads to effective local action.

Register by July 31 to take advantage of exclusive early bird rates. Discounted IHF member rates are also available to ACHE and its members; simply enter the code 23WHCIHF when asked if your organization is an IHF member. Finally, group discounts are available for organizations that register five or more attendees. If you are planning to bring a team to Congress, visit the group registration portal.

Learn more about the World Hospital Congress and register today.

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Preparing Patients for the Restart of Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility Reviews

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recommends providers share the Renew Your Medicaid or CHIP Coverage flyer with Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program patients.

Starting Feb. 1, some states resumed Medicaid and CHIP eligibility reviews that they temporarily stopped during the pandemic. This means millions of people could lose their current Medicaid or CHIP coverage in the coming months. To find out if they can continue their coverage, people with Medicaid and CHIP must get ready to renew now.

Here are three things your patients with Medicaid or CHIP can do to prepare:

  1. Make sure their state has their current contact information.
  2. Check the mail for a letter about their Medicaid or CHIP coverage.
  3. Complete their renewal form right away (if they get one).

CMS also shared the following related resources:

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