Recently, The Joint Commission (TJC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced their commitment in driving the next decade of health equity for people who are underserved. The commitment to advancing health equity will help foster a healthcare system that benefits all for generations to come. These new requirements include the expansion of collection, reporting and analysis of standardized data. Hospitals and health systems must be prepared to understand and report these new requirements to continue to receive reimbursement from the CMS.
The MHA Health Foundation webinar Prepare for The Joint Commission and CMS Health Equity Requirements will:
Describe the new health equity-related reporting requirements to stay compliant with TJC and the CMS.
Demonstrate how you can assess hospital readiness to meet the new requirements.
Outline sources for data, including hospital community health needs assessments, for health equity reporting.
Describe how to assess and analyze your patients’ social risk factors and how these needs evolve over time.
The webinar is scheduled from 11 a.m. to noon, Nov. 15 and MHA-member hospitals can register for an unlimited number of connections per hospital/entity for $200.
Members with questions should contact Erica Leyko at the MHA.
Registration is now open for the Michigan Health Equity Summit that will take place in-person at Lansing Community College West Campus and virtually from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET on Nov. 3.
This summit aims to provide an update of state healthcare disparity data, explore how Michigan hospitals can continue to expand upon their work in eliminating disparities and highlight the work select hospitals are doing to advance health equity for all Michiganders.
The program – provided in partnership by the MHA Keystone Center, the Michigan Public Health Institute, Michigan State University’s Institute for Health Policy and the Michigan Health Endowment Fund – is designed for patient safety officers, quality improvement personnel, directors of patient experience or compliance, executive and clinical leaders and health equity staff members.
Included in the agenda is keynote speaker Dr. Kevin Ahmaad Jenkins, a renowned advocate against racism and its impact on public health, who will lead the summit discussion in his keynote address.
The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) revised Public Health Code Rules requiring implicit bias training for all professions licensed or registered under the Public Health Code took effect in June. Implicit Bias trainings are still available for those needing to meet the requirement.
Those who fall within one of the above categories can contact the team to request a promo code. For teams of 50 or more, a request can be made at least 6-8 weeks in advance for scheduling a virtual session outside of the posted dates.
The Michigan Health Council is also offering implicit bias trainings in two formats, hybrid or live guest lecture, over the next several months. In a hybrid delivery model, learners will watch a one-hour video on demand and attend a one-hour webinar to engage in a robust discussion and group exercises. Registration for this training is available for $50 per person.
With a guest presentation, organizations can offer the training to staff onsite at their convenience. The presentation will include an introduction to implicit bias followed by targeted exercises, discussion and evaluation questions. Members may contact Kristin Sewell for pricing and availability.
The following statement can be attributed to Brian Peters, CEO of the Michigan Health & Hospital Association.
The video footage released today of the tragic shooting death of Patrick Lyoya in Grand Rapids is jarring and incredibly disturbing. Almost two years ago, our nation witnessed the murder of George Floyd, which exposed for our entire country the racial injustices that exist in our communities. What happened April 4 in one of Michigan’s neighborhoods to Patrick Lyoya is unacceptable and shows that our state has so much more to accomplish to address systemic racism.
We express our deepest condolences to the family of Patrick Lyoya, those mourning his loss and all individuals who share these feelings of fear and anger at another Black community member losing their life unnecessarily.
Hospitals are a welcoming place of care for all those who need our services. The mission of the MHA is to advance the health of individuals and communities, and that mission is inclusive of every race, ethnicity and nationality. What happened to Patrick Lyoya is not acceptable; we stand with all our patients, their loved ones, our communities and our employees as we come to terms with Patrick’s unnecessary death.
Hospitals throughout our state will reflect on this tragedy as a time to come together and share peaceful expressions of our hurt and anguish. Following Mr. Floyd’s tragic death, MHA member hospital and health system chief executive officers signed a pledge expressing a unified commitment to address racial disparities, dismantle institutional racism and achieve health equity. We promise our efforts will not stop until we have achieved those goals.
“The mission of the MHA is to advance the health of individuals and communities,” said MHA CEO Brian Peters. “Ensuring the safety of our healthcare workers and improving efforts to address health equity, diversity and inclusion fulfills our mission and is critical to every Michigan hospital and community.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the healthcare sector had the highest distribution of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses in the private sector in 2020, while OSHA data indicates healthcare workers are nearly four times more likely on average to experience violence than individuals in other industries.
Improving workplace safety in hospitals has been the focus of the MHA, the MHA Keystone Center and Michigan hospitals since the MHA Workplace Safety Collaborative was launched in 2019 with the goal to reduce injuries and increase safety awareness through educational events, webinar series and insights from subject matter experts.
With reported rates of violence against healthcare workers increasing during surges of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the MHA has actively advocated for House Bill 5682. This legislation would double the fines for assaulting a healthcare employee or volunteer in any healthcare setting. To help increase awareness of protecting healthcare workers, the MHA has developed and provided to MHA members free of charge workplace violence posters.
Diversity, equity and inclusion is another key component of the activities of the MHA Keystone Center. The MHA Board of Trustees endorsed in 2020 the Address Racism and Health Inequities pledge, which has since been embraced by all MHA member hospitals and hospital systems. The pledge expresses the need for hospitals to commit to addressing disparities, dismantling institutional racism and achieving health equity. The MHA Keystone Center also released the Eliminating Disparities to Advance Health Equity and Improve Quality guide, which is to be used by hospitals to assess strategies aimed at reducing disparities, achieving equity and improving quality.
“I am very proud of the work the MHA Keystone Center has made on both workplace safety and diversity, equity and inclusion,” said Sarah Scranton, MPA, MPP, vice president, safety and quality, MHA, and executive director, MHA Keystone Center. “The safety of caregivers and addressing health disparities can significantly impact the quality and safety of care delivered inside a hospital.”
Health equity is achieved when all members of society enjoy a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. As defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, social determinants of health contribute to racial and ethnic minority groups having disproportionate health outcomes and include neighborhood and physical environment, health and healthcare, occupation and job conditions, income and wealth, and education. The MHA and the MHA Keystone Center have long been committed to addressing health disparities, which is a foundational concept that shapes all the organization’s quality improvement and safety efforts.
More information about the MHA’s efforts and resources on workplace safety and health equity can be found at mha.org.
The number of hospitalizations in Michigan due to confirmed and suspected cases of COVID-19 was the lowest since early November during the week of Jan. 31. However, with 2,882 adults and 70 children hospitalized Feb. 4 with confirmed and suspected COVID-19, some facilities in the state continue to be …
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is developing an initiative that will provide free access to eight over-the-counter COVID-19 tests per month for Medicare beneficiaries. The initiative will apply to individuals enrolled in both traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans. The new initiative …
The MHA had hoped for an in-person Breakthrough event Feb. 17 and 18 but, based on the current environment, the event will be offered in a virtual format from 1 to 3 p.m. Feb. 17 on the Zoom platform. …
Access to affordable, safe, stable housing is well documented as a strong factor in health. The critical shortage of affordable housing directly affects communities and patients, contributing to repeat emergency room visits and hospital admissions. These patients also tend to have limited resources for …
The 2021 winners of the MHA’s Ludwig Community Benefit Award showcase the wide range of programs Michigan hospitals provide to benefit those in their local areas and beyond. The award is presented annually to recognize MHA-member healthcare organizations that demonstrate …
The COVID-19 pandemic and the rapidly changing competitive environment are making the consumer digital experience a higher priority for healthcare marketers than ever before. With budgets rebounding and marketers accelerating efforts in personalization, healthcare marketers must invest in new …
The Keckley Report
The Resilience of the Health System: Not Enough
“The healthcare industry is resilient—’the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.’ It responds well to immediate problems like the pandemic and health emergencies. It enjoys well-deserved accolades for its selfless workforce and acts of heroism. But long-term solutions to the widely recognized systemic flaws in our system escape its attention …”
Due to weather-related cancellations, the Michigan Legislature did not meet Feb. 2 and 3 and no action was taken on healthcare-related bills.
Myers and Stauffer LC, Michigan’s contractor for the federally mandated Medicaid disproportionate share hospital audits, will host an educational webinar at 10:30 a.m. EST Feb. 15 to assist members with the upcoming 2019 Medicaid DSH audits.
As part of a series from the MHA Endorsed Business Partner program, the webinar Manufacturer Mandates and Claims Capture will be hosted with SUNRx from 2 to 3 p.m. EST Feb. 15.
The MHA responded to several media requests the week of Jan. 31 that focused on the history of hospital mergers and acquisitions in Michigan and the current outlook for hospitals regarding COVID-19.
“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane.”— Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The past two years have sharpened the focus on several aspects of healthcare, none more so than efforts to achieve health equity throughout our communities and to improve diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within our healthcare organizations and communities. February is Black History Month, which makes it a perfect time to reflect on the areas where we, as healthcare leaders, can do better to promote the elimination of unconscious bias and to address the social determinants of health such as access to transportation, housing and healthy food, while also expanding our DEI efforts.
There is no question that COVID-19 and the momentum behind social justice reform in 2020 served as a force multiplier for many in this arena. The data is clear that, throughout the pandemic, minorities have suffered worse health outcomes from COVID-19, and we need to fully understand the reasons why.
I’m proud to say that the MHA Keystone Center, our association’s safety and quality organization, has already become deeply engaged in this space. Our efforts to date have included the release of the Eliminating Disparities to Advance Health Equity and Improve Quality guide and the MHA Board of Trustees pledge to Address Racism and Health Inequities, which includes a commitment to listen, to act and to lead. This pledge has since been universally embraced by our member hospitals throughout the state, which sets us on a positive path forward. As I have pointed out many times in the past, because hospitals are often the largest employer in their respective communities, we have an extraordinary opportunity to lead by example in all that we do.
Moving forward into 2022, our member hospitals will soon need to ensure compliance with a new state law, fully supported by the MHA, that requires unconscious bias training for all clinicians. Many of our hospitals were providing this sort of training well before the passage of this legislation, and we are eager to continue this work.
As with so many other issues, we are also very fortunate to have strong partners in the American Hospital Association (AHA), in this case with its Institute for Diversity and Health Equity (IFDHE) that offers a wide range of resources and initiatives to pursue health equity from a variety of areas. Together, the AHA and the IFDHE are helping to increase leadership opportunities for ethnic minorities, as they have historically been underrepresented in healthcare management.
We have come a long way in recent years, as we now have an organized, orchestrated effort within our hospitals and health systems to address these important issues. Today, positions and departments have been created, including C-suite leadership roles, that have influence on the actions both inside the hospital and outside with community partners. Just as this is an all-hands-on-deck effort throughout the care continuum, the same holds true with community partners in addressing the many vexing issues that contribute to poor health outcomes. The fact that we have leadership in place to guide this process is a testament to the commitment of our member CEOs and is an encouraging development for further things to come.
We also have a strong culture of shared learning in our state, and the willingness of hospitals and health systems to collect and share data (including race, ethnicity and language, or REAL, data) and best practices is encouraging and impactful. Despite our progress, we still have a long way to go, and I encourage any leader or organization that has not done so already to join the MHA on this journey. For too long our hospitals have treated the end results of years of health disparities, and the time is now for us to be leaders in driving change.
The MHA’s major membership meeting Breakthrough will be held Feb. 17 and 18 at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa. The early registration discount will expire Jan. 28 and the discounted room rate at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa will expire Jan. 26.
Due to the pandemic, hospital and health system leaders have not gathered in person at an MHA major membership meeting in two years, significantly reducing the ability for leaders to openly discuss significant challenges with colleagues. To create a safe meeting for everyone, the MHA has developed a code of conduct, including COVID-19 vaccination verification. The vaccination verification process and other safety measures are detailed online under the Code of Conduct policy.
Register now for Breakthrough, where attendees will examine the evolution of the pandemic and its impact, how MHA members and partners can address the workforce shortage and drive policy and funding on this critical issue, how to lead critical conversations about health equity and use structures already in place to build capacity for advancing equity, and more. A preconference session features tactics to optimize the CEO-board relationship by exploring the primary roles and responsibilities and the attributes and actions credited to a high-functioning governing board.
A full agenda, additional details and sponsors are posted online. Contact Erin Steward at the MHA with questions about Breakthrough.
MHA Breakthrough, which will be held in-person Feb. 17 and 18 at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa near Traverse City, provides a venue for crucial conversations about the healthcare crisis and ways providers can lead recovery using information, tools and shared ideas and best practices. Attendees will examine the evolution of the pandemic and its impact, including lessons learned around treatment and staffing, patient and family expectations, and burnout and resilience; how MHA members and partners can address the workforce shortage and drive policy and funding on this critical issue; and how to lead critical conversations abouthealth equity and use structures already in place to build capacity for advancing equity.
A preconference session will feature tactics to optimize the CEO-board relationship by exploring the primary roles and responsibilities and the attributes and actions credited to a high-functioning governing board. The session includes an assessment and improvement activity that can be adopted or modified for use in participants’ organizations as part of an ongoing effort to strengthen CEO-board dynamics.
Breakthrough will be held in-person, and COVID-19 vaccination will be required. The vaccination verification process is detailed online under the Code of Conduct Policy. Registration is open, and a full agenda, additional details and sponsors are posted online. Contact Erin Steward at the MHA with questions about Breakthrough.
MHA CEO Report — The Time is Now for Health Equity
The past two years have sharpened the focus on several aspects of healthcare, none more so than efforts to achieve health equity throughout our communities and to improve diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within our healthcare organizations and communities. February is Black History Month, which makes it a perfect time to reflect on the areas where we, as healthcare leaders, can do better to promote the elimination of unconscious bias and to address the social determinants of health such as access to transportation, housing and healthy food, while also expanding our DEI efforts.