Ashima Butler

🏥 Exciting News for Nursing Homes in New Jersey! 🏥 Governor Phil Murphy's proposed budget for fiscal year 2025 brings promising changes for nursing homes in the state. The proposal includes a significant increase in care quality incentive payments, almost doubling the maximum payment from $12.60 to $23.25 per resident per day. One of the key focuses of this proposal is on nursing home staffing levels, introducing new benchmarks under the Quality Incentive Payment Program. The program will now evaluate total nursing hours, staff retention rates, and efforts to prevent inappropriate weight loss. This move aligns with the recent federal staffing rule by CMS, prompting calls for additional funding nationwide. It's heartening to see New Jersey taking proactive steps to support nursing home providers in meeting these standards. While there's enthusiasm about these incentives, there are also discussions about the potential challenges, especially regarding additional costs and staffing requirements. However, this initiative reflects a commitment to improving resident outcomes and aligning with national care standards. Let's continue supporting initiatives that enhance care quality and ensure the well-being of our elderly population. Together, we can create a brighter future for nursing home residents in New Jersey! #Healthcare #NursingHomes #QualityCare #NewJersey #ElderCare https://lnkd.in/d6c7Gdn6

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The Connecticut Association of Healthcare Executives (CTAHE) aspiring fellows consider registering for this complimentary and informative session on the American College of Healthcare Executives FACHE overview! #FACHE

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#Connecticut is slated to join a national nursing compact. House Bill 5058 got the General Assembly's approval and awaits Gov. Ned Lamont's signature. The legislation allows Connecticut nurses to get a license permitting them to work in other compact participating states. Cassandra Esposito, president of the Connecticut Nurses Association, said while it can attract nurses to work in the state, it does not alleviate workforce issues nurses face. "It has to do with working conditions," Esposito explained. "We look at staffing, we look at workplace violence, we look at ways that nurses do their job, and the things that are making them a little bit harder to do their jobs." Legislation established better nurse-to-patient staffing ratios and implemented better hospital security. The Connecticut Nurses Association pushed to resolve some issues, ensuring the compact was right for the state. Lawmakers worked to address impacts to programs like HAVEN with an amendment that also develops a working group supporting compact implementation and addressing any unintended consequences. After three years, the working group will evaluate the efficacy of the compact on Connecticut. Nationwide workforce shortages are not the only thing straining nurses. Burnout and mental health issues only aggravated by the pandemic are causing people to leave the field. Esposito argued barriers to nurses seeking help must be removed so the workforce thrives. "Provide them with options," Esposito emphasized. "If your health care workers aren't well, the health care workers themselves suffer. The workforce itself suffers, patients, health care delivery as a whole suffers, so we really need to do more to take care of the mental health of our nurses." Among respondents to an American Nurses Foundation survey, 64% said they feel stressed because of their job. Stress and other factors led to the national turnover average of nurses being as high as 37%, depending on location and specialty. #nurses #nursingshortage

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Who's going to buy Steward's remaining Massachusetts hospitals? Physicians can't own hospitals. Legislators have turned up the heat and regulatory scrutiny of PE and VC-backed healthcare (in large part because of Steward's bad apples). Smaller independent community hospitals (of which there are now few) are already struggling financially. Enter large, market dominant health systems? The state has made it clear it's not thrilled about Mass General Brigham owning more hospitals. (Instead, they've spun up outpatient centers in HNW areas and turned their attention to neighboring states). As a condition of approving its merger, Beth Israel Lahey Health agreed to a 7-year moratorium on cost increases among other concessions. That's set to expire in the next year or so. Do we really want more health system consolidation? (Studies would suggest the answer is "no" if you want lower prices, demonstrably better care and access, and fewer employed physicians). So, who's left? Are we willing to think a bit differently? Explore alternative options? Allow physicians or physician groups with business partners to make a go of it? (The horror, the horror). Can we admit that regulatory grandstanding has created as many, if not more, problems than it has solved? This is an opportunity to be a little bold. We shouldn't abide conflicts of interest or allow free reign for fraud and abuse. Oversight and transparency are paramount. But we can use a deft touch instead of a heavy hand. We can support innovation, not stifle it. This goes not just for Steward, but for efforts across the country to tackle hard problems by taking a different angle. Otherwise, get ready for more of the same. Same wolf, different clothing. #health #healthcare #medicine

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***Partnership Announcement*** Pediatric Resource Group (PRG) is excited to partner with Libman Education, one of the most trusted resources for training of hospital coding, CDI, and HIM professionals, to offer our Pediatric CDI Educational Series. The Pediatric CDI Educational Series has over 35 on-demand videos created by CDI expert pediatricians and geared towards coders, CDI professionals and clinical staff with the following objectives: -Understand inpatient pediatric conditions to identify all query opportunities -Describe documentation’s impact on severity adjustment, quality metrics, expected length of stay (LOS), & hospital payment -Review CDI processes, policies, metrics, and the CDI physician champion role This tool is a great supplement to our "Pediatric by PRG" module in the Pinson & Tang CDI Pocket Guide. #CDI #pediatrics #clinicaldocumentation https://lnkd.in/gewSdrAr

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Join me and Shannon Connolly on our webinar next week for an engaging and interactive session where we invite you to take the first steps in building your organization's strategy to become a 'destination employer' for top clinical talent in today's competitive labor market. Vynamic will set you up with a 'toolkit' to both build your strategy AND activate your strategy successfully. We look forward to having everyone there!

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#ICYMI: our latest #ExecutiveInsights💡 episode is live, featuring South Shore Health's Dr. Allen Smith! When asked about his leadership approach, Dr. Smith explained his mission of putting his organization and community first.    Watch the full episode here ⤵

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Calling all eligible The Connecticut Association of Healthcare Executives (CTAHE) members on the journey to become a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives consider registering for FACHE Overview Webinar June 13, 2024 1 –2 p.m. Central time Whether you’ve determined now is the time for you to begin the process toward FACHE or you’re still deciding, the next stop on your journey is our FACHE Overview Webinar. #FACHE #BOGExam #regentlife

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“I do believe that having the right physical environment helps the team function better and deliver better care.” - Melvin Blanchard, M.D., FACP, Chair of Medicine, Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC HealthCare) The HCM team prioritized patient comfort in the design of this renovation and expansion. Thoughtful elements such as natural light, intuitive navigation, larger patient rooms, and cozy visitor seating areas all help to reduce the stress of patients, visitors, and staff alike. Read more about the GBMC Promise Project in this edition of Health Facilities Management by the American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE): https://lnkd.in/epD7KbHV

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A recent article in Nursing Outlook highlights a transformative method for assessing nursing care in acute and critical care settings. Led by Martha A.Q. Curley, PhD, RN, from Penn Nursing, the study introduces a "Blueprint for Action" to fully recognize nurses' roles and impacts on patient outcomes. It outlines nine essential practice areas, including clinical skills, patient education, and emotional support. This approach aims to capture the diverse contributions of nurses often missed by current evaluations and stresses the importance of a supportive hospital environment for delivering exceptional care. https://buff.ly/3BAumo5 #nursing #healthcare

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"Nurse practitioners are a proven solution to the healthcare crisis in Pennsylvania. With physicians retiring, and less physicians choosing to go into primary care, the patients of Pennsylvania are struggling to find adequate care for their needs," said PCNP President Amanda Laskoskie. Amanda recently described these healthcare challenges to legislators and press at the PA State Capitol, sharing why full practice authority for NPs is a proven solution that would help Pennsylvania patients access the care they need. "Nurse practitioners are not physicians, nor do we want to be. We are expertly trained advanced practice nurses who provide safe, quality care to our patients.  And we are ready and able to serve the patients of Pennsylvania." #PCNP #NursePractitioners #HealthcareProfessionals #AdvancedPracticeNurses #FullPracticeAuthority #PatientCare #Healthcare

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CMS has locked down its selection of AHEAD Model states with the addition of New York (five downstate counties) and Rhode Island. Maryland, Vermont, Connecticut and Hawaii were announced earlier. Still unknown is how enthusiastic hospitals will be about signing on to global revenue budgets, at least in four of the states. For Maryland hospitals, AHEAD amounts to a continuation – with enhancements – of the current Total Cost of Care Model. All Maryland general acute care hospitals have been under all-payer consolidated global budgets for a decade. In New York, participation is compulsory for the safety net hospitals that stand to get $2 billion in subsidies under the state’s latest Medicaid 1115 waiver amendment. Hospitals in Vermont, Connecticut, Hawaii and Rhode Island are, or ought to be, assessing their options. Even though all those states have active cost management measures in place today, it’s a leap for a hospital to sign on to a global revenue budget. My intel suggests many hospitals are squeamish, though a couple of the states intend to apply leverage via Medicaid. There are upsides. A hospital that foresees its revenue in decline can get propped up. And any hospital that can reduce utilization on the margin – not just LOS but admissions, too – can win savings. There are risks, too, the obvious one being that revenue is effectively capped. Except for Maryland, each participating hospital will have one global budget for original Medicare, set by CMS, and another for Medicaid, set by the state subject to CMS approval. (A Medicaid puzzle: How to structure global budgets to allow full-risk MCOs to retain autonomy in dealing with hospitals?) And commercial payers – group insurers, MA plans and QHPs included – need not engage at all, though each state must enlist at least one commercial payer by the second performance year. #AHEADmodel #hospital #globalbudget #Medicaid #Medicare 

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Yesterday, CMS released a long anticipated report analyzing 11,907 unique hospital at home patients, representing 13,217 total episodes of care. More than half of the patients studied in this report received care through a Medically Home-enabled program. The upshot of the report is that episodes of care resulted in overall lower rates of mortality, lower rates of discharge to Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs), and higher satisfaction among patients and caregivers. This is consistent with the growing body of research on hospital-at-home care. Key Takeaways on Quality: - CMS noted that AHCAH patients had a lower 30-day mortality rate than comparable brick-and-mortar inpatients - Lower hospital-acquired condition (HAC) rates for AHCAH patients compared to inpatients across six types of HACs evaluated. - Mixed results for 30-day readmission rates: the AHCAH group had significantly higher readmission rates for two DRGs, while the inpatient group had higher readmission rates for three DRGs. On patient/caregiver experience: - 'CMS collected a variety of feedback from providers, clinicians, patients, families and caregivers...through email, letters, site visits, clinician focused virtual listening sessions, and program interviews...Patients described feeling more relaxed, less anxious, and less depressed at home, which seemed to aid their recovery...Caregivers noted that in-home care allowed them to be more involved in the care process, and they themselves felt more comfortable and less stressed when their loved ones were cared for at home. On clinician experience: - 'This positive feedback was mirrored by clinicians’ own experiences in providing care to patients under the AHCAH initiative. During the two listening sessions conducted with physicians, advanced practice providers (APPs) and nurses, participants described their own experience in serving patients through AHCAH as being professionally fulfilling, renewing the joy they experience in providing clinical care. On costs: - 'While inpatient episodes had a slightly longer average length of stay compared to brick-and-mortar inpatient episodes, they were associated with lower spending overall.' The report was delivered as an effort to extend the waiver that enables CMS reimbursement for hospital at home care is considered. https://lnkd.in/gmybDQQH. #hospitalathome #healthcareinnovation #advancedcareathome #acutecareathome

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DispatchHealth has become the first organization to receive the In-Home Hospital Care Accreditation from the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC)! This groundbreaking accreditation sets a new standard for delivering hospital-level care in the comfort of patients' homes. 🏥 Why is this important? Patient-Centered Care: This model allows patients to receive high-quality care where they feel most comfortable—at home. Cost-Effective Solutions: DispatchHealth's approach not only enhances patient outcomes but also significantly reduces healthcare costs. Transforming Healthcare: As we adapt to evolving patient preferences and the lessons learned from the pandemic, this accreditation underscores the importance of innovative care delivery models. 🚀Congratulations to the entire DispatchHealth team for leading the way in advanced home-based care! https://lnkd.in/dw6Dg6vC #HealthcareInnovation #PatientCare #DispatchHealth #ACHC #HomeHealth

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