July 6, 2009

IN THIS ISSUE

Keep Pressure On Lawmakers Regarding Medicaid Budget, Tort Reform
AMA Helps Keep Drugs Out Of Medicare Physician Payment Formula
Blues, Hospitals Expand Partnership In 'Keystone' Quality Program
Obama Signs Tobacco Bill; Michigan Smoking Ban Still Pending
2009 Medical Practice Compensation And Benefit Survey-Reminder
GDAHC To Hold Forum On Quality And Cost Issues
Dr. Ayers Appointed To Student National Medical Association
IOM Recommends Top 100 Research Priorities

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Keep Pressure On Lawmakers Regarding Medicaid Budget, Tort Reform

As deliberation continues in the legislature, MSMS urges you to use its Action Center (www.msms.org/action) to send messages to your lawmakers, urging them to: (1) Vote to preserve Medicaid funding and protect access. The Senate just passed (among other things) an eight-percent cut to physicians and other health care providers, and now the legislation returns to the House for further debate; and (2) Vote “NO” on HB 4571, which would broadly modify – and put at risk – Michigan’s nation-leading tort reforms. The bill remains in the House Judiciary Committee, and could see action soon. For more information, contact Colin Ford at 517-336-5737 or cford@msms.org.

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AMA Helps Keep Drugs Out Of Medicare Physician Payment Formula

The following July 1 statement is from AMA President J. James Rohack, MD, on behalf of the AMA.

The removal of physician-administered drugs from the broken Medicare physician payment formula is a major victory for America’s seniors and their physicians. The AMA has been calling for this action since 2002 so that Congress can afford to repeal the flawed Medicare physician payment formula. We are very pleased that the Obama administration agrees with the AMA that drugs do not belong in the physician payment formula.

“President Obama, HHS Secretary Sebelius and White House Health Reform Director DeParle clearly understand that fixing the Medicare payment formula once and for all is fundamental to comprehensive health reform.

“Our nation has a historic opportunity for health reform this year, and strengthening Medicare should be a cornerstone of this effort. Without congressional action, Medicare will impose a steep cut to physician payment rates in 2010. Physicians will not be able to continue to treat all seniors, let alone make quality improvements to their practices, if the cuts occur. Instead of yet another band-aid fix, today’s action paves the way for Congress to ensure stable payment rates that reflect increasing medical practice costs and preserve seniors’ access to care.

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Blues, Hospitals Expand Partnership In 'Keystone' Quality Program

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) has announced a second $6 million, five-year investment in activities by the Michigan Health & Hospital Association (MHA) Keystone Center for Patient Safety & Quality.

The money will help enable the MHA Keystone Center to sustain ongoing efforts and launch new projects aimed at improving patient safety and quality of care delivered at the bedside. Since the founding of the center by Michigan hospitals in 2003, nearly every Michigan hospital has participated in its collaboratives that share evidence-based best practices to prevent infections, reduce complications and hospital inpatient days, improve patient safety, and reduce health care costs.

“The Michigan hospitals that participate in the MHA Keystone Center programs have achieved significant, measurable patient safety improvements — errors have been reduced and lives have been saved,” said Spencer Johnson, president of the MHA. “The support from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is integral for the continuation and expansion of Michigan hospitals’ innovative patient safety efforts.”

BCBSM’s funding will support ongoing and new MHA Keystone Center projects including:

•        Reducing the number of hospital-associated infections

•        Improving care for mothers giving birth and their newborn babies

•        Improving emergency room flow and care

The funding will help defray costs to hospitals for data collection and sharing, and allow for the implementation of new processes and procedures to improve quality and safety.

The MHA Keystone Center, BCBSM and Michigan hospitals have had success in earlier Keystone projects that have led to greater quality and safety at hospitals, reported the Blues. The longest running MHA Keystone Center project, MHA Keystone: ICU, improves safety and reduces medical errors in hospital intensive care units. In just four years, the project resulted in nearly 1,800 lives saved, 129,000 excess hospital days avoided and $247 million saved.

As a more recent example, an MHA Keystone Center project to reduce urinary tract infections acquired from hospital catheters is under way to achieve appropriate reductions in catheter use. Early calculations estimate the project has the potential to reduce the number of patients contracting catheter-associated urinary tract infections by thousands and generate a potential cost savings of more than $10 million over the course of one year.

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Obama Signs Tobacco Bill; Michigan Smoking Ban Still Pending

In a White House Rose Garden ceremony held on June 22, President Obama signed the “Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act” into law. The new law provides authority for the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the manufacture, sale, distribution and marketing of tobacco products with the primary goal of reducing youth and teen smoking. The AMA was represented at the ceremony by President J. James Rohack, MD.

Michigan remains one of fewer than 20 states that do not have restrictive workplace smoking bans on the books. The Michigan legislature continues to consider such legislation, but ended the last legislative session stalemated over exemptions to a comprehensive smoking ban for casinos, cigar bars and other venues.

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2009 Medical Practice Compensation And Benefit Survey-Reminder

We encourage your participation.

Please complete your survey by July 24, 2009 @ 5:00PM.

Rehmann Healthcare Management Advisors, The Michigan Medical Group Management Association (MMGMA) and Michigan State Medical Society (MSMS) have again collaborated to conduct this annual survey on behalf of our members, medical practice clients, and contacts. We anticipate that the survey results will prove helpful in managing your practice. It is only through your participation that the survey will continue to be successful.

Survey responses will be received and compiled by Rehmann Healthcare Management Advisors.    All response data will be treated in confidence and results will be reported in summary format.  No individual practice's response data will be identifiable through the survey results.  Please provide your name and contact information on the survey questionnaire so that you may be contacted if any questions arise regarding your survey responses.

If survey mailings are directed to multiple persons within your practice, it is requested that the practice organization submit only one (1) survey response.

If you have questions as you complete the questionnaire, contact Jennifer Warner at Rehmann Healthcare Management Advisors (phone – 989.797.8348 / email - jennifer.warner@rehmann.com ) </

Click on the link below to get started. Please take the time to read through the Using the Online Survey tool instructions available when you click on the link to begin.

http://survey.rehmann.com/hc2009/

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL SURVEY RESPONSES MUST BE RECEIVED BY 5:00 PM ON 7/24/09.

If you are unable to complete your survey due to any type of technical difficulty, please notify carrie.andrews@rehmann.com or jennifer.warner@rehmann.com.    We will make every effort to assist you in completing this survey.  

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GDAHC To Hold Forum On Quality And Cost Issues

Aligning Forces for Quality initiative.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

1:30 — 5 p.m.

The Dearborn Inn

20301 Oakwood Boulevard

Dearborn, MI 48124

(no attendance fee)

Activities featured:

• Learn about and celebrate recent SLSD program accomplishments

• Get updated on SLSD future direction

• Learn about and have input to the role that GDAHC plays in

influencing the direction of national health care reform

• Give feedback on messages to be shared with Congressional

delegation meetings that will be held in October

• Meet and network with current and former SLSD members and

other community stakeholders

Who should attend:

• Current and past SLSD Team Members

• GDAHC members

• Health care coalition leaders

• “Friends of” SLSD

• Anyone passionate about health care transformation!

For more information, visit www.gdahc.org

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Dr. Ayers Appointed To Student National Medical Association

Eric Ayers, MD, an assistant professor of Internal Medicine/Pediatrics and associate program director of Internal Medicine/Pediatrics with the Wayne State University School of Medicine, has been appointed to serve as a professional board member for the Student National Medical Association.

Dr. Ayers was initially nominated by Nakia Williams, a second-year pediatric student, who was impressed with his passion for mentorship and his students.

“For me, this is indeed an honor to serve in this capacity,” Dr. Ayers said. “For the School of Medicine and its departments, it gives us access, visibility and a vehicle to help in the recruitment of minorities in medicine.”

After he was nominated, Dr. Ayers met with the board for an interview and was asked to prepare and deliver a presentation on leadership at the Student National Medical Association’s National Leadership Institute.

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IOM Recommends Top 100 Research Priorities

A new report from the Institute of Medicine recommends 100 health topics that should get priority attention and funding from a new national research effort to identify which health care services work best. It also spells out actions and resources needed to ensure that this comparative effectiveness research initiative will be a sustained effort with a continuous process for updating priorities as needed and that the results are put into clinical practice. 

A committee convened by the IOM developed the list of priority topics at the request of Congress as part of a $1.1 billion effort to improve the quality and efficiency of health care through comparative effectiveness research outlined in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The committee's report provides independent guidance -- informed by extensive public input -- to Congress and the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services on how to spend $400 million on research to compare health services and approaches to care. For more information, follow the link below.

http://www.nationalacademies.org/morenews/20090630.html

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