The Hospital Council

The Hospital Council of Northern and Central California’s Mission is to help our members to provide high quality health care and to improve the health status of the communities they serve.

“Effective, Efficient, Safe, Timely, Patient Centered, Equitable and Affordable”

GOALS

— Effective Advocacy - Making the voices of members heard and interests known to those who influence the political, legal and social context in which hospitals operate at the local level and in support of CHA's policy agenda.

— Mutual Assistance - Providing opportunities for members to collaborate, cooperate, help one another, share resources, solve mutual problems and team up for mutual advantage.

— Learning - Providing members with opportunities and experiences that enable members to broaden their personal or professional qualifications, share knowledge and information, learn from one another and grow personally through quality relationships.

— Products and Services - Providing valuable resources to improve hospital operations.

Local Public Policy Priorities

The Hospital Council works in partnership with CHA to influence state and federal legislation and regulatory issues. At the local level, the Hospital Council monitors county boards of supervisors, health departments and other agencies, and supports member involvement in local decision-making on such critical issues as health care workforce, the safety net, access to care, emergency medical services, reimbursement, patient safety, community benefits and more. Recognizing member needs cover a wide variety of subjects, our "vital few" priorities for 2010 include the following:

ADVOCACY

Political Advocacy

ISSUE MANAGER - Ron Smith, Senior Vice President

Coordinate grassroots activities in support of CHA's public priorities, including fundraising for CHPAC; work to develop strong relationships with key legislators; coordinate distric legislative visits; respond to alerts; and support CHA's Health Policy Leadership Day and Congressional Visit Program.
Lead and support local political advocacy at the city and county level in support of the sections.
Provide leadership to link advocacy with public advocacy initiatives.

Public Advocacy

ISSUE MANAGER - Ron Smith, Senior Vice President

I ISSUE MANAGER - Scott Seamon, Regional Vice President

Continue to collaborate with CHA in a statewide public advocacy campaign that activelyaccurately portrays to the public the policy issues affecting hospitals, including health-care reform, challenges facing emergency departments, the impact of the uninsured, workforce shortages, and seismic compliance costs.
Develop work plans for each section and Regional Vice President relying upon community and governmental outreach conducted with hospital CEO's, public information officers, government relations staffs and third party spokespersons (the Public Advocacy "Network"). Utilize "social media" to reach third party spokespersons on specific issues, as appropriate.
Successfully obtain earned media coverage and third party advocacy on behalf of hospitals. Coordinate with VP Media Relations.
Provide leadership to link public advocacy with political advocacy initiatives.

Local Government Initiatives

ISSUE MANAGER - Ron Smith, Senior Vice President

I ISSUE MANAGER - Lynne Ashbeck, Regional Vice President

Develop strategies to ensure that the hospital 'story' is clearly communicated to local government arenas, to assist hospitals with issues ranging from project approval/ construction process, City Council and Board of Supervisors advocacy, and community health initiatives.
The 2009 H1N1 flu outbreak and distribution of short supply vaccine provides a case study for the challenges of public/private cooperation necessary to care for the public. This process worked well in some counties and was a dismal failure in other (lack of supply, lack of conformity with distribution priorities, miss-communication, and state and local officials operating at cross-purposes). In 2010, Hospital Council will pursue the following initiatives:

Conduct “after action reports” debriefing sessions in selected counties. These standard exercises are designed to explore what worked well, what didn’t and make recommendations for the future.
Results of the “after action reports” will be used in numerous ways including:
- County level action plans to prevent future problems.
- Spread of best practices to all counties in our service area.
- Recommendations to CHA for state-level action.

· Monitor local water supply/quality issues as they relate to hospitals, pharmaceuticals in the water, and potential public health issues.

· Preserve city and county government resources for the care of indigent, mental health, and other patients and communicate the impact of those funding resources on local hospitals.

· Identify opportunities in each Section for hospitals to engage in local community initiatives to help mitigate impacts on hospital services and ED capacity, including medical respite, frequent users’ initiatives, and other issues.

· Educate and engage local government officials as third-party spokesperson on behalf of hospital’s advocacy agenda. Work with RVPs to support such activities in each section.

· Monitor local budgetary and other developments and assist RVPs to formulate and implement local advocacy action plans.

· Actively support and coordinate with Political and Public Advocacy programs.

HEALTHCARE REFORM

ISSUE MANAGER - Art Sponseller, President/ Chief Executive Officer

· In addition to advocating for more resources for patient care from the existing system, support the development of comprehensive healthcare reform at the state and national levels.

· Monitor progress made by the Obama Administration to pass comprehensive health reform; provide technical and policy information to RVPs.

· Support CHA’s efforts by gathering members’ questions and concerns and ensuring CHA has a thorough understanding of the needs, issues and concerns of the membership.

· Monitor, advocate, and report efforts to provide access and/or coverage at the local/county level; ensure hospital interests are well represented in the process; assist RVPs in these local efforts.

· If federal reform is enacted, assist hospitals to prepare for necessary changes and to develop post reform “clean-up” proposals.

WORKFORCE

ISSUE MANAGER - Rebecca Rozen, Regional Vice President

· Support the efforts of the California Institute for Nursing & Health Care to better prepare and retain new nurse graduates in our region.

· Lead the Healthcare Laboratory Workforce Initiative and continue to collaborate with CHA to address the overall need for allied health care workers in short supply.

· Help RVPs manage and develop appropriate public-private education partnerships that reflect the needs of their sections.

· Support and expand the activities of the San Joaquin Valley Nursing Consortium.

· If Federal reform is enacted, assist hospitals to prepare for necessary changes and to develop post reform “clean-up” proposals.

FINANCIAL VIABILITY

ISSUE MANAGER - Pamela Smith Martin, Regional Vice President

· Improve payments to and the overall financial viability of hospitals by completing Medicare wage index improvement and geographic reclassification programs.

· Monitor and communicate the impact of State budget cuts on Medi-Cal and county budgets and keep staff and members informed.

· Monitor and communicate the impact of economic recession and keep CHA and members informed.

· Provide technical education and support to RVPs on any Hospital Fee Proposals being implemented to increase Medi-Cal payments to hospitals. Help RVPs monitor the impact of any implemented fee program.

· Monitor the growth of COHS entities and assist RVPs with any formation, negotiation or related issues that may arise.

· Provide technical education and support to RVPs on new hospital waiver. Help RVPs monitor the impact of proposed changes.

· Monitor and report on increase in charity care / uncompensated care in hospitals.

· Monitor impact of high deductible plans on hospital reimbursement / increase in charity care.

· Continue to monitor changes in California's prison health system and, in conjunction with CHA, represent member interests with the California Prison Receiver. Ensure appropriate payment for prisoners admitted to acute care community hospitals.

SEISMIC

ISSUE MANAGER - Scott Seamons, Regional Vice President

· Work to provide relief from seismic deadlines by supporting CHA legislative proposals and keep CHA informed of developments in the field.

· Work to prevent local (city and county) mandates on hospital building projects that will delay projects, increase costs, and potentially reduce community access to care.

· Work with CHA to obtain relief from seismic safety mandates and provide relief from the OSHPD approval delays and field inspection revisions.

· Monitor HAZUS implementation and keep CHA informed of issues confronting the hospital member.

· Ensure CHA has a comprehensive picture of the hurdles hospitals face in obtaining necessary approvals for projects. Support OSHPD in their request to have reviewers exempt from furlough.

EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES

ISSUE MANAGER - Rebecca Rozen, Regional Vice President

· Assist hospitals to address emergency department and trauma issues including physician on-call availability, local regulatory matters, and communications.

· Where appropriate, maintain hospital emergency department diversion capabilities, and explore local options to monitor and control diversion hours.

· Monitor, advocate and communicate regarding ambulance service regulations, changes and issues.

PATIENT SAFETY, QUALITY AND PUBLIC REPORTING

ISSUE MANAGER - Mary Lopez, Senior Vice President

· Support hospital efforts to improve outcomes and patient safety through education, networking, sharing best practices and responding to hospital requests for information and clarification.

· Support the Beacon Collaborative in the Bay Area, and replicate or develop new local/regional collaborative in other areas.

· Support the expansion of California Hospital Assessment and Reporting Taskforce (CHART) in rural hospitals, monitor the development of new measures, and ensure appropriate input from hospitals.

· Work with CHA to ensure the development of efficiency and variation metrics occurs with appropriate input from hospitals.

· Support the operation of CHPSO, the California PSO for hospitals, and its efforts to roll out strategies for regional engagement around topics and sharing of successful strategies for harm reduction.

· Monitor non-payment legislation and further denial of payment for targeted preventable events and complications. Monitor the implementation of readmission criteria, bundled payments and value based purchasing for true impact on patient safety and quality.

· Monitor Medicare denied of payment for targeted complications (so-called “Never Events”).

· Engage with California Department of Public Health and other accreditation entities for clarification and communication of changes. Work to create a regulatory environment.

MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

Issue Manager - Suzanne Ness, Regional Vice President

· Represent the community mental health issues present in the Hospital Council region as a member of the CHA Behavioral Health Center Board.

· Resolve conflicts, improve coordination, and increase the degree of financial support for treatment of indigent patients presenting in emergency departments requiring psychiatric services.

· Assist RVPs at the section level in working collaboratively with local government and local healthcare providers in addition to hospitals in addressing indigent care issues.

· Collaborate with CHA to ensure that prisoners in “compassionate release” programs that have both medical and behavioral health needs receive appropriate support from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation prior to release.

· Ensure that hospital issues are considered and, as appropriate, included as part of county programs funded by Proposition 63.

ALIGNMENT WITH PHYSICIANS

Issue Manager - Suzanne Ness, Regional Vice President

· Identify and exploit opportunities (legislative, regulatory, collaborative, educational, legal, operational etc.) to increase alignment between hospitals and physicians.

· Provide local (legislative district) support, education and information for CHA’s alignment action plan.

· Establish a working group to investigate and report to the Board of Directors on the opportunities to add physician representation on the Hospital Council Board of Directors.

· Develop section level relationships with local medical societies (or other appropriate physician groups) in sections where such groups are active.

· Organize legislative district level activities to support CHA’s efforts to obtain relief from California’s ban on the corporate practice of medicine.

o Provide technical education and support to RVPs on related proposals.

o Monitor developments in the field and, working with the other RVPs, provide CHA with information, resources, testimony, data, etc. useful in obtaining relief.

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

Issue Manger – TBD

contact: Jeanette Shields

(916) 552-7653

· Support CHA’s preparedness program.

· Support hospital preparedness staff.

For more information contact:

Hospital Council of Northern

and Central California

1215 K Street, Suite 730

Sacramento, CA 95814

(916) 552-7653 Fax (916) 552-2618