WEBINAR SPEAKERS NEEDED: As part of their commitment to advancing safe, quality care, the Hospital Quality Institute/Collaborative Healthcare Patient Safety Organization, are launching a campaign to identify and recruit experts/front-line professionals who can speak on a variety of topics. Those topics include:
- Sepsis management
- High-reliability organizations — deep dives, learnings/opportunities, and next steps
- Staffing — employee engagement/resiliency/burnout
- Medication reconciliation — during transitions
- Diagnostic delay/error
- Respiratory syncytial virus
- Pulse oximeter use
- Hospital “never” events
Please reach out to Asma Ahmad at aahmad@chpso.org or (916) 552-2601 if there are individuals within your organization who have expertise in these subject areas (or on a topic that’s not listed) and would be willing to present for a one-hour webinar. In addition to the presentation, when appropriate, HQI/CHPSO intends to present real cases from the CHPSO database that will augment and enhance these forums.
CARE COURT IMPLEMENTATION FUNDING: The state’s Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act will be implemented in two phases, starting with Glenn, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne counties, and the city and county of San Francisco (Cohort I), which are required to implement the CARE process by Oct. 1, 2023. All other counties are required to implement the CARE process by Dec. 1, 2024. San Diego County will receive $7.3 million and Imperial County will receive $250,000 to support planning and preparation activities. This includes hiring, training, and development of policies and procedures, and to support information technology infrastructure costs, including, but not limited to, changes needed to electronic medical record systems; changes to collect needed reporting data; and case tracking and new billing processes to bill commercial plans and exclude capital expenses. More details are included in the links below:
- 22-059 General Uses of the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act Startup Funding
- Enclosure 1 – CARE Act Planning Resources – Cohort 1 $26 Million Allocation
- Enclosure 2 – CARE Act Planning Resources – All Counties $31 Million Allocation
CHA ADVOCACY MATERIALS: The California Hospital Association has developed resources to support its advocacy priorities for 2023. The materials include key messages, an issue brief, and infographic for each topic and are designed to assist members when talking with policymakers, the media, or the public about these important issues. The new resources include:
- Ambulance patient offload times (helpful for Assembly Bill 40 – Rodriguez, D-Pomona)
- Physician choice
MEDI-CAL RX: The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has begun meeting with Medi-Cal Rx stakeholders (managed care plans, pharmacy providers, prescribers, hospitals, and member advocates and their respective associations) to present information on the final three phases for the reinstatement of prior authorization (PA) requirements and retirement of the Transition Policy.
- By Feb. 24, 2023, all PA requirements will be reinstated for members ages 22 and older receiving new start medications.
- By June 23, 2023, the Transition Policy for grandfathered PAs for ages 22 and older will be phased out.
- The final phase will reinstate PA requirements while retiring the Transition Policy for ages 21 and younger, as well as for enteral nutrition products.
DHCS has presented the timelines and scope of each phase, including the impact of the policy changes to members of Medi-Cal, California Children’s Services, Genetically Handicapped Persons Program, and Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment. DHCS will continue to engage stakeholders throughout the process.
SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS: The Department of Health Care Access and Information has application cycles opening on Jan. 2. The cycle closes on Feb. 24.
