Annual Report Arkansas Hospital Association
ARKANSAS HOSPITALS | ANNUAL REPORT 2020 1
BOARD of Directors
Ryan Gehrig
Director, At-Large
President Mercy Hospital Fort Smith
Mike McCoy
Arkansas Valley District
CEO Chambers Memorial Hospital
Greg Crain
Chairman
President/CEO St. Bernards Healthcare
Ron Peterson Chairman-Elect
President/CEO Baxter Regional Medical Center
Peggy Abbott Treasurer
Barry Davis
Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care Representative
Senior Vice President/ Administrator Baptist Health Medical Center-LR
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President/CEO Arkansas Methodist Medical Center
Vince Leist
Northwest District
President/CEO North Arkansas Regional Medical Center
David Deaton
North Central District
CEO Ozark Health Medical Center
Brian Thomas Southeast District
Darren Caldwell
Debra Wright
Senior VP of Regional Services St. Bernards Healthcare
Phillip Gilmore
Arkansas State Board of Health Representative CEO Ashley County Medical Center
President/CEO Ouachita County Medical Center
Past-Chairman
President/CEO Washington Regional Medical System
Metropolitan District
Northeast District
Chris Barber
Larry Shackelford
Delegate, American Hospital Association
President/CEO Jefferson Regional
Southwest District
CEO Howard Memorial Hospital
Gary Paxson
President/CEO White River Health System
James Magee Ex-Officio
Executive Director Piggott Community Hospital
Marcy Doderer Ex-Officio
President /CEO Arkansas Children’s Hospital
Kathy Gammill
AHAA Representative
President Arkansas Hospital Auxiliary Association
Johnny McJunkins AAHT Representative President Arkansas Association of Hospital Trustees
For more than 90 years now, the work of the Arkansas Hospital Association has been driven by a single purpose: to make our state’s hospitals stronger and more effective – and, in doing so, to make Arkansas communities healthier. With that goal in mind, we’ve established lively and engaging programs in advocacy and government relations, education and networking, data and research, and in quality and patient safety. Our team has never been better equipped to serve hospitals than it is today. At no time in AHA’s 90 years have hospitals been faced with a challenge like the COVID-19 pandemic. Every aspect of operations has had to be reimagined, and Arkansas hospitals keep stepping up – and banding together – to provide care despite extreme difficulty.
Our work as an association has also looked strikingly different in 2020, but our mission and focus have not changed:
We’re here for hospitals. We’re here for you.
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COVID-19 RESPONSE
A VOICE FOR HOSPITALS
Hospitals are being tested right now. The terrible force of the COVID-19 pandemic has created fear, anxiety, vulnerability, humility, and distress.
But it has also motivated and inspired us all to innovate, collaborate, and communicate more meaningfully.
In support of Arkansas hospitals, the AHA staff has turned our care and attention to the challenges our hospitals are facing each day, since before the first case in our state was confirmed.
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• AHA President & CEO Bo Ryall represents hospitals on Governor Asa Hutchinson's Economic Recovery Task Force, Winter Task Force, and on the Little Rock COVID-19 Task Force. • AHA hosts a weekly COVID-19 Executive Forum call for hospital leaders to update the Arkansas Department of Health and the Governor’s Office on the situation in each region of the state. • AHA coordinates with state and federal regulatory partners, including the Arkansas Department of Health, Arkansas Department of Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Emergency Preparedness Coalition, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to ensure that Arkansas hospitals' concerns and experiences can be considered in policy making and regulatory decisions. • AHA strongly advocates for sensible, non-duplicative COVID-19 reporting and has helped hospitals understand and comply with state and federal reporting requirements. • AHA works closely with the Arkansas Department of Health and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to ease survey burden during the pandemic. • AHA facilitated weekly hospital requests for remdesivir and monoclonal antibody treatments and communicated those requests to the Arkansas Department of Health.
FINANCIAL & REGULATORY RELIEF
• AHA coordinated with the Arkansas Department of Human Services to secure a total of $139.6 million of Arkansas CARES Act Committee funding for payments to hospitals for COVID-19 preparedness and response – and a further $80 million for hospital and certain LTSS direct workers. • AHA secured and distributed to hospitals ASPR (Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response) grant funds totaling more than $2.8 million for hospitals’ response to COVID-19. • The AHA legal team joined with other state hospital associations to secure waivers from CMS, which were granted on March 28th with a retroactive effective date of March 1, 2020. The hospital waivers focused on EMTALA, verbal orders, reporting, patient rights, and discharge planning, among other regulations. Waivers for additional provider types were also included.
COMMUNICATIONS & RESOURCES FROM THE ArkPREPARE TEAM COVID-19 Weekly Update Calls
To support our members and keep them informed, AHA formed the ArkPrepare Team to curate and synthesize the best and latest information on COVID-19 into a weekly members-only call. With updates from clinicians, infection control specialists, emergency response leaders, epidemiologists, and legal experts, the team presents a situational briefing and reviews the recent developments that matter most to our members.
COVID-19 Clinical Focus Calls
The ArkPrepare Team produces supplementary calls designed to enhance the content featured in the weekly update for clinical specialists. Common topics covered include reporting, PPE usage and conservation, care and treatment of patients, special patient populations, new clinical resources for hospitals, and regulatory updates.
TELLING THE STORY In 2020, Arkansas Hospitals magazine featured stories of the innovative solutions hospitals have found to challenges presented by COVID-19. Read them online at arkhospitals.org.
ArkPrepare Daily Snapshot
In partnership with AHA Analytics, the team developed the ArkPrepare Daily Snapshot report. The Snapshot summarizes COVID-19 hospitalization data, bed use, and bed availability, overall and by hospital region, and it is delivered via email to hospital CEOs each morning.
COVID-19 Reference Guides
To offer additional support, the ArkPrepare Team has developed and produced COVID-19 toolkits, guides, and other reference materials, including: • A comprehensive catalog of COVID-19 financial and funding resources for hospitals. • A COVID-19 preparedness and response toolkit. • Weekly call resources digests, circulated after each ArkPrepare call. • A one-stop guide to all hospital reporting requirements.
COVID-19 Hospital Help Line
A dedicated email address helps the team streamline communications with members who are in need of immediate support. Direct your questions for the ArkPrepare Team to arkprepare@arkhosptitals.org.
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POLICY
& ADVOCACY As the state’s most trusted authority on health care, the AHA has a seat at the table for all major policy initiatives, with the goal of improving the system to enhance individual patient care and public health for Arkansans. Advocacy is the cornerstone of our work, here at AHA. We advocate for our member hospitals, representing their concerns and interests to elected officials at both the state and federal level. Through the AHA, Arkansas hospitals present a united voice to lawmakers and regulatory agencies.
Coordinated with the Arkansas Department of Human Services to secure a total of of Arkansas CARES Act Committee funding for payments to hospitals for COVID-19 preparedness and response – and a further for hospital and certain LTSS direct workers.
$139.6M
$80M
Looking Ahead to the 2021 Session The 2021 Arkansas legislative session begins, officially, on January 11 – though preparations are already underway. AHA, as always, will have a variety of education and advocacy priorities, but our top priority remains the same as it has been since 2013: defending Arkansas’s Medicaid Expansion program. Nearly 270,000 Arkansans rely on expanded Medicaid coverage to ensure them greater access to health care. Promoting the passage of a new law (and appropriation) to continue coverage under Medicaid is vital for these citizens and for the hospitals that serve them. The program has proven year-over-year to reduce the burden of uncompensated care on hospitals and to keep Arkansans healthier.
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Legal and Regulatory Affairs JANUARY 2020 California v. Texas, (U.S. Sup. Ct. 2020): Joined 32 other state hospital associations to file an amicus curaie brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Fifth Circuit’s decision in the Affordable Care Act individual mandate case in 2020.
MAY 2020 California v. Texas, (U.S. Sup. Ct. 2020): Joined 35 other state hospital associations urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a federal appeals court decision that held the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate unconstitutional.
FEBRUARY 2020 American Hospital Association v. Azar (D.C. District Ct. 2020): Joined with 36 other state hospital associations to file an amicus curaie brief in the lawsuit challenging the rule requiring hospitals to publicly disclose gross charges and “payerspecific negotiated charges” for all items and services they provide.
JULY 2020 American Hospital Association v. Azar (D.C. Circuit Ct. 2020): Joined with 39 other state hospital associations urging the court to reverse a District Court decision upholding the HHS rule requiring hospitals to publicly disclose gross charges and “payerspecific negotiated charges” for all items and services they provide.
In FY 2019-2020,
AHA donated $32,650
to candidates from PAC contributions.
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AHA
ANALYTICS AHA Analytics, the Arkansas Hospital Association’s data services program, provides access to timely and accurate data and statistics for hospitals, offering members indispensable tools for strategic planning and quality improvement. All aspects of AHA's COVID-19 response have been strengthened and enhanced by the AHA Analytics program, from advocating for financial and regulatory relief to monitoring hospital capacity and preparedness.
2020 Highlights
• Produced and distributed hospital-specific reports on strategic planning topics (such as Medicare proposed and final rule impacts, post-acute transfer trends, and spending per beneficiary), and on quality topics (such as overall quality trends and the impact of specific Medicare pay-for-performance programs). • Expanded the AHA Analytics discharge data program to include interactive quality reports, including readmissions reports, and to include information about Arkansas patients seen in hospitals in some other states. • Provided support to the ArkPrepare COVID-19 Team, including financial and utilization surveys and studies, impact analyses, research interpretation and synthesis, and technical assistance with surveillance and reporting requirements. • Based on member feedback, improved the annual salary and benefits survey by selecting a new vendor, Gallagher Surveys, and coordinating with Gallagher and members on survey development, data collection, and results reporting.
New to the AHA Analytics program:
Interactive quality reports (including readmissions!) and information about Arkansas patients seen in hospitals in other states.
Coming in 2021
Developing structures and procedures to incorporate outpatient discharge data into AHA Analytics. Participation in the AHA Analytics data services program is included in your membership dues. If you'd like to participate, contact AHA Director of Data, Melanie Thomasson, at mthomasson@arkhospitals.org .
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EDUCATION & NETWORKING
In a year full of unanticipated changes and challenges, the AHA Education Team made a swift pivot to online learning. Rather than simply swapping formats – from in-person to online presentations – we prioritized virtual trainings about effective leadership in times of crisis and brought highprofile, high-impact speakers directly into our members’ offices. Recognizing the financial strain of COVID-19 on hospitals, AHA partnered with other state hospital associations to provide much of this year’s top-quality educational content at minimal or no cost to members.
ANNUAL MEETING REIMAGINED Though this year’s Annual Meeting & Trade Show were canceled, we took the opportunity to celebrate from a distance and show gratitude for our members’ innovative and tireless response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s how: • Hosted > 40 giveaways to memberhospital employees throughout the state. • Hosted interactive events, including AHA and AHASI website scavenger hunts and a “hidden stickers” challenge. • Mailed packets to hospital leadership with information on the essential products and services offered by our 2020 sponsors and supporters, as well as a fun giveaway item!
2020 Highlights
• Offered > 30 webinars for free, which represents > $87,000 in speaker fees not passed along to members. • Provided learning opportunities suited to hospital employees in diverse roles, with topics ranging from Stark Law Updates and CMS Waivers to Physician Recruitment & Retention, CMS Conditions of Participation, Sexual Assault Kit Tracking and Virtual Executive Leadership. • Welcomed eight nationally acclaimed speakers for the first time (virtually). • Provided 76.9 hours of continuing education opportunities, despite in-person events that had to be canceled, including Nursing Contact Hours, ACHE Face-to-Face Hours, ACHE Qualified Education, Compliance, Coding, and more! • Supported the work of AHA’s affiliated groups with 300 staff hours dedicated to communications and meeting/ event facilitation.
of AHA members participated in learning opportunities in 2020 ARKANSAS HOSPITALS | ANNUAL REPORT 2020 9
QUALITY
& PATIENT SAFETY The AHA clinical quality improvement team supports members with on-site visits, coaching calls, mentoring, and programs for building quality improvement capacity throughout the state.
2020 Highlights
• Concluded our partnership with the Health Research Education Trust of the American Hospital Association Hospital Improvement Innovation Network (HIIN), which supported 54 participating hospitals in further reducing all-cause harm and improving quality in multiple topic areas. • Embarked on a new partnership with TMF Health Quality Institute’s Hospital Quality Improvement Contractor (HQIC) and AFMC to provide targeted quality improvement assistance to small, rural and critical access hospitals.
Prioritizing Patient & Family Engagement • Finalizing a toolkit (launching in 2021) to serve as a road map for hospitals throughout the state to establish and support a fruitful Patient & Family Engagement program. • The AHA Patient & Family Advisory Council continued monthly meetings and fostered dialogue surrounding the challenges presented to PFE during the COVID-19 pandemic. • Conducted a PFE Hospital Assessment, with a 39% return rate, which helped drive strategic planning.
CELEBRATING RESULTS: 2016-2020 Cost Savings
$51,873,399 Harms Prevented
5,270 Lives Saved
AHA's Quality Team was featured in Arkansas Hospitals Spring 2020 edition.
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354
AHA
AHA Workers’ Compensation Self-Insured Trust
SERVICES AHA Services, Inc. (AHASI) connects member hospitals throughout Arkansas with products and services that reduce costs and drive performance improvement. All AHASI Endorsed Vendors undergo a strategic vetting process to ensure that they provide the products and services our members need to respond to the changing health care landscape. AHASI revenues are reinvested in AHA to provide critical financial support for educational programs and member initiatives in every department of the organization.
Returned
$1 MILLION
in unspent premiums to participating hospitals while maintaining a healthy fund balance to meet all workers’ compensation obligations.
NEW TO AHASI IN 2020 Whether triggered by COVID-19 response or other pressures, 2020 created a whole host of new – and pressing – needs for hospitals, and AHA Services responded by bringing into the fold these industry leaders. Federal Funding Group
TGA Solutions
Para HealthCare Analytics’ Price Transparency Tool
Voyce
Partners with health care consortia and their members to maximize federal funding opportunities, using a high-tech, high-touch approach.
Creates a custom, web-based system for hospital websites to allow patients to determine their share of cost for their health care services.
PPE Exchange
Partners with hospitals to help boost their Third-Party Liability/Motor Vehicle Accident and Workers’ Compensation revenue, with the goal of optimizing patient experience. Provides specialized Video Remote Interpretation. With Voyce, health care providers can connect to professional interpreters effortlessly. Their professional, qualified, and accredited interpreters service 220+ languages and dialects.
Connects hospitals to an online marketplace of regional and national suppliers of PPE where they can search for items, schedule orders, compare prices and complete the transaction online. Learn more about all of AHA Services’ endorsed vendors at ahaservicesinc.com, or get in touch with AHASI President Tina Creel at tcreel@arkhospitals.org.
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Stay connected with AHA
For AHA news, upcoming events, publications and more, visit www.arkhospitals.org. There, you’ll also find a link to subscribe to our various e-newsletters.
And engage with AHA on social media: Arkansas Hospital Association facebook.com/ARHospitalAssn
@arkhospitals instagram.com/ArkHospitals
@arkhospitals twitter.com/arkhospitals
Arkansas Hospital Association linkedin.com/company/ArkHospitals
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