Month: February 2010

2010 Resource Directory Available For Pre-Order

The 2010 Massachusetts Home Care Resource Directory is now available for pre-order on our Alliance’s website.  Copies will begin shipping by the end of the month.

combines thoroughness with ease-of-use to give you the best guide to home care services in Massachusetts.  If you’re a nurse, social worker, GCM, or anyone else who needs to find the best home care agency to fit your patient’s needs, this is the one resource you need.

The Resource Directory lists our 164 agency members alphabetically, complete with full contact information and a description of the services they offer.  It also contains a detailed town-by-town cross reference that lets you find local agencies can provide service to your patient.  Sample pages are available here.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Statewide HIT Plan Released, HCA Seeking Comments

On Friday, Jan 29, The Massachusetts eHealth Institute released its “Massachusetts Draft State-wide HIT Plan” for a two-week public comment period.   The plan outlines a number of goals for the expanded use of electronic health records and initiatives to improve the sharing of health information across care settings.  The goals outlined in the draft document include:

Goal 1: Improve access to comprehensive, coordinated, person-focused health care through widespread provider adoption and meaningful use of certified EHRs.

Goal 2: Demonstrably improve the quality and safety of health care across all providers through HIT that enables better coordinated care, provides useful evidence-based decision support applications, and can report out data elements to support quality measurement.

Goal 3: Slow the growth of health care spending through efficiencies realized from the use of HIT.

Goal 4: Improve the health and wellness of the Commonwealth’s population through public health programs, research, and quality improvement efforts enabled through efficient, reliable and secure health information exchange processes.

The plan addresses these goals through six specific strategies.  Each strategy is detailed in a separate chapter of the Plan:

Strategy 1: Establish Multi-Stakeholder Governance.

Strategy 2: Establish a Privacy Framework to Guide the Development of a Secure HIT Environment.

Strategy 3: Implement Interoperable Health Records in all Clinical Settings and Assure They Are Used to Optimize Care.

Strategy 4: Develop and Implement a Statewide HIE Infrastructure to Support Care Coordination, Patient Engagement, and Population Health.

Strategy 5: Create a Local Workforce to Support HIT Related Initiatives.

Strategy 6: Monitor Success.

Unfortunately, the plan focuses almost exclusively on hospitals and physician’s offices.  Home health is discussed only once:

“All providers must eventually adopt interoperable and certified EHRs in order for the Commonwealth to realize measurable improvements in quality, safety, efficiency, and population health. However, like the federal government, the Commonwealth will need to prioritize efforts and address specific types of providers first. Once the majority of physicians and acute care hospitals have adopted EHRs, other types of health care settings or providers–such as dental, chiropractic, long term care, home health, behavioral health, and pharmacy– will be included in subsequent state efforts.”

The Alliance is drafting comments to urge that home health be brought into the plan as early as possible to bring care coordination into the home setting.  Alliance members encouraged to submit your own comments by February 14.  (Please forward copies of your comments to James Fuccione, Director of Legislative and Public Affairs, at jfuccione@thinkhomecare.org).

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Governor Releases FY2011 Budget

Governor Deval Patrick released his budget blueprint for fiscal year 2011 and the proposal is kind to most health services, including home care, despite a bleak fiscal forecast.

Medicaid Director Terry Dougherty led a MassHealth budget briefing and revealed that Health and Human Services was one of two secretariats (Along with Veterans’ Services) that saw an increase in funding under the Governor’s budget. Chief among the line items that are of importance to the Home Care Alliance is the MassHealth Senior Care (4000-0600), which was increased $374 million, and MassHealth Fee for Service (4000-0700), which was increased $113 million.

Under the state’s Aging Service Access Points program (ASAP), items were level funded, including Purchased Services, Home Care Case Management, and the Enhanced Community Options Program.

Also of note is a $99 million increase for Personal Care Attendants, Adult Foster Care, Adult Day Health and Day Habilitation programs.

In all, Dougherty said they are assuming an increase in FMAP by $607 million and anticipating a 3 percent increase in MassHealth total enrollment. The Governor also filed a $200 million supplemental budget for MassHealth, as well.

However, the proposed budget relies heavily on new revenue sources to balance accounts, which is a troubling trend since the Legislature must pass new taxes and remove tax incentives to continue the funding the Governor proposes.  In an election year, this may prove to be a difficult effort, and we hope that legislators will recognize the benefit the Home Care industry offers to the health care system as they deliberate upon what will likely be a more lean FY11 budget. House Speaker Robert DeLeo has already indicated through the media that his House budget, due in the spring, will not include a tax increase.

Some of the proposed new revenues include removing sales tax exemptions for “other tobacco products” along with candy and soda. The soda and candy tax ban, in particular, is meant to raise nearly $52 million for public health services.

Even with that hurdle, this Governor’s budget is relative good news for the Home Care Alliance who will begin advocacy directed at the legislature as they formulate their own budget proposal. The Alliance will also be pushing legislative priorities such as Nurse Delegation of Medication Administration, Falls Prevention, and telehealth along with our work on payment reform.

The Alliance will push for these and other initiatives that are cost-saving or cost-neutral while improving patient care and making easier the work of HCA members.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.