To Medical Center Employees:

A series of Medical Center town hall meetings has been scheduled to take place from Feb. 16 through March 1, at the times and locations indicated below. There will also be several town hall meetings for large departments in place of their routine department-based meetings.

Evaluations from previous town hall meetings indicate relatively brief sessions have been well received. Our plan is to limit the upcoming town hall sessions to 30 minutes.

The town hall agenda will include:  update on our Fiscal Year 2010/2011 goals; employee recognition; cost savings initiatives; hand hygiene campaign; and questions and answers. Our goal is to increase town hall participation. Attendance is strongly encouraged.  

At the February 1^st management communications meeting Steve Hargett, Medical Center Controller, gave a financial update. Among other things Hargett reported that timeliness of Medicare claims processing has been problematic for hospitals throughout the nation recently and that our State Department of Health and Human Services has been slow in processing Medicaid claims. As a result of delays in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, the Medical Center’s cash position has deteriorated. Additional details are included in this newsletter.

On a related matter, Medicaid funding for the final quarter of this fiscal year remains unresolved. A substantial amount (approximately $200 million annually or 20 percent) of our revenue is from Medicaid reimbursement. Also, the state is facing a large Medicaid budget shortfall for next fiscal year and this will have a significant impact on MUSC. MUSC leadership is working with key state government staff, legislative leaders and the State Hospital Association to explore alternatives and recommend solutions. Additional details will be disseminated in the weeks ahead.

The Medicaid funding outlook gives us a sense of urgency to make progress with our cost reduction initiatives referred to as the “5/5 plan.” Our goal is to reduce the cost of care by 5 percent this fiscal year and 5 percent next fiscal year while improving quality of care. Everyone can contribute to our 5/5 cost reduction initiatives by taking part in cost reduction teams or being familiar with the cost reduction plan for your area.

Examples of cost savings opportunities that many of us can help with include: focus on reducing overtime; consistently use eShift; look for ways to reduce supply costs; identify and eliminate underutilized phone lines; and other such cost savings opportunities.

Thank you very much.

W. Stuart Smith
Vice President for Clinical Operations
and Executive Director, MUSC Medical Center

HR update
Helena Bastian, MUHA HR director, presented the following topics:

•    Selecting Talent – Training for peer team and leaders will now be combined; training will be monthly from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. for all participants; leaders will stay until 12:30 p.m. for additional training; sessions are scheduled for Feb. 2, March 3, April 7, May 4 and June 1; registration via CATTS; contact Karen Rankine, 792-7690 or rankinkh@musc.edu.
•    S.C. Stingrays Pack the House Night --  Game starts at 7:05 p.m., Feb. 26. Tickets are $5; free parking; Call 744-2248, ext. 1214.

Benefit of the Month – On Campus Urgent/Rapid Care Services
MUSC/MUHA and UMA employees can benefit from two, on-campus urgent/rapid care medical services for themselves and their families – MUSC Family Medicine Center’s Employee Advantage/Same Day Clinic and University Internal Medicine Rapid Access Center.

•    MUSC Family Medicine Employee Advantage/Same Day Clinic (295 Calhoun St.)  -- Provides free, on-site parking and a full-service, on-site pharmacy and lab services. Facility is open weekdays from 8:30 to 4 p.m. (closed from Noon to 1 p.m., Fridays) and Saturday’s, 9-11:30 a.m.  Call 792-3451. Walk-ins are welcome.
•    University Internal Medicine Rapid Access Center -- (Rutledge Tower, eighth floor) RAC is designed to support all MUSC/MUHA, UMA employees and their adult family members. Call 876-0888.

HIPAA and social media
Reece Smith, medical center compliance  and privacy officer, reviewed HIPAA privacy rules and patient Protected Health Information (PHI) guidelines with managers as they relate to social networking sites and other media (i.e. Facebook, etc.), and appropriate vs. inappropriate use of patient information. Employees should refrain from discussing, accessing or viewing a patient’s PHI unless it is necessary for treatment, payment or operations and in all cases should follow the “minimum necessary” rule. Employees also should be cautious when faxing or e-mailing PHI to ensure it is going to the correct destination. Breaches will be reported to the DHHS Office of Civil Rights. Employees are urged to review updates to MUHA HIPAA Policy C-03 where they will find updated information on “Know the  Code,” fax and e-mail disclaimer language, e-mail encryption standards and breach notification requirements. The Medical Center Compliance Office team is available to meet with any hospital unit or department staff to provide further information.  Contact Smith at 792-7795 or Smithre@musc.edu.

Quality – Providing quality patient care in a safe environment

PICIS Reports-OACIS
Pat Aysse, R.N., Surgical Services Program manager, and David Moore, OCIO, shared news that MUHA has achieved the capability to send the PICIS summary reports – OR, Anesthesia and PACU case records --directly to OACIS interface helping the hospital achieve its goal to use a paperless system. PICIS has been used in the ORs since 2007 and it has been continually running since 2009. Records will be cataloged under one column headings or as procedural records and viewable via eCareNet once cases are completed. OR record will be the same version. Both anesthesia and PACU records are continuous records (summary report) and will not exist separately. Updates are made after the patient leaves the OR and includes post op anesthesia follow up visit. Hospitalwide implementation is scheduled for the Feb. 19 weekend.

Medical Center Intranet update
Michael Irving, Clinical Service Administration, shared details and shortcuts related to the newly-redesigned medical center intranet homepage. Irving highlighted the page’s useful  red quick link box which appears on every page. He reviewed other practical tools including the page’s new, secure Search Intranet button, which allows users to access medical center information via a customized Google Search appliance. The homepage is accessible via MNA login and password. 

Finance – Providing the highest value to patients while ensuring financial stability
Steve Hargett, medical center controller, presented the medical center’s results and income statement for the six month period ending Dec. 31 Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 and FY 2010.

FY 2011 showed a change in net assets or net profit as $11.5 million ($12.7 million budgeted). Hargett explained why the medical center was behind in their overall budget due to December’s booking to cover Medicare Advantage Guardian HMO bankruptcy.  The medical center budgeted for the loss with a $1 million reserve. Added with this loss, the hospital remains on budget. Leadership is confident that the Medical Center will achieve budget due to recent high census generating new revenue for the medical center.

Cash position remains challenging.  Cash balance as of end of December is $17.9 with 6.9 days cash on hand. Driving the cash issue, according to Hargett, is a national problem in Medicare processing of claims. Medicaid also has reduced their claims processing. Hargett and his team are working with MUSC leadership on a cash projection plan. This, combined with frugal spending and adopting more campuswide cost initiative saving practices, will put MUSC in an improved cash position by the end of June.

Currently, the S.C. Budget and Control board will meet to review and renew MUSC’s $25 million line of credit. MUHA is already slowing down on all payables and will soon return to a normal AP processing timeframe once the institution’s major payors can catch up.

Announcements
The next meeting is Feb. 15

Friday, Jan. 21, 2011