UPDATES

*NEW* “Treating Depression in the Primary Care Setting” Presentation – Wednesday, November 20, 5:30 PM   Hear Dr. James Westphal, Beacon Health Options, speak on treating depression in the primary care setting. Meeting will be held at the EHI IPA office. Application for CME credit has been filed with the American Academy of Family Physicians. Determination of credit is pending. Flyer attached.

*NEW* 2020 Medicare Fee for Service Finalized Policy, Payment, and Quality Provisions   Changes were published on Friday, 11/1/19. The document is nearly 2,500 pages long. Here are a few highlights, effective 1/1/20:

  1. Medicare 2020 Fee-For-Service Conversion Rate:  $36.09, a .05 increase over 2019 (which is consistent with prior years)

  2. Telehealth Codes:  Addition of new Telehealth HCPCS codes bundling treatment of opioid use disorders

  3. Fee For Service Chronic Care Management Coding: additional reimbursement for time spent in excess of 20 minutes per month

  4. Fee For Service Copayments:  Zero beneficiary copay for 2020

  5. Physician Assistant Supervision: Physician supervision requirements for PA’s will now be deferred to state law. However, current requirement of physical supervision by a physician will be replaced with more lax requirements to promote using “communication technology”

  6. E/M Visit Coding:  CPT coding changes reduces the number of levels for office new patient E/M visits to 4, and revises the code definitions.  Clinicians can also choose to bill based on medical decision making or time.

We will keep a close watch as additional details are published regarding the 2020 Medicare Fee Schedule and keep you updated. View the CMS Fact Sheet here: CMS.gov. Questions? Contact Fran Bevilacqua at fbevilacqua@ehiipa.com.

*NEW*  EHI Team Member Updates   EHI recently hired Olivia Fronda as a Medical Assistant to support practices with referrals and “pinch hit” as a medical assistant in offices who have contracted for IPA MSO services. Please join us in welcoming Olivia to our team. Kelley O’Leary, Quality Performance Manager, left the IPA on November 1 for a position at Hilo Medical Center. For quality performance questions, please contact Kahea Wakinekona at kwakinekona@ehiipa.com.

*NEW* Wellness Tip of the Month   Electronic health records, stressed-out colleagues, and more can overwhelm even the most resilient physicians. This blog published by the American Association for Physician Leadership (AAPL) on Oct. 23, 2019, outlines strategies for how to reduce stress by identifying ten top stress management activities that you can start today. We will be publishing one tip per month in the Weekly Alert to be incorporated into your daily habits. Here is tip #3:

Take a vacation: According to a 2014 study in Harvard Business Review, 94 percent of people returning from vacations reported having as much or more energy than they did when they left. Vacations don’t need to be long or in exotic locales to be effective stress-reducers; a weekend trip to a nearby city can be just as rejuvenating.

HMSA PAYMENT TRANSFORMATION

2019 Payment Transformation Guide Available   The HMSA October 2019 Payment Transformation Guide, with working links to the specifications for performance measures, has been posted to the HHIN (Hawaii Healthcare Information Network) website. You may access the guide through HHIN (click here). This is only supposed to be viewed by Payment Transformation providers.

*NEW* HMSA Physician Organization (PO) Collaborative – Following the October 24, 2019, PO Collaborative meeting in Honolulu, HMSA revised several PO Engagement and Performance Measures responding to PO feedback. HMSA also added a few new measures. Highlights include removing the member experience measure but weighting the “physician experience” measure 100%. POs will be required to have 70% of PCPs trained on SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment) Training by July 2020. Statin therapy for patients with cardiovascular disease and “Avoidable Emergency Department Utilization” will be a 2020 display only measure. The Influenza Vaccine (Adult) will be a display only measure in 2020. The Quest population will be added to the “Hospitalization for Potentially Preventable Complications” measures. The Payment Transformation Annual Provider Survey will change from a PO to a PCP measure in 2020. See attached.

*NEW* 2019 Annual Survey   HMSA sent a link to providers to complete this important measure – thanks to the THIRTEEN providers who completed it already! This is a PO (IPA) measure. There have been issues with providers not receiving the survey link because their firewall is blocking access to traffic. If you have not yet received a link via email, please send an email to Tiffany at tiffany_pa@hmsa.com.

HMSA Payment Transformation Webinar: “Prepare Now for 2020” – Wednesday, November 13, 12:30 – 2:00 PM.   Please register by Monday, November 11. Flyer attached.

HMSA QUALITY PERFORMANCE

Reminder: Influenza Vaccine   Reminder that the flu vaccine measure is a PO (IPA) measure and the denominator counts members 18 years and older. Please continue to use the codes attached to received numerator credit in Coreo. Please encourage your entire office to get the vaccine. Offices who are able to get 80% or more of their staff (including providers) to get the flu shot will receive $250. Any staff member who gets a flu vaccine will be entered into a separate $250 raffle prize drawing. We will be sending out an attestation form to complete for the $250 clinic incentive.

PCP Engagement with Ecosystem is now available as of 10/1/19 – please complete the attestation form as this is a critical measure that will affect your PMPM payment rates going forward. Tiffany Pa of HMSA will be contacting each office to assist with completing this form.

*NEW* Need a Doc Campaign REVAMP   We are revamping this program to provide MORE support and help. If your office is accepting NEW HMSA PATIENTS, please let us know so we can help place patients in your clinic. Please contact Kahea Wakinekona at kwakinekona@ehiipa.com if you are interested. Kahea will meet with your practice to review the workflow and expectations.

EVENTS

Hawaii Care Choices Holiday Dinner & Auction: “Celebrating Hilo”   Join Hawaii Care Choices in celebrating their 16th Annual Holiday Dinner & Auction on Monday, December 2. The IPA is a Gold Sponsor this year and has seating available for three more guests. Silent Auction starts at 5:00 PM with champagne & pupus, seated dinner & live auction starts at 6:30 PM. The featured chef is Café Pesto’s Casey Halpern. Flyer attached.

KaHOLO Project’s Ola Hou I Ka Hula Workshop for Kumu Hula – Part 1 on Friday, November 8, 6:00-9:00 PM, Part 2 on Friday, November 22, 6:00-9:00 PM   This is a hula-based health program for people with high blood pressure, which puts them at risk for stroke and heart disease. Join Kumu Hula Mapuana de Silva at Hui Malama Ola Nā ʻŌiwi to learn how to conduct an Ola Hou Program in your community and what you need to know to work with hula students with heart health challenges. Register using the attached form.

Walk with a Doc – Lili‘uokalani Gardens Park – Dr. Craig Kadooka – Every Sunday, WWAD meets at the park across the street from Hilo Bay Café. Walkers gather at 8:00 AM to hear a short healthcare talk, followed by stretching and then walking at your own pace. Anyone is welcome to participate.

PROVIDER RESOURCES

  • *NEW* MIPS TIPS: 2019 Year End Readiness & Prep for Performance Year 2020 WEBINAR, Thursday, November 21, 10:00 AM HST. Register here.

  • BRIGHT GREEN POLST FORMS – If your office would like “bright” green POLST forms for your office, please email jbontuyan@ehiipa.com.

  • HIPAA Online Training – EHI IPA offers online training as a membership benefit for $20 per person. The certification received after successful completion is effective for 2 years. If you are interested, please complete the attached form and fax to 808-935-4472 or email to Jo at jvitales@ehiipa.com and send a check to East Hawaii IPA, 670 Ponahawai St., Ste. 117, Hilo, HI 96720.

  • Healthcare Source HR Screening Tool Available for Members – EHI offers member offices use of a complimentary employee screening tool. The tool helps assess whether potential new hires are the right fit for your office! The tool rates candidates numerically by job performance, retention and service excellence. It also customizes key questions for face-to-face interviews. This program has been used successfully by hundreds of healthcare organizations. Candidates are sent a link to the assessment with results forwarded to a designated office email address. Please email Jo at jvitales@ehiipa.com if you are interested in learning more about this tool.

  • CIN Recorded Webinar: How to Prevent Staff and Provider Burnout – Watch the recorded webinar here, featuring a conversation between a burnout researcher, Rachel Willard-Grace, and CIN managing partner, Sunita Mutha, exploring strategies to address burnout and promote resilience.

    • For additional resources on provider and staff burnout please visit the CIN Resource Kit: Improving Provider Well-Being. This resource kit now includes some of the resources that Rachel referenced in this webinar.

    • To sign up for the newsletter, sign up here to get the latest quality improvement resources, tips, and tools!

  • American Heart Association FREE CME Webinars – View list of activities here. Type in “CME” in the Keyword search box and register for free.

  • American Heart Association WEBINARS: Blood Pressure Control Education Series:

    • “Navigating Blood Pressure Clinical Quality Measures” – Thursday, November 21, 12:30 – 1:30 PM SAVE THE DATE!

  • SAVE THE DATE! Hilo Medical Center Angiostrongylus Workshop – January 5-8, 2020 – Pre-registration form attached.

PATIENT RESOURCES

  • *NEW* Refer Patients to Complete Their Advanced Health Care Directive at ADRC – March-November dates attached. 2020 dates attached.

  • KTA Diabetes Self-Management Education – KTA will begin another round of Diabetes Self-Management Education classes at the East Hawaii IPA office. Please use the attached REFERRAL FORM. Please see flyer attached and refer your patients to this valuable resource!

  • Hilo Medical Center Diabetes Support Group – Every first Tuesday of the month, 4:00 PM. Katie Seaton, who has her bachelor’s in dietetics and is a current intern at HMC in the process of completing her master’s degree, will be providing recipes to support diabetes management. Samples will be provided. Contact Colleen Talich at ctalich@hhsc.org or 808-932-3034 with any questions.

  • Halau Mauli‘Ola Medical Nutrition Program – Stacy Haumea is relocating to 83 Maika‘i St., Hilo, for appointments Mon/Tue/Weds. She will continue to see patients with Hui Mālama on Thurs/Fri weekly. Flyer attached. NEW referral form attached.

  • Individual Nutrition Counseling Referral for Hui Mālama Ola Nā ʻŌiwi (HMONO) – Refer your patients to nutrition counseling with Stacy Haumea at HMONO using their referral form (here). Under the “Referred to” section, select HMONO Family Medicine Clinic.

  • Mountain-Pacific Quality Health – CARDIAC HEART ATTACK SYMPTOMS. Flyer attached. Let us know if you’d like the IPA to print out copies for your office by calling 808-797-3113.

  • Mountain-Pacific Quality Health: New Patient Tool for Heart Health – Check the MPQH website for their heart health calendar. These are free for patients and can start anytime of the year and includes weight logs and health tips. These offer a fun and easy way for patients to monitor their weight. A calendar example (scroll to the bottom for the example) and order form can be found here.

  • Beacon Health – PCP Referral for Behavioral Health Support – Beacon Health offers behavioral health services for HMSA patients. Attached is the referral form (here), the overview of services (here), and the WHO-5 Well-Being index tool (here).