Welcome and President’s Keynote

America’s Essential Hospitals President and CEO Bruce Siegel, MD, MPH, will set the stage for the six-day Virtual VITAL2020 conference, provide his insights on the association’s work, and share a video tribute to our members’ work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaker

Bruce Siegel, MD, MPH
President and CEO
America’s Essential Hospitals

Video: Essential Hospitals on the Front Lines

Join us as we recognize and honor our members’ work and their commitment to vulnerable populations as front-line providers in the battle against COVID-19.

Building the Business Case for Complex Care

Regional One Health, in Memphis, Tenn., created a program to meet the social and medical needs of uninsured, complex patients who frequently use the health system. The One Health program saved more than $8.5 million in cost of care, reduced inpatient admissions by 71 percent, reduced emergency department visits by 61 percent, and helped avoid 3,200 days in length of stay. It also generated $3.1 million in new revenue. In this session, learn how to gain leadership buy-in using data to build a business case for investing in complex care. Presenters also will discuss the role of philanthropy and community partnerships and strategies for expansion and sustainability.

Speakers

Susan R. Cooper, MSN, RN
Chief Integration Officer, Senior Vice President
Regional One Health

Foundations of Essential Hospital Financing

Medicaid provides critical funding for essential hospitals. The joint role of the federal government and states in defining how Medicaid pays providers, and the funding of those payments, creates both opportunities and tremendous complexity. This session will describe the fundamentals of the federal, state, and local roles in Medicaid funding and payments, including how the proposed Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Regulation could impact the nonfederal share of the program.

Speaker

Sarah Mutinsky, JD, MPH
Founding Senior Advisor
Eyman Associates

Achieving Health Equity through Systemwide Strategies

Essential hospitals care for racial and ethnic minorities and many people who experience poverty, homelessness, and other socioeconomic barriers to health. So, they must ensure systems reflect this mission and correct biased processes that exacerbate inequities. In this session, learn about Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center’s efforts to develop and deploy an enterprise-wide equity strategy to eliminate disparities. Also hear lessons from NYC Health + Hospitals on promoting equitable access to health services and improving patient outcomes for LGBTQ+ communities. Leave with tools to build a platform on why equity matters, use data to understand demographics, engage underserved communities, and develop a workforce to achieve health equity.

Speakers

Tosan Boyo, MPH
Chief Operating Officer
Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center

Matilde Roman
Chief Diversity Officer, Central Office
NYC Health + Hospitals

CICIP: Ohio’s Value-Based Quality Improvement Collaborative

The Care Innovation and Community Improvement Program (CICIP) is a value-based payment initiative to support health system transformation among four of Ohio’s largest academic medical centers and public hospitals that serve a large portion of Ohio’s Medicaid population. CICIP leverages Medicaid supplemental payments to fund a collaborative quality improvement program. One of the program’s hallmarks is that a portion of the payments are at risk and paid out based on meeting collective performance thresholds on eight key quality metrics. During this session, the medical directors of the four health systems will discuss how they have worked together to develop strategies and share best practices and lessons learned to improve health outcomes for the populations they serve.

Speakers

Bernie Boulanger, MD
Executive Vice President, Chief Clinical Officer
The MetroHealth System
Senior Associate Dean, Professor of Surgery
Case Western Reserve University

Amy Chima
Senior Director, Performance Improvement
UC Health

Iahn Gonsenhauser, MD, MBA
Chief Quality and Patient Safety Officer
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

Cheryl McCullumsmith, MD, PhD
Director, Consultation Liaison Service
Chair, Department of Psychiatry
University of Toledo Medical Center

Moderator
Karla Richardson
Senior Consultant
Sellers Dorsey

Welcome and 2019-2020 Chair’s Address

Speaker

Wright Lassiter III
President and CEO
Henry Ford Health System
Chair
America’s Essential Hospitals Board of Directors

Reducing Avoidable Hospital Utilization through Collaboration

Across the country, health care systems with a safety-net role seek to reduce costs and improve care for vulnerable populations within the communities they serve. Association members Stamford Health, in Stamford, Conn., and Harris Health System, in Houston, leveraged interdisciplinary teams, directed outreach to high-risk patients, and optimized care pathways to reduce avoidable hospital utilization and readmissions. Stamford Health speakers will share how the system maximized existing resources through a federal bundled payment program and redefined roles for existing personnel to reduce its 2018 all-cause readmission rate to 27 percent below the state average. Harris Health staff will share that system’s work on a “multivisit patient” (MVP) care pathway, an approach now used by more 200 teams nationally.

Speakers

Rohit Bhalla, MD, MPH
Senior Vice President
Chief Clinical and Quality Officer
Stamford Hospital

Mary Laucks, RN, BSN, MSHA
Director, Care Management
Stamford Hospital

Karen Tseng, JD
Senior Vice President for Population Health Transformation
Harris Health System

Amy Boutwell, MD, MPP
President
Collaborative Healthcare Strategies

Becoming Data-Driven: Data and Analytics for Population Health

Social needs present challenges for essential hospitals and the patients they serve. Hear how two health systems leveraged data and analytics to quickly understand their patient population and identify those at the greatest health risk:

• The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB Health) uses a robust analytics platform designed to provide timely and accurate data at the organization, clinic, provider, and patient levels;
• NYC Health + Hospitals’ Office of Population Health has developed a tool, the Pop Health Explorer, that allows providers to segment and visualize 815,958 adult patients by predicted risk, comorbidities, demographics, social factors, insurance, and utilization.

Speakers

Richa Gupta, MPH
Data Analyst, Central Office
NYC Health + Hospitals

Jenny Smolen
Tableau Manager, Central Office
NYC Health + Hospitals

Craig Kovacevich, MA
Associate Vice President of Community and Population Health
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston

Approaches to Building Patient Trust in Essential Hospitals

Patient trust in health care providers is associated with positive health outcomes, yet few studies have explored patient trust in hospitals — particularly those serving vulnerable populations. Researchers set out to examine patients’ trust in essential hospitals, which disproportionately serve vulnerable patients. The results of a panel survey of 1,000 patients and caregivers seen at an essential hospital in the past 12 months revealed the most important dimensions of trust and variations by demographics and hospital characteristics. Site visits to three essential hospitals provided information on the policies and practices that yield greater patient confidence. Together, this information resulted in four overarching recommendations and supporting approaches highlighted in this session and the publication Patient Trust: A Guide for Essential Hospitals.

Speakers

Kalpana Ramiah, DrPH, MSc
Vice President of Innovation
Director, Essential Hospitals Institute
America’s Essential Hospitals

Jennifer Stephens, MPH
Principal Researcher
America’s Essential Hospitals

Limitations of Tracking COVID-19 through Syndromic Surveillance in the United States

A natural language process and machine learning in real time hold great potential to modernize syndromic surveillance and develop more effective containment and mitigation strategies in the fight against COVID-19. Learn about the opportunities these strategies offer.

Speakers

Scott Weingarten, MD, MPH
Chief Clinical and Innovation Officer
Premier

Welcome and Board Recognition

Speaker

Bruce Siegel, MD, MPH
President and CEO
America’s Essential Hospitals

2020-2021 Chair’s Address

Speaker

Susan Ehrlich, MD, MPP
CEO
Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center

Using the Chronic Care Model to Operationalize a Patient-Centered Medical Home

Achieving success in population health management requires shifting the focus from the responsive nature of acute care to a more proactive approach that emphasizes prevention, wellness, and disease management. However, this is not a simple change; numerous studies have shown that to accomplish the Triple Aim of better care, lower costs, and improved health, providers must completely rethink how they organize systems to provide care.

Speakers

Dorothy Bennett, RN, MBA
Chief Ambulatory Services Officer
Nashville General Hospital

Joseph Webb, MSHA, ScD
CEO
Nashville General Hospital

Telehealth Policy before, during, and after COVID-19

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, essential hospitals have leveraged telehealth in new and exciting ways. This session will highlight recent policy changes that have opened the door to more flexible and widespread use of telehealth services and discuss expectations for telehealth policy after the COVID-19 pandemic. Speakers from Valleywise Health will share their remarkable story of adoption in response to COVID-19.

Speakers

Kelly Summers, CHCIO
Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer
Valleywise Health

Anthony Dunnigan, MD, MBI, FAMIA
Vice President and Chief Medical Information Officer
Valleywise Health

Shahid Zaman, Esq.
Principal Policy Analyst
America’s Essential Hospitals

A Tale of Two Brands: Lessons for Essential Hospitals

Essential hospitals, like any enterprise, must look in the mirror from time to time and consider whether their brand still reflects their role in the community and their strategic vision. Two essential hospital systems with deep roots in the community—Valleywise Health, in Phoenix, and ChristianaCare, in Wilmington, Delaware—recently embarked on journeys to answer that question. While one took a path to a new name and the other retained legacy language, their stories share features that illustrate how long-standing institutions can successfully reposition their brand. Learn about the strategy and extensive research behind these branding efforts and the launch of each, and take away valuable information to inform and guide a possible rebranding of your organization.

Speakers

Karen Browne
Vice President, Marketing and Communications
ChristianaCare

Bill Byron, BS
Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications
Valleywise Health

Bill Wax
President
Wax Custom Communications

Lisa Kane, MA
Group Director, Strategy
Siegel+Gale

Litigation Update for Essential Hospitals

Litigation is an important companion to legislative and regulatory advocacy. This session will focus on recent court cases of interest to essential hospitals, including those related to the 340B Drug Pricing Program, public charge rule, site-neutral payments, and the Affordable Care Act. Attendees will walk away with a better understanding of where these cases stand and the association’s role in the legal process.

Speaker

Erin O’Malley
Senior Director of Policy
America’s Essential Hospitals

Welcome and Sponsor Recognition

Speaker

Carl Graziano
Senior Director of Communications
America’s Essential Hospitals

Federal Legislative and Regulatory Update

From COVID-19 funding to new Medicaid rules, Congress and the administration are actively considering significant health care policy changes that could impact essential hospitals. Hear the latest state of play from America’s Essential Hospitals advocacy leadership as they lay out the moving pieces and share insights on what to expect in the legislative and regulatory arenas for the second half of 2020.

Speakers

Beth Feldpush, DrPH
Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy
America’s Essential Hospitals

Carlos Jackson
Vice President of Legislative Affairs
America’s Essential Hospitals

Gaining Clinician Buy-in for Social Determinants Screening

Addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) is essential to improving patients’ health. NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln uses a patient screening program to identify social needs — food insecurity, eviction risk, financial barriers to care, low literacy — and connect patients to local resources to overcome these nonmedical health barriers. Along with sharing the program’s successes and challenges, this session will discuss the process of sustainably building the program in the hospital’s high-demand urban clinical setting, including:

• establishing accessible patient resources through partnerships with hospital resources and community-based health organizations;
• engaging clinicians, staff, volunteers, and patients for referral success and feedback; and
• training clinicians on the effects of SDOH on patient well-being.

Speakers

Lara Rabiee, MHS, JD
Assistant Director, Ambulatory Care Services (Chronic Disease Coordinator)
NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln
Department of Ambulatory Care

Julie Brandfield, Esq.
Associate Director, LegalHealth
New York Legal Assistance Group

Achieving Excellence in Joint Surgery: The UI Health Story

UI Health, in Chicago, launched a multidisciplinary joint replacement quality improvement (JRQI) program in 2015 to provide an underserved and at-risk patient population exceptional care that meets or exceeds industry standards. The program aimed to provide the highest-quality care, excellent outcomes, and an exceptional experience despite underlying health disparities. The program has achieved exceptional improvements in outcomes, patient experience, and costs. The JRQI program shows how effective, multidisciplinary teamwork improves patients’ quality of life. Through continuous efforts, the health system has sustained or improved outcomes through present day for patients receiving joint replacement.

Speakers

Paul Gorski, MPH
Senior Director, Clinical Services, Integration and Operations Officer
UI Health

Keir Mitchell, PT, PhD
Director of Musculoskeletal Clinical Services
UI Health

Community Health Hubs: A Cross-Sector Approach

Many essential hospitals collaborate across sectors to better address social determinants of health, but they lack a cost-effective, outcomes-oriented road map to that goal. COVID-19 has added urgency to this work by exposing the toll of persistent, structural disparities in health care access and health outcomes. This session will offer a practical guide to catalyzing a cross-sector approach with community partners using community health “hubs” to improve outcomes and strengthen neighborhood resiliency. Explore achievable strategies that leverage existing assets to target measurable improvements in population costs and quality. Learn about a partnership between one of the nation’s largest essential hospital systems, Harris Health System, and the Houston Food Bank to reduce food insecurity and improve chronic disease outcomes in a region where life expectancy across neighborhoods varies by more than two decades.

Speakers

Karen Tseng, JD
Senior Vice President for Population Health Transformation
Harris Health System

Nicole Lander, RD
Chief Impact Officer
Houston Food Bank

Welcome and Gage Awards Introduction

Speaker

Kalpana Ramiah, DrPH, MSc
Vice President of Innovation
America’s Essential Hospitals
Director
Essential Hospitals Institute

2020 Gage Awards Presentation

Celebrate excellence as we honor outstanding programs in quality and population health with the Gage Awards. The prestigious awards are presented to member hospitals and health systems for creative, successful programs and activities that enhance patient care and meet community needs. Join us to honor our 2020 recipients.

Master of Ceremonies

Delvecchio Finley, MPP
CEO, Alameda Health System
Chair, Essential Hospitals Institute Board of Directors

Awards Committee Chair

Parveen Chand, MHA
Chief Operating Officer, Academic Health Center — Adult Hospitals
Indiana University Health

2020-2021 Essential Hospitals Institute Chair’s Address

Speaker

Christine Neuhoff, JD, MBA
System Vice President, General Counsel
St. Luke’s Health System

State Trend: Confronting Health Disparities

State and local policymakers have been advancing new and innovative ways of addressing health disparities within their jurisdictions. This session will focus on efforts within Illinois and the city of Chicago to tackle the root causes of health disparities. Attendees will walk away with new policy ideas and ways to work within your system to advance policies on disparities.

Speakers

Brenda Battle, BSN, MBA, RN
Vice President, Care Delivery Innovation, Urban Health
The University of Chicago Medicine

COVID-19 Resources for Essential Hospitals

Essential hospitals have been hit hard by COVID-19. This session will highlight federal and state resources released in response to the pandemic. Additional curated content from America’s Essential Hospitals will highlight lessons learned, along with steps to prepare for ongoing needs.

Speaker

Maryellen Guinan, Esq.
Principal Policy Analyst
America’s Essential Hospitals

Welcome Remarks

Speaker

Carl Graziano
Senior Director of Communications
America’s Essential Hospitals

Opening an Integrated Medicine Unit: Process and Outcomes

The presence of concurrent medical and psychiatric conditions increases the complexity of care and can cause poor outcomes, higher care costs, and poor staff satisfaction. To meet the unique needs of these patients, some essential hospital systems have created inpatient units that integrate medical and psychiatric care. These units have been shown to improve patient outcomes and reduce length of stay, and they might result in significant cost savings. This session will examine how a Midwestern academic medical center planned and implemented a 24-bed integrated medicine unit — and the lessons it learned. Speakers will discuss safety design, unique staffing models, and other considerations and will highlight innovative collaborations among interdisciplinary providers.

Speakers

Megan Cram, MHA, RN
Clinical Manager
University of Missouri Health Care

Syed Hassan Naqvi, MD
Associate Chief Medical Officer
University of Missouri Health Care

Essential Hospitals CEO Panel: COVID-19 Leadership Lessons

Four essential hospital CEOs from the nation’s earliest and most severe COVID-19 hot spots will share their experiences, including partnering effectively with state and local officials; preparing for future outbreaks; caring for and communicating with staff; and staying nimble in the face of rapid-fire developments. Hear about these and other critical leadership lessons from our distinguished panelists.

Speakers

Mitchell Katz, MD
President and CEO
NYC Health + Hospitals

Wright Lassiter III
President and CEO
Henry Ford Health System

Florence Spyrow, JD, MHA, MPA, MSN
President and CEO
Northern Arizona Healthcare

Advancing Care through Community-Based Coalitions

Equity is a core principle of health care, and collaboration is key to advancing the agenda. Learn how to leverage a multidisciplinary approach and cross-sector partnerships to make health equity a shared vision and value. Bluegrass-Community Care Continuum was developed in 2017 as a community-based coalition identifying at-risk patient populations, care disparities, and social determinants of health. Aligning goals and streamlining communication, the coalition uses asset-based interventions to bridge gaps in episodic care and create a true continuum addressing collective health outcomes. Twelve-month intervention data show a reduction in non-emergent resource utilization, an increase in housing security, greater primary care provider coverage, and improved local stakeholder engagement.

Speakers

Penny Gilbert, MBA, MSN, RN
Enterprise Director, Transitional Care Services
UK HealthCare

Jacqueline Owens, MHA
Transitional Care Partnerships Manager
UK HealthCare

Working Smarter: Leveraging Technology for Patient Safety

Learn how Erie County Medical Center, in Buffalo, N.Y., leveraged an iPad-based application to increase the precision and compliance of the safety check process in the hospital’s inpatient psychiatric settings. After implementation across more than 500 front-line staff, the rate of missed or late life safety checks dropped by a statistically significant rate to nearly zero. The hospital’s evaluation suggests this program has led to better quality interactions with patents and reduced staff anxiety though the provision of patient pictures within the application.

Speakers

Edmond Bass, RN
Nursing Informatics Manager
Erie County Medical Center

Sarah Maggio, RN-BC, BSN, EdM
Interim Vice President of Behavioral Health
Erie County Medical Center

Virtual VITAL2020 Closing Remarks

Speaker

Bruce Siegel, MD, MPH
President and CEO
America’s Essential Hospitals