HomeTown Happenings | Spring 2014 1

HomeTown Happenings

Did You “Get the Picture?”

Also Inside:

HomeTown Happenings | Spring 2014 2

Jimmy’s Notes

For those who missed it… In what was a momentous

occasion for rural hospitals, Governor Nathan Deal

spoke to the HomeTown Health Annual Spring

Conference. Entering to a standing ovation for his

support of rural hospitals, Governor Deal spoke of his

commitment to rural hospitals and the stress that they

are under due to the rapidly changing health care envi-

ronment. Fulfilling his commitment during the session,

Governor Deal announced his three pronged approach

to helping rural hospitals and health care. Governor

Deal named his Rural Hospital Stabilization Committee,

a rural hospital liaison within DCH (Charles Owens),

and his support for the stand alone ED language being

considered by the DCH Board.

Speaking to nearly 200 HomeTown Health Rural hospi-

tal and business partners affiliates , Governor Deal’s

remarks were warmly received as many of the attending

hospitals are benefactors of his recent help for them in

their financial crisis. HomeTown would like to extend a

great thank you to the Governor and his staff and to

Commissioner Reese who on Governor Deals behalf has

been incredibly supportive of the rural hospitals.

With that encouraging news, our work continues.

What do we see and hear in the rural hospital industry

in Georgia and beyond? As a general update, here’s

“What we Know.”

DSH has been distributed & exhausted for this

cycle. More than ever, board training is becoming a

major issue due to personal liabilities, cash flow, and

reimbursement complexity. CEO turnover continues at

a rapid fire basis.

Cash is critical – and there are major issues for the sum-

mer regarding cash. Counties with outstanding bonds

still have the debt service of these bonds as a major con-

cern for the county. And as cash tightens, the Revenue

Cycle has continued to get more complicated.

The Affordable Care Act has kicked into place and is

taking its toll. Some large hospitals have reported very

large losses – there is no immunity for size. The ACA

predicated on and the accepted closure of 1000 hospitals

nationally of 5000 total in next few years.

That’s what we know—here’s

“What we hear.” Several hospitals

have reported that their net revenues

have continued to plummet since

January 1, in some cases as much as

10%-20%. In addition, Physician availability for recruitment

remains very tough.

In light of what we know and what we hear, here’s the

“What to do.”

1) Rural hospitals operations must be run by the bench-

mark numbers- achieved by the use of best demonstrated

practices, as well as through the use of our business part-

ners, who continue to have great success in helping rural

hospitals achieve these benchmarks.

2) Reimbursement education is not optional– your hospi-

tals must attend all HomeTown Medicare and Medicaid

webinars.

3) Continue to give us any specific or ongoing issues on

the State Health Benefit Plan as we remain involved in this

area on your behalf.

4) Please forward any specific issues for CMO’s that you

want dealt with as we begin our round of summer of meet-

ings with them

5) Board Training: Schedule Board training with

HomeTown as a follow-on to the HTH Spring Meeting

Board Training.

We will be producing a series of communications shortly

based on the details of the recent HTH travels such as:

1) How and why have Georgia’s Critical Access Hospitals

gotten in so much financial stress;

2) What will the future hold for rural hospitals and

rural health care in Georgia;

3) How should rural hospitals and county governments

work together; and

4) What will the ACA really mean to Georgia’s hospitals ?

As always, tell us what you think– your input is highly

valuable.

HomeTown Happenings | Spring 2014 3

HomeTown Happenings

Contents

Help is Here! DCH, HP, GA-HITEC, GA-HIN, and

Hometown Health’s “HealtHIE Georgia” Bus Tour is

coming to a town near you! Read more on page 11.

Positioned to Grow 4

HTHU’s New System 5

Did You “Get the Picture?”

6

HR Director & Leadership Training

8

Upcoming Events & Announcements 9

GA-HITEC Webinar 10

HealtHIE Georgia Bus Tour 10

HomeTown Staff Directory 11

HomeTown Happenings | Spring 2014 4

Kathy Whitmire, Managing Director

For those of you at the Spring Conference this year, the

growing needs for rural hospital resources and the

growth of Hometown as an organization was clear! Our

aim is to keep our eyes and ears peeled to both hospital

members and industry changes, with an intent to stay

ahead of changing areas of need. Out of those needs has

come the addition of two key developments within

HomeTown.

Out of an immediate need at several hospitals has grown

HomeTown Health’s Financial Advisory Services and

Financial Improvement team. The team becomes a part

of yours — aiding hospitals by providing Reimburse-

ment review, education, process improvement and

implementation of best identified practices by HTH

partners.

Another development was the creation of a new position

for the team, a Director of Business Development. In

May, we welcomed Jennie Price to serve in that position.

Already, Jennie has been working with our team

members to organize and develop our focus group

strategy, with a goal of deepening the resources

available to each group, from Board Member to hospital

volunteer. In addition, she will be working to

communicate more “Best Practice” solutions from

hospitals and Business Partners in an effort to increase

collaborations and celebrate successes in hospitals.

Moving forward, we are positioning HomeTown to

grow—both in breadth of reach and depth of services. If

you have an idea or need, we encourage you not to

hesitate to reach out to our team.

Organization Update

Positioned to Grow

HomeTown Happenings | Spring 2014 5

Education

HTHU Upgrades to A New LMS

Kristy Thomson, Director of Education

In April, the HomeTown Health University team began the transition of enrollees and course material to a new Learning

Management System (LMS). We are pleased to announce the successful completion of that transition on May 15.

Education is at the heart of our commitment to rural

hospitals and providers. The HTHU education program

has grown steadily over the past few years, with over 6500

users at the beginning of 2014. A number of new

certification programs have been added to meet the

increasing need for education within facilities, such as the

School of ICD-10 Preparedness. With this growth came the

need for a system that could support more programs,

streamline the user process, and provide greater reporting

for managers of education within facilities.

What does this mean for our students? For all users, login to the system has not changed, and remains at www.hthu.net. All

student records, including previously completed courses and certifications have made the transition to the new student home

pages. Existing users will notice a much smoother process to launch education, and should complete the ‘Orientation to the

New System’ which will pop up upon first login to the new LMS. All new enrollments and users registering with

www.hthu.net will be first sent to a system orientation that will give them a tour of HTHU.

June 4 - 12:30 p.m. EST

2014 Patient Access Recertification

July 23 - 12:30 p.m. EST

2014 Financial Counselor

Recertification

August 6 - 12:30 p.m. EST

2014 Billing Specialist Recertification

September 11 - 12:30 p.m. EST

2014 Healthcare Hospitality Specialist

Recertification

Upcoming HTHU Events

1. A streamlined enrollment process for new users

2. An improved appearance on the student user page and the manager

dashboard

3. A smoother process for users to login and launch course material

4. Accessible across multiple platforms, devices, and browsers such as

Macs, iPads, and PCs

5. More interactive Manager Reporting, with increased functionality for

user maintenance, course reports and accessing user transcripts

Did You Know?

Our library of free content and education is

growing. Be sure to check out our new

courses in the Healthcare Solutions Free

Training Center.

HTHU provides education for a variety of

roles within a hospital- clinical, business

office, volunteers, HR and Education

Directors, board members, executives, and

more.

HTHU has the ability to customize

annual education and compliance programs for hospitals, and to develop

accredited courses in new areas as needs arise.

Unsure if facility has a subscription? Unsure of what courses are

included? Like a demo of our programs available?

Please contact Meghan Williams at meghan.p.williams@gmail.com.

HomeTown Happenings | Spring 2014 6

There were several firsts at this year’s Spring Conference. This

year marked a milestone as we officially outgrew our customary

meeting space and moved to beautiful Savannah in order to

accommodate a growing organization. We enjoyed new

restaurants and activities with our Business Partners just steps

outside the hotel.

We held our first ever Board & Governance Breakout Session on

the first day of our meeting, and welcomed board members,

trustees and executives from many of our member hospitals. It

was a tremendous success, as hospital leaders came together to

discuss legal issues, compliance, and best practices for rural

hospitals. This was just the start of a rollout of additional

resources for board members with the growing need for educa-

tion and training on the complex challenges facing our hospitals.

Event Recap

Did You “Get the Picture?”

The highlight of the Spring Conference was a visit and announce-

ment from Governor Nathan Deal. Fulfilling a commitment that

he made during the recently finished session, Governor Deal

announced the establishment and named the appointees to the

Rural Hospital Stabilization Committee. The charge of this

committee will be to identify ways and means to stabilize the rural

hospital and health care situation in Georgia. Hometown believes

that this is an exceptional committee of appointments, with several

rural hospitals having a prominent place. The members of the

Committee can be viewed in entirety online, here. The first

committee meeting will be held on June 9.

HomeTown Happenings | Spring 2014 7

HomeTown Happenings | Spring 2014 8

Event Recap

HR Directors & Leadership Training

On May 15, a group of HR Directors from member

hospitals as well as members of the 2014 Leadership

Program met together in Macon for a day of education

and discussion.

Topics included:

Education and Compliance Program Management—

Meghan Williams, HTHU

Legal Updates, Fair Labors Standards Act Pitfalls,

and EEOC Complaints—

Jason D’Cruz, Morris, Manning & Martin

Supervisor Survival—Top 10 Do’s & Don’ts -

Stephanie Woods, MedCare South

Healthcare Reform and Marketplace Exchanges—

Grant Campbell, Gallagher Benefits

Family Medical Leave Act Administration—

Stephanie Woods, MedCare South

We finished the day with an “HR Best Practice Panel,”

covering a range of topics such as background checks,

credentialing, and physician recruiting strategy.

Participants left the workshop with new knowledge,

useful resources, and new connections with others who

face similar challenges. Thanks to all of the attendees

and business partners who joined us.

Business Partners shared on

the “HR Best Practice Panel,”

including (from L to R) Neil

Brogran (ESS), Keith Colson

(D&Y), Derek Whitworth

(Altera), Mike Broxterman

(Pinnacle), and Panhandle

Credentialing (via phone).

HomeTown Happenings | Spring 2014 9

HomeTown Health

15th Annual

Fall Conference & Anniversary Celebration

November 11-13, 2014

The Lodge & Spa at Callaway Gardens

HomeTown Happenings | Spring 2014 10

Grants & Projects

“How Can Care Coordination Improve

There are many reasons to engage with your patients

post discharge. In this webinar, Jim Bowling and Van

Willis of PREMEDEX will guide us through new

opportunities to drive innovation and profitability

among rural providers – hospitals and physician

practices alike.

Post-acute care transition, care coordination, patient

engagement – you’ll want to join HomeTown Health for

the Lunch N Learn in partnership with GA-HITEC to

hear how PREMEDEX works with some of the country’s

On June 24 and 25, the “HealtHIE Georgia” Bus may be com-

ing to a city near you! We are currently planning a bus tour

through rural Georgia full of resources for rural physicians and

practice managers to provide them with much needed help in

the form of technical assistance and education from DCH, HP,

GA-HITEC, GaHIN, and Hometown Health.

The driving force of the bus tour is the urgent need for

technical assistance with the Meaningful Use attestation

process required to receive their Medicaid Incentive funds.

However, equally important is the need to raise physician’s

awareness of secure messaging and health information

exchange and the vital role it plays in coordinated care and improved health outcomes of their patients. We hope for this bus

tour to be the first of several across the state to bring much needed help to providers.

Please watch your email for more information as it becomes available, or reach out to Sherri Ackerman with questions.

Help on Wheels– the HealtHIE Georgia Bus is Coming!

Revenue and Profitability?”

leading healthcare organizations to help them achieve

their objectives through patient engagement programs

and analysis of their feedback. Case studies and a demo

will be shared.

HomeTown Happenings | Spring 2014 11

Hometown Health

STAFF CONTACTS

For more information on HomeTown Health Business Partners, Members,

and Events, visit or website at www.hometownhealthonline.com or contact:

Hometown Health University For more information on education and programs of study, visit our online

university at www.hthu.net or contact: