Special ReportPhysician RecruitmentWho's Who & Who's New!CMS Accepting Applications from ND for CPC Plus Medical Home ModelAHRQ Stats: Highest Average ExpensesUSDA Accepting Applications for Rural Telemedicine GrantsCareLearning-eLearningNew CDC Report: Spread of Resistant Fungus, C.auris

Click on link to view attachments:https://www.ndha.org/resources/publications/

Phone: 701-224-9732Fax: 701-224-9529Web Site: www.ndha.org

Jerry Jurena, PresidentTim Blasl, Vice PresidentCallen Cermak, Finance ManagerLori Schmautz, Executive AssistantPam Cook, Education DirectorMelissa Hauer, General Counsel

A portion of this publication is supported by The Center for Rural Health’s Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program. Visit their site at http://rural-health.und.edu/projects/flex/.

The Informer

In This Edition:

Attachments:

NDHA Contacts

May 19, 2017

Ransomware Attack International Cyber Threat to Healthcare Organizations

• Description: A ransomware attack is currently affecting more than 150 nations. The ransomware variant in question is known as WannaCry, WCry or WannaDecryptor. An individual recently called a hospital claiming to be from Micro-soft and offering support if given access to their servers. It is likely that malicious actors will try to take advantage of the current situation in similar ways. Additionally, there have been anecdotal notices of ransomware infecting medical devices.

• Most Up-To-Date Information: FBI FLASH: Indicators Associated With WannaCry Ransomware

• Latest Microsoft Security Information: Visit the Microsoft Update Catalog for the latest security updates.

• If you are the victim of ransomware or have cyber threat indicators: please con-tact law enforcement immediately. Contact your FBI Field Office Cyber Task Force im-mediately to report a ransomware event. Report cyber incidents to the US-CERT and FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. For further analysis and healthcare-specific indicator sharing, please also share these indicators with HHS’ Healthcare Cybersecu-rity and Communications Integration Center (HCCIC) at HCCICRM@hhs.gov

• Also Let NDHA Know: if your health care facility has been a victim of the Wanna-Cry ransomware attack. AHA and our federal partners have asked for information on any instances where the WannaCry ransomware attack has affected health care facilities.

May 15, 2017 (from Healthecareers Summary Report)

According to the Healthecareers Report, the two most sought after specialties are: Family Medicine and Psychiatry. The challenges in recruiting are many, however at the top of the list: Finding qualified candidates (heads the list) for healthcare recruit-ers.

The challenge for rural states, like North Dakota; is that the geographic candidate pool is small and the market very competitive, more competitive than past years, making recruitment about tenacity and endurance.

As the demand for qualified healthcare employees continues to grow exponential-ly, successful recruiting will depend upon how willing employers are to get creative with alternate solutions for seeking out the best candidates. The recruiting leaders in healthcare believe that job boards, candidate conferences, social media, promoting the employer brand and using alternative candidate pools are all essential and long-lasting trends in recruiting.

Some of this Article is from Healthecareer Summary

If I can assist you in your physician recruitment efforts, please contact me. I can be reached at northdakotarec@comcast.net or 701-320-2109

Click logo to open Bill Tracking Update

Special alert

Physician Recruitment ~ Kevin Malee

Page 2

Eligible practices in Louisiana, Nebraska, North Dakota and the Buffalo, NY, region may apply to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) through July 13 to participate in the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) model from 2018 to 2022. The multi-payer medical home model offers two tracks with different care delivery requirements and payment method-ologies. Both tracks qualify as Advanced Alternative Payment Models under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act’s (MACRA) new payment system for clinicians. CMS expects to select up to 1,000 practices to participate in Round 2.

CPC+ is a national advanced primary care medical home model that aims to strengthen primary care through regionally-based multi-payer payment reform and care delivery transformation. CPC+ includes two primary care practice tracks with incremen-tally advanced care delivery requirements and payment options. Through a unique public-private partnership with seven payers in four regions, the CPC+ payment redesign gives practices the additional financial resources and flexibility they need to make in-vestments that will improve quality of care and reduce the number of unnecessary services their patients receive. CPC+ provides practices with a robust learning system, as well as actionable data feedback, to guide their decision making. The care delivery redesign ensures practices in each track have the infrastructure to deliver better care to result in a healthier patient population. The CPC+ Round 2 Provisional Payer Partner in North Dakota is Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota.

Practices selected will make changes in the way they deliver care, centered on key Comprehensive Primary Care Functions: (1) Access and Continuity; (2) Care Management; (3) Comprehensiveness and Coordination; (4) Patient and Caregiver Engagement; and (5) Planned Care and Population Health.

How to apply: CMS is reopening solicitations for payers and practices for a January 1, 2018 start in the model. Eligible prac-tices located in the selected regions may apply via online portal from May 18 – July 13, 2017 at https://app1.innovation.cms.gov/cpcplus.

For more information: https://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/Comprehensive-Primary-Care-Plus

AHRQ Stats: Highest Average Expenses

Who’s Who and Who’s New!NDHA would like to wecome Holly Wolff, CEO at the Ashley Medical Center.

As Chief Executive Officer and Administrator of Ashley Medical Center, Ms. Wolff oversees the Skilled Nursing Facility, 20-bed Critical Access Hospital, and Rural Health Clinic. Her areas of ex-pertise include rural health, practice management, workforce development, procedural efficiency, strategic planning, and transformational leadership.

NDHA would also like to wecome John Baker, CEO at Red River Behavioral Health System in Grand Forks, ND (formerly the Stadter Center).

Mr. Baker has led multiple hospital turnarounds netting increased profit, decreased expenses, patient and family satisfaction and high levels of employee engagement. He is a well-regarded turnaround expert who comes in and quickly solves problems.

CMS Accepting Applications from North Dakota for CPC Plus Medical Home Model

For the nine most commonly treated conditions among U.S. adults in 2013, the highest average expenses per person were for the treatment of heart conditions ($3,794 per person), trauma-related disorders ($3,070) and diabetes ($2,565). (Source: AHRQ, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Statistical Brief #487: Expenditures for Commonly Treated Conditions among Adults Age 18 and Older in the U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population, 2013.)

Page 3

USDA Accepting Applications for Rural Telemedicine Grants Hospitals and others can apply through July 17 for grants of up to $500,000 each for equipment and technical assistance to provide telemedicine services in rural areas, the Department of Agriculture announced today. The fiscal year 2017 grants are through the Rural Utilities Service Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant Program, which provides funds to improve telemedicine and distance learning services in rural areas. Applicants must serve a rural area, demonstrate economic need and provide at least 15% in matching funds. For more on the program and how to apply, visit www.rd.usda.gov.

CareLearning is an online education company designed to help healthcare organizations by providing reliable, trusted, and easily-accessible talent management solutions. CareLearning is operated by several state hospital associations, and is developed for the sole purpose of offering a valuable and cost-effective resource to you. CareLearning is dedicated to providing the best education and training to you and your organization.

Follow this link to learn more about how CareLearning can help you. http://carelearning.com/index.html

CareLearning - eLearning

New CDC Report: Spread of resistant fungus, C. auris CDC has just released an MMWR update on Candida auris (C. auris) cases identified in U.S. health care facilities through May 2017. C. auris is an emerging fungal infection that presents a serious global health threat for these reasons:

• it causes serious infections, • it is often drug resistant, and • it spreads in healthcare settings.

In June 2016, CDC released the first clinical alert about C. auris. Soon after, CDC began reporting on the first U.S. cases. Al-though C. auris is still rare in the United States, we are seeing an increasing number of cases. The MMWR provides information on the 77 C. auris cases reported to CDC through May 12, 2017.

CDC’s C. auris website provides monthly updates on reported C. auris cases. What You Can Do CDC’s website offers question and answer pages for patients and family members and for healthcare workers, and interim recommendations for healthcare facilities and laboratories. What CDC is Doing CDC provides technical assistance to state health departments when cases are identified and continues to work with partners to contain the spread of C. auris. Using resources provided by Congress in fiscal year 2016, CDC is making transformative improvements to the nation’s ability to further identify and respond to new and known drug resistance threats, including C. auris:

• CDC is enhancing national infrastructure in 50 states, five major cities/territories, and seven regions to ensure rapid identification and containment of resistant pathogens and mechanism threats, including C. auris, across all healthcare settings. • Regional labs in the CDC AR Lab Network will test for and support response to new forms of Candida resistance in the United States. • CDC is enhancing tracking of Candida to better understand the yeast through the Emerging Infections Program. • CDC has made C. auris samples available through the CDC AR Isolate Bank to further assist diagnostic labs to calibrate, or standardize, their diagnostic tests so they can accurately identify and characterize this emerging threat. These samples can also assist industry in their work toward innovation for preventing resistant infections like C. auris.

Learn more about how CDC’s Antibiotic Resistance Solutions Initiative is transforming the nation’s capacity to further detect, contain, and prevent drug resistant threats like C. auris.