VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1 SPRING 2010

HEALTHY BUSINESS THE OFFICAL NEWSLETTER OF THE HEALTH CARE ADMINISTRATION ALUMNI NETWORK

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INSIDE

2 HCEA-HCAAN-HCASF Partnership: A Win-Win-Win for Practitioners, Alumni and Students

3 Health Reform: What it Means to Employers

3 HCA Alumni Spotlight

4 The Pursuit of Meaningful Use

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HCA Scholarship Winners

The Health Care Administration Chapter of the CSULB Alumni Association Website: www.csulb.edu/hca

Email: HCAalumni49@gmail.com

A word from our President, Ardel Avelino

Emergency Services Management: Hospital, Physicians and Patient Perspectives

As part of America's vital health care infrastructure, hospitals all across the nation play a crucial role in disaster readiness. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, hospitals have elevated their readiness efforts in order to be better prepared in responding to not only traditional disaster threats, but an even more real potential of terrorist attacks, including the use of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons. As vital community resources, hospitals must be among the best prepared, alongside police, fire, rescue, and other public safety services. To heighten the awareness on this prominent topic, the HCA Alumni Association, in collaboration with the Hospital Association of Southern California and the HCA Student Forum, held an event, entitled, Emergency Services Management: Hospital, Physicians and Patient Perspectives at the Pyramid Annex on April 15, 2010.

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Interviewing: Lesson Learned Despite the Odds

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An initiative by Orange County Region of the Health Care Executives Association of Southern California, an

independent chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives, to offer more educational programs

to practitioners and students at local college campuses, has tapped local experts to present several timely

programs at the CSULB campus.

The initiative started in November 2009 with a panel discussion on “The Changing Face of the Continuum:

From Acute Hospital to LTAC (Long Term Acute Care) to SNF (Skilled Nursing Facility.” Featured speakers

were: Josh Luke, PhD, FACHE, Chief Executive Officer, Western Medical Center, Anaheim; Norm Andrews,

RN, MHA, CEO, Kindred Hospital, Westminster, A Long Term Acute Care facility; and Susie Mix, MBA, Case

Management Resource and Managed Care Contractor, The Ensign Group. Dr. Luke is the Orange County

Regent for HCEA; he and Mr. Andrews are members of the Health Care Administration Department’s Advisory

Board; Ms. Mix is a member of the Executive Faculty.

In February 2010 approximately 60 people attended a panel on “Project Management: A Vital Skill for

Healthcare Managers.” HCA Alum Gordana Vukotich (MSHCA-AP, 2006) moderated a panel of expert

speakers from two leading area hospitals and a Medicare health plan: Nora Goto, RN, CPHQ, PMP, MSN,

MSHCA, Patient Centered Care Coordinator, VA Long Beach HealthCare System; Robert Neal, MPH, Senior

Project Manager, Long Beach Memorial Medical Center; and Mayra Merrick, MHA, MSG, Director, Sales &

Marketing, Citizens Choice Healthplan. Ms. Goto and Mr. Neal also serve as intern preceptors for the HCA

Department.

HCAAN President Ardel Avelino describes the most recent program on Emergency Service Management, held

on April 15, 2010, in more detail in an article on page one.

HCEA-HCAAN-HCASF Partnership: A Win-Win-Win for Practitioners, Alumni and Students

By Dr. Janice Frates

The HCAAN also held two fund raiser/mixers in March. The photo to the left is from the event held at Acapulco Cantina on March 18.

(From left to right) Linda Tsoi, Hussain Al-Khuwaildi, David Le, Michelle Tadena, Kevin Torres (HCA Executive Faculty), Jaclyn Sumang Olson, and Allison Cole

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Health Care Reform: What it Means to Employers By Rita Essaian, MHA

One of the most controversial and far-reaching piece of social legislation, in the last several decades, is now law. On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Subsequently, on March 30, 2010, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 was signed. Employers throughout the country are now trying to figure out what these changes mean to them. Federal regulators haven’t yet written the rules implementing the new law, which makes it somewhat challenging not knowing the specificities around this law; however, what we do know is that we are in for big changes. Employers will need to look ahead to understand the implications of this legislation and will need to understand that these changes can fundamentally alter the nature of healthcare-sponsored healthcare and, potentially, the employer-employee relationship. Currently, it is estimated that there is over 46 million uninsured Americans. With the passage of this law and its provisions, it is projected that 32 million Americans will be eligible for healthcare benefits…this comes with a price tag of $938 billion. Let’s take a look at some of the identified changes that will take place between 2010 through 2014.

Employer Responsibilities The law requires an employer with more than 50 full-time employees to pay $2,000 per employee if the employer doesn’t provide health coverage and has at least one full-time employee receiving a premium assistance tax credit or cost-sharing reduction created by the legislation. The first 30 employees of the employer will be excluded from the calculation of the penalty. For example, an employer with 100 employees who fails to offer insurance would pay a penalty of $140,000. Dependent Coverage Health plans that provide dependent coverage will be required to provide it up to age 26, and are prohibited from excluding coverage for children with pre-existing conditions. This provision will go into effect six months after enactment and applies to all employer plans and new plans in the individual marketplace. In 2014, this provision will apply to all people.  

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Alumni Spotlight Healthy Business is dedicating a brand new section to our alums. We want

to know about you and what you’ve been up to since graduation.

What Healthy Business wants to know… HCA Undergraduate or Graduate Student? 2004 HCA Undergraduate and a Latino Healthcare Professionals Project scholar Something you enjoyed about the HCA program at CSULB? The HCA program gave me the opportunity to learn from dedicated and passionate professors. What are you doing now? In 2008, I graduated from UC Berkeley with a Masters in Public Health from the Health Policy and Management Program. Currently, I am completing a post-graduate health services management fellowship for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. After completing the fellowship, my goal is to work in hospital operations at one of the County hospitals.

JOSELIN ESCOBAR

Watch out because you may be the next alum in

the Spotlight!

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The Pursuit of Meaningful Use

By German E. Chumpitaz

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) includes over $60 billion, designed to stimulate health care IT (HIT) adoption by the medical community over the next few years. Of the total money available, approximately $46 billion is allocated to pay-for-performance measures and $14 billion to grants. The ARRA allows for $2 billion in discretionary health IT funding and $18 billion in investments and incentives through Medicare and Medicaid. Under the terms of the bill, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will offer incentives to medical practices that adopt and use electronic medical record (EMR) technology. Beginning in 2011, physicians will get $44,000 to $64,000 over five years for implementing and using a certified EMR. The Congressional Budget Office projects that such incentives will push up to 90 percent of U.S. physicians to use EMRs over the next 10 years.

So, soon providers will get incentives for putting EMRs into place, but as is usually the case, there's a catch. To get Medicare incentive payments, it's not enough to simply roll out the technology; hospitals and physicians will have to prove that they've made "meaningful use of certified EMR technology."

This "meaningful use" includes using the technology to exchange electronic health data to improve care quality and submitting care quality measures to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Not only that, hospitals and doctors will need to meet the following requirements within a specified time frame:

Rely on the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) as the certifying body for EMRs.

Adopt metrics that demonstrate meaningful use, and make them increasingly more stringent over two years or so.

Work with Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) and Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) to make sure systems are interoperable.

Close the existing gap between "certified EHR technologies," "best of breed," and "open source" technologies.

Any way you look at it, providers have their hands full in meeting the stimulus deadlines, which are October 1, 2010 for hospitals and January 1, 2011 for eligible providers.

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Continued from page 1 Three expert speakers covered broad and vital topics that examined areas of

Emergency Department (ED) Overcrowding: Patients' Experience in the ED

Reducing ED Gridlock: Strategies to Decompress Your ED

Hospital ED Surge Capacity During Disasters: Expanding Hospital Capabilities and Hospital Resource Sharing and Allocation During Bioterrorism Events or Natural Disasters.

The eye opening presentation and discussion made people realize how complex and integral emergency management services are in today’s society and helped attendees in healthcare and the emergency management community who deal with unforeseen events. In addition to healthcare practitioners and professionals, the event was attended by alumni, faculty, undergraduate students and members of the Hospital Association of California.

The intent of this event was to advance the profession of healthcare administration by promoting principles of emergency management by providing information, networking and professional development opportunities. With our distinguished speakers and participants, this was easily achieved.

Speakers were Kathy Crow, RN, BSN, CEN, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, St. Mary Medical Center; Darlene Bradley, RN, PhDc, Director Emergency/Trauma Services, UC Irvine Medical Center; and Marty Karpiel, MPA, Emergency Services Consultant, Karpiel Consulting Group. Moderated by Ardel Guillamas Avelino, PHN, MHA, RN, St. Mary Medical Center.

~Ardel Guillamas Avelino, PHN, MSHCA, RN President, HCA Alumni Association California State University, Long Beach

Interviewing: Lessons Learned Despite the Odds

By Gordana Vukotich

According to recent United States Department of Labor Statistics, in March 2010, California’s unemployment rate was 12.6%. On average it’s taking more than 27 weeks to find a job. Furthermore, numerous career experts recommend that unemployed job seekers prepare to remain unemployed for at least one month per $10,000.00 of their yearly income. Mid-Level managers remain unemployed for 6-12 months, while upper level managers and executives average between 12 and 18 months before they find permanent positions. In other words, a person who was earning $60,000.00 a year should expect to spend approximately six months seeking a similar position.

Career site reports have indicated that in a recession the average applicant interviews 17 times before receiving one offer. Some reports are slightly higher, others lower, either way it’s a numbers game. Albeit daunting statistics for job seekers, as one of the unemployed, I honestly believe that in addition to our professional skills, along with tenacity and being well prepared for interview questions, there are valuable lessons to be learned for both the employed and unemployed. Lessons which will help current job seekers, while influencing the behavior of hiring managers and recruiters.

Lesson #1 - Invest in Yourself

Employers may receive hundreds of applications for the same position. In order to stand out, we need to differentiate to be noticed. Stop; take time to reevaluate your resume. Go ahead, ask for professional advice and seek objective outside opinions. It’s amazing, but most of us do a better job marketing products or describing others strengths versus our own. Investing sooner rather than later could mean a missed opportunity.

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Marty Karpiel talking about the patient experience in the ED

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Don’t procrastinate, prioritize and invest the additional time and money to make that resume stand out. Remember, this is your first point of contact with the employer.

Lesson #2 - Identify the Hiring Manager Prior to Resume Submission

Connecting with the hiring manager more often than not results in a Face-to-Face interview. Unless you have an extraordinary resume, direct contact with the hiring manger will significantly increase your chances for an in person interview.

Lesson #3 – Believe in Yourself, Confidence!

If you don’t believe in yourself, why should anyone else? Whether you’re having a bad day, are ill or lacking confidence, you have two choices: Regroup before the interview or reschedule. It’s proven that confidence impacts performance. Quite frankly, the interview process can be more exhausting than a 12 hour day at the office. Needless to say, in today’s climate, in addition to overall skills, experience and education, preparation for the interview along with a combination of confidence and endurance is crucial.

After one year of resume submissions, interviewing, networking and rejections, I’ve sharpened my skills, accepted that I am also one of the statistics, broadened my professional network and recognized that experiences such as these draw us out of our comfort zones. Consequently, in addition to enhancing my interviewing skills I have matured as a future hiring manager. The experience of repeatedly requesting an interview, pursuing the “right” connection and patiently waiting for a response has been humbling and expanded my horizons.

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Preventative Care Private plans are required to cover preventative services with no co-payments. Additionally, the preventative services will need to be exempt from deductibles. This will take place six months after enactment. Ban on Lifetime Limits

Health plans are prohibited from placing lifetime limits on benefits. This will take place six months after enactment. Ban on Annual Limits

Restrictions will be imposed on annual limits for new plans in the individual marketplace and all employer plans, and eventually the use of annual limits will be banned by 2014. These restrictions will be defined by the Department of Health and Human Services. Ban on Discrimination Based Pay

New group health plans will be prohibited from establishing any eligibility rules for healthcare coverage that may have an effect of discriminating in favor of higher wage employees as compared to lower wage employees. Breaks for Breastfeeding

Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act to require employers to provide unpaid breaks, and a private location, for employees to express breast milk. For several years now, California state law has already had a law providing protection for breastfeeding mothers in the workplace. Tax on “Cadillac” Plans

An excise tax will be imposed on any “excess benefit” of employer-sponsored coverage. “Excess benefit” is defined as one that exceeds $10,200 for individual coverage and $27,500 for family coverage.

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Recommended websites for job seekers:

Career Rookie

www.careerrookie.com

The Doostang Blog

http://blog.doostang.com

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Automatic Enrollment

Requires employers with more than 200 employees to automatically enroll full-time employees in health coverage. The employee will have the option to opt out of the coverage after automatic enrollment.

Insurance Exchanges

States will create insurance exchanges, which will be operational by 2014. This will be open to both eligible individuals and some employers. This is essentially a “virtual” marketplace where individuals and/or groups can purchase a health insurance plan that best meets their needs.

Tax Credits for Small Employers

Beginning in 2010, tax credits will be offered for small businesses that choose to provide healthcare coverage to their employees. These tax credits are up to 35 percent of premiums to businesses that choose to offer coverage. Tax credits will be up to 50 percent of premiums for smaller employers in 2014. As one can see, there is a myriad of new requirements that will arise from Health Care Reform. Compliance with this law begins in 2010 and spans through 2014. It is very critical that companies have an awareness and understanding of this complex legislation and the impact that it will have on employers and employees. It is recommended that businesses evaluate their benefit plans and practices and also to reevaluate the cost of providing health care coverage to their employees in comparison with the penalties that may be imposed for not providing coverage. As we know it, these new changes will bring new challenges. In an effort to take these challenges head-on, awareness and preparedness will be immensely critical. Stay

tuned to the progressions of this legislation. Sources: HHRMAC Conference – Health Care Reform, March 2009 California Employer Advisor E-Alert, March 2009 BLR HR Daily Advisor, April 2009 Healthcare Reform – What are Key Considerations for Employers? Littler, March 2010 California Hospital Association

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Congratulations are in order to our 2010 HCA Graduate & Undergraduate

Scholarship Recipients.

Krystin Conroy (Undergraduate) – Paul Cotrell Scholarship 

Carlos Montalvan (Gradute) – Tom Knego Scholarship 

Elayne Grgas (Graduate) – Long Term Care Scholarship 

Leanne Kelly (Undergraduate) – Long Terms Care Scholarship 

Eduardo Avila‐Flores (Undergraduate) – Molina Scholarship 

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