MHA Today | April 26, 2021

Staff Contact: Jackie Gatz or Keri Barclay

Missouri COVID-19 vaccinators may resume use of the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services updated the statewide standing order to support vaccine administration efforts. The decision was made following the announcement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirming that the pause on the use of the J&J vaccine can be lifted. It was concluded that the known and potential benefits of the vaccine outweigh its known and potential risks.

The CDC will hold a Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity call at 1 p.m. CDT Tuesday, April 27, to present the latest evidence on thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome after administration of the J&J vaccine. Speakers also will discuss updated vaccine recommendations. Registration is not required.

Staff Contact: Ted Suess

The Office for Civil Rights released an alert that misleading postcards are being mailed to health care organizations informing the recipients that they are required to participate in a mandatory Security Risk Assessment.

OCR stated that this postcard notification is NOT an OCR or U.S. Department of Health and Human Services communication – it is from a private entity. HIPAA-covered entities and business associates should alert their workforce members to this misleading communication. Covered entities and business associates can verify that a communication is from OCR by looking for the OCR address or email address, which will end in ‘@hhs.gov,’ on any communication that purports to be from OCR, as well as asking for a confirming email from the OCR investigator’s hhs.gov email address. The addresses for OCR’s offices are available on the OCR website. If organizations have additional questions or concerns, email OCRMail@hhs.gov.

Staff Contact: Shane VanOverschelde

The Value-Based Purchasing Payments Model is a companion utility to the VBP Analysis that was produced for hospitals on April 12. The VBP Payments Model is an interactive tool that provides hospitals with the ability to manipulate their hospital-specific quality scores to evaluate the associated change to estimated VBP payments. The VBP Payments Model is provided to subscribers of the 2021 Premier Reporting Package. The modeling utility is located on HIDI Analytic Advantage in the following location.

• Folder: “Finance and Policy/Premier Reports” or “Quality/Premier Reports”
• File name: MOxxxx_VBP FFY2022 Payments Model_2020_Q4_(2021.04.26).xlsx

Hospitals interested in subscribing to the HIDI Premier Report Package should review the package information. Current subscribers with questions about downloading files should contact HIDI.

Staff Contact: Shawn Billings or Kelsey Hussey

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health recently launched an e-learning program, “Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Maternal Health Care,” to address and help eliminate disparities facing communities of color. Women of color are three to four times more likely than Caucasian women to die in pregnancy or childbirth, regardless of income or education level. This program is free, accredited and designed to develop maternal health care providers’ knowledge and skills. Physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, certified nurse midwives and certified midwives are encouraged to take this program and earn up to two continuing education credits at no cost.

Staff Contact: Sherry Buschjost

The next webinar in The Joint Commission Pioneers in Quality program will be offered at 1 p.m. CDT Tuesday, May 25. Registration is required for the webinar, “CY 2021 Direct Data Submission Platform for eCQMs and Chart-Abstracted Measures Data for Accreditation Purposes.”