MHA Today | January 17, 2025

Staff Contact: Jon Doolittle

Craig A. Thompson, P.T., MSA, FACHE, will lead the MHA Board of Trustees’ first meeting of the year next week as its 2025 chair. Thompson is the CEO of Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare in Clinton, Mo., and has served as a member of the board since 2021, as treasurer in 2023 and chair-elect in 2024. He also served as an AHA Delegate from 2021 to 2023.

“Craig is committed to strengthening the state’s hospitals so they can serve patients locally, regionally, statewide and beyond,” MHA President and CEO Jon D. Doolittle said. “He’s been an advocate in Jefferson City, Mo., and Washington, D.C., on behalf of better, more accessible care for the patients and communities Missouri’s hospitals serve. Craig knows the details and is a visionary. He has been an impactful and approachable board member, and he will be a fantastic chair.”

Staff Contact: Sarah Willson

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency announced three new rules to make some of the telemedicine flexibilities established during the COVID-19 pandemic permanent.

• Buprenorphine treatment: Patients can now receive a six-month supply of buprenorphine, a medication for opioid use disorder, through a telephone consultation.
• Special registrations: Medical providers can obtain special registrations to prescribe controlled substances via telemedicine, with varying requirements based on medication schedule and provider specialty. This rule also will require a national prescription drug monitoring program to be established.
• Veterans Affairs exemption: VA practitioners are exempt from some special registration requirements.

These rules don’t apply to patients who have already had an in-person visit with a medical provider and telemedicine visits that don’t involve prescribing controlled substances.

Staff Contact: Andrew Wheeler

In accordance with the Inflation Reduction Act, CMS announced 15 additional drugs covered under Medicare Part D that will be subject to a negotiated price. According to CMS, between November 2023 and October 2024, 5.3 million Medicare Part D beneficiaries used these drugs, amounting to $41 billion in total gross covered drug costs. MHA published an issue brief with additional details.

Staff Contact: Keri Barclay

The CDC and DHSS issued a health advisory Jan. 16 for the accelerated subtyping of influenza A in hospitalized patients due to sporadic human infections with avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses during current seasonal influenza activity.

The screening of all influenza A positive patients for risk factors of avian flu A(H5N1) should include asking about potential exposure to wild and domestic animals, including pets (e.g., cats) and animal products (e.g., poultry, dairy cows, raw cow milk and raw cow milk products, raw meat-based pet food), or recent close contact with a symptomatic person with a probable or confirmed case of A(H5).

The CDC and Infectious Diseases Society of America will host a joint call at 3 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23, to provide more detailed and clinical information of the current situation and outbreak. Registration is required.

Staff Contact: Jackie Gatz

The St. Louis Business Health Coalition expanded its reach this year to include all Missouri hospitals in its communications about The Leapfrog Group’s activities. Historically, the coalition served as a regional leader of The Leapfrog Group, communicating directly with St. Louis metropolitan hospitals about the Leapfrog Hospital Survey and safety grades.

An informational webinar about Leapfrog’s programs and processes will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29. Any participating Leapfrog hospitals outside the St. Louis area as well as other hospitals interested in learning more may attend. Registration is required.

Staff Contact: Shane VanOverschelde

HIDI posted the FFY 2024 inpatient and outpatient physician loyalty report for subscribers to the Premier Reporting Package. This report displays a list of physicians by name and the frequency in which they were attending physicians across combinations of various categories, including inpatient/outpatient setting, hospital, patient ZIP code, DRG and payer.

This data is delivered in a ready-to-query Microsoft Access database file and is located in the “Strategic Planning/Premier Reports” folder with the following file name: MO0000_Phy_Loy_2024.zip.

Hospitals interested in subscribing to the 2025 HIDI Premier Data Package should review the package information. Current subscribers with questions about downloading files should contact HIDI.

Staff Contact: Shane VanOverschelde

HIDI posted the 2023 Annual Survey Seven-Year Trends report for subscribers of the Premier Reporting Package. This report displays tables and graphs depicting seven-year trends of a comprehensive set of financial metrics, as reported on the most recent Annual Licensing Survey.

Reports are categorized by various peer groups, such as bed size, geographic region, ownership type, hospital type and congressional district. The report can be found on HIDI Advantage^® in the following location.

• File Location: Premier Subscriptions/Stand-Alone Premier Reports
• File Name: MO0000_7-Year_Trends_2023 (12 2024).pdf

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