Staff Contact: Brian Kinkade

The Louisiana Department of Health will expedite enrollment of out-of-state providers treating Louisiana Medicaid participants displaced by Hurricane Ida. Louisiana Medicaid, or one of its managed care organizations, will reimburse providers for covered services according to Louisiana Medicaid reimbursement rates. There are separate enrollment processes for providers treating Louisiana participants covered under the state’s fee-for-service and managed care programs. Fee-for-service providers may be enrolled on a temporary and emergency basis.

Staff Contact: Andrew Wheeler or Daniel Landon

MHA submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ proposed rules governing aspects of surprise billing. The regulations implement a law enacted in December of 2020.

Staff Contact: Andrew Wheeler

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued updates to MLN Connects Provider eNews. eNews includes information about national provider calls, meetings, events, announcements and other MLN educational product updates. The latest issue provides updates and summaries of the following.

• • Ambulance prior authorization model implementation date – April 1, 2022, for Missouri
  • Healthy Aging: recommended services for your patients
  • Provider enrollment activities resume in October
  • DME suppliers: payment for respiratory equipment affected by recent recall

Staff Contact: Jane Drummond

The Missouri Department of Social Services filed a motion for summary judgment in MHA’s suit challenging its attempt to revise its managed care payment methodology through contract amendment. The motion claims the case is moot, as the state now plans to implement its directed payment methodology through regulation. MHA has served discovery on the department to ascertain whether it intends to follow the normal rulemaking procedure or file an emergency rule, which would have the same effect as implementing the change through contract amendment.

Today, the parties appeared in court for a status conference. The Missouri Health Plan Association, which has intervened in the case, filed a motion to dismiss, claiming the pleadings do not demonstrate MHA’s standing to sue on behalf of its members. MHA opposes the motion, which is scheduled to be heard on Friday, Sept. 24.

Staff Contact: Jessica Stultz

A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the first comprehensive look at the impact of COVID-19 on the incidence of healthcare-associated infections that harm patients in U.S. hospitals. The findings, published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, show substantial increases nationally in HAI and select antibiotic-resistant infections in 2020 compared to 2019. For most of these infections, the increases seen in 2020 present a strong contrast to the success in reducing these infections prior to the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic created a perfect storm for HAI and AR infections in health care settings. Many hospitals faced extraordinary circumstances that may have reduced the implementation of standard infection prevention and control practices. These data highlight the need to return to conventional infection prevention and control practices, and build resiliency in these programs to withstand future pandemics.

Staff Contact: Shawn Billings

The occurrence of adverse childhood experiences in an individual’s lifetime directly influences their likelihood for addiction, as well as other social, behavioral and cognitive disorders. Join the Missouri Eliminate Tobacco Use Initiative at 2 p.m. Sept. 13, for a discussion on the impact of ACEs on tobacco use prevalence and considerations for cessation. The webinar will be geared toward individuals providing tobacco prevention and cessation on college campuses and within hospital systems, as well as those interested in tobacco control more broadly in the context of mental health.

Staff Contact: Sherry Buschjost

The next webinar for hospitals participating in the Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Quality Reporting Program is scheduled at 11 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 16. Registration is required for the webinar, “IPFQR Program: FY 2022 IPF PPS Final Rule and APU Determination.”

Addenda for the IPFQR program manual version 6.1a, effective Jan. 1, 2021, and version 7.0a, effective Jan. 1, 2022, have been released. Notable corrections in each addendum relate to the description of the denominators for the Alcohol Use Brief Intervention (SUB-2a) and Tobacco Use Treatment (TOB-2a) measures. Additional information regarding these changes is available in the associated release notes. The updated manuals are available on the Quality Reporting Center.

Staff Contact: Sarah Willson 

In a recent news release, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced revised hours of operation for the Missouri Adult Abuse and Neglect Hotline to 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., 365 days a year, effective Sept. 1. This change will allow better service to those who need to report concerns of abuse, neglect and exploitation of vulnerable individuals 60 and older, and people with disabilities between the ages of 18 and 59. The online reporting system is available 24 hours a day, 7 days per week and provides an alternative to calling the hotline both during and outside of normal business hours. Questions should be directed to DHSS at 573-526-3625 or DSDSOfficeofConstituentServices@health.mo.gov.