Latest California Healthline Stories
EHR Cost Savings Could Extend to Health Plans
Health plans don’t directly use electronic health records, but because EHRs could save insurers some money, health plans will want to do everything they can to make the EHR transition smooth, according to Patrick Johnston, president and CEO of the California Association of Health Plans.
Johnston’s organization put together a health care forum yesterday in Burlingame that focused on health plans’ involvement in the EHR movement.
“We as health plans do have a responsibility to address cost drivers in our own business,” Johnston said. “That which plans spend themselves and that which cause our providers to spend. And that’s a complex subject matter.”
Transition Money Designed To End ADHC
It’s a little complicated, when the governor sets aside $25 million for your program, and it’s a death knell for that program.
But that’s what has happened in the past week with the Adult Day Health Care (ADHC) program. The $25 million allocated by the state is to be used to help with a transition into program elimination.
That was the take-home message at a stakeholder meeting last Friday, and it was not exactly a vote of confidence from the governor’s office.
May Revise Targets Mental Health, Healthy Families and More
There were several major developments in California’s health policy world yesterday, with the release of Gov. Jerry Brown’s (D) May budget revise.
It started with an almost offhand comment from Brown:
“We are eliminating the Department of Mental Health,” Brown said. Then later he added, “We want to eliminate 43 boards and commissions in California.” One of those boards facing elimination is the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board (MRMIB).
Mental health services and health care commissions aren’t the only things on the chopping block. Brown’s May revise also targets Healthy Families, and the state’s plan for adult day health care centers could be changing.
Senior Services Among Possible Budget Targets
Three innocuous-sounding words — the May revise — send shivers down the spines of health care advocates.
That budget adjustment is expected to be announced today (May 16), and Lydia Missaelides, for one, is worried.
“We’re all bracing for more cuts in the May revise,” Missaelides, executive director of the California Association of Adult Day Services, said, adding, “You know, we’re still in this politically sensitive position.”
Basic Health Program: Good or Bad for California?
The California Health Benefit Exchange board met earlier this week to discuss the possibility of setting up a Basic Health Program (BHP) as an alternative to one section of the exchange.
The BHP is an alternative to the exchange’s coverage for two sets of Californians — adults with incomes between 133% and 200% of the federal poverty level, and for legal immigrants with incomes below 133% of the poverty level.
Yesterday, a legislative briefing with a panel of experts was convened in the Capitol building to go over the idea. The briefing was co-sponsored by the Senate Committee on Health and by the California HealthCare Foundation. CHCF publishes California Healthline.
EHR Security Measure Might Have Hidden Consequences
The intent of SB 850 is relatively simple, its author Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) said yesterday at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
“Specifically, the bill requires the electronic health record to log a change or deletion, and that change or deletion note needs to include the identity of whoever made the change,” Leno said, adding “Without these requirements and protections, there could be real concern for the well-being of the patient.”
Changes to an EHR can go unnoticed and can be harder to trace than changes made to paper records, according to Leno.
Health IT Building Blocks Are Building Up
Health information technology is going to be crucial in successfully revamping California’s health care system. In two short years, California hopes to have most physicians across the state using electronic health records — and to have those records linked through a health information exchange system, using a provider directory services database.
California took a big step toward realizing those goals, when Cal eConnect announced yesterday that it’s ready to start taking bids from vendors that would design that provider directory services system.
That RFP, or Request for Proposals, will be a central topic of conversation when Cal eConnect convenes today (Wednesday) for a membership meeting.
More Money Could Go to Work Force Training, Report Says
The California Senate Office of Research released a report yesterday that looks at where federal funding for work force investment is going. And, apparently, it’s not to work force training.
“In California, most Local Workforce Investment Boards have reported investing little of their federal funds into work force training and instead have spent a substantial amount on other employment services,” the report stated.
There are hundreds of millions of dollars allocated to California each year under the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998, according to the report. Most of that money is spent at the local level, in local investment boards.
Round One Goes to Services for Developmental Disabilities
California facilities for residents with developmental disabilities have been squeezed by state budget cuts — including a Medi-Cal freeze on some reimbursement rates. But just because California is low on cash, that doesn’t give the state the right to freeze those rates, U.S. District Court judge Christina Snyder said. She issued a preliminary injunction on Friday that halted some budget-cutting measures that don’t follow the law.
“Judge Snyder’s ruling is that the rate freeze was applied unlawfully,” Mark Reagan, attorney for the California Association of Health Facilities, said.
“This is just one round,” Reagan said, adding, “There will certainly be more rounds to come. But at least this piece has been achieved.”
Senate Health Committee Moves Single-Payer Bill
Many dozens of single-payer supporters crammed the Senate Committee on Health chambers on Wednesday for hearing on a bill that would set up a single-payer health system in California.
The supporters were respectful and emphatic as they all stepped, one by one, up to the microphone to voice their support for such a model. After all of the advocates took their turn and returned to their seats, Senate Health Committee Chair Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina) wanted to know if there were any more speakers, so he politely asked if there was anyone else in the audience who was in favor of the bill.
And a sea of hands went up, as nearly everyone in the audience spontaneously and quietly raised their hands.