The Draft 340B Drug Pricing Program “Mega Guidance” is an attempt by HRSA to provide clarification relating to 340B implementation. Our analysis addresses the issues which have the greatest potential to affect FQHC programs. This “Mega Guidance” strongly confirms a number of positive issues relating to the program; however the focus is largely on compliance and abuse prevention. While we support and applaud this effort, in some cases there will likely be potentially detrimental effects to our programs and the patients we serve.
Champion of the Hudson
I recently came across this article about Peekskill, NY resident Rev. Jeannette Phillips, who recently had an FQHC site named in her honor. Hudson River Healthcare, one of the largest and most successful FQHCs in the northeast, serves the Hudson River Valley (where I grew up) near New York City.
Are FQHC controlled Medicaid health plans still the way to go?
About ten years ago, Community Health Center owned and operated Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) were all the rage. I spent almost five years during that time working to build a plan in Florida. We were successful, but does this strategy still make sense today? The answer is definitely...maybe.
The staffing mistake your health center can no longer afford to make
6.4 million people have been enrolled in coverage through the federal insurance marketplace for 2015. Consequently, the nation’s uninsured rate has dropped to historic lows, especially in expansion states and these states are spending less on health care for their uninsured. Many Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC), for the first time, are experiencing competition for their patients who were previously uninsured. As they look to gain efficiencies and cut costs, there is no greater cost than labor.
Life without HR Guidance
During a recent trip I found myself with a few leisurely moments and fired up the in-flight Wi-Fi and read several exchanges taking place on LinkedIn over a reprint on April 9, 2014 of a Wall Street Journal article titled, “Companies Say No to Having an HR Department.” The crux of the article was to spotlight some larger companies opting to eliminate their Human resources departments making front line managers responsible and accountable for those HR functions specific to their employee group. The article cites the benefits of pushing matters to the heart of the organization and one spotlight company cites that their managers only have to spend about 5% of their time on matters directly related to HR. The article itself was balanced by providing reasons why not having HR might not be such a great idea.
Claims Clearinghouse - Did You Know You Have a Choice?
It seems like just yesterday, as the CEO of a multi-provider ophthalmology center and ambulatory surgery center, I was faced with the challenges of finding a new practice management system and implementing electronic medical records into our organization's processes. Though there were many decisions and choices to be made, the one decision I didn’t make was the claims clearinghouse we would use. At the time, no one told me I had a choice and because of that decision many hours of lost productivity and revenue cycle management issues were encountered.
Follow YOUR Yellow Brick Road
Recently I had the pleasure of attending sessions at the HR Florida Annual Conference in Orlando, where the speakers referenced following their yellow brick road and how that allowed them to attain their personal and organizational goals. I have worked with several health centers and watched how leaders, including me, often know what they want at the end of their yellow brick road but allow their wicked witch to prevent movement that detours them from reaching Oz.
How Your Health Center Can Help with ACA Outreach and Enrollment Efforts
Open Enrollment for the Health Insurance Marketplace began on November 15, 2014. After the first Affordable Care Act enrollment period, a Commonwealth Fund report (http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2014/jul/health-coverage-access-aca) found that the uninsured rate dropped from 20% to 15%.
The True Cost of Employee Turnover
Turnover: What is it and what is its true cost? Quite simply, turnover is expressed as a ratio, the number of employees who have left during the year divided by the total number of employees at the beginning of the year.
As for the cost of turnover, estimates run as high as 150 percent of annual salary for mid-level employees .
Developing a Strategic Plan for Your FQHC that Doesn't Sit on a Shelf
Before joining FQHC Associates, each of our team members had participated in the development of strategic plans for their respective employers. Although we had some positive experiences related to this process, many of our experiences were not so great. The common thread of these negative experiences was the development of an unrealistic strategic plan that did nothing but “sit on a shelf.”