Important Early Detection Works (EDW) update
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) EDW Program announced Gov. Kelly and the Kansas Legislature have provided supplemental program funding for program year 2022 and ongoing program years to support the increased need for cancer screening services. Effective May 9, 2022, the EDW program has resumed breast and cervical cancer screenings.
In addition to the resumption of screening services, EDW has reactivated direct provider enrollment privileges effective May 9, 2022. EDW providers with direct enrollment privileges may now resume direct enrollment of program eligible patients. All patients enrolled for EDW diagnostic services since March 1, 2022, will continue to be eligible for the diagnostic services for which they were enrolled. All payment requests for EDW services occurring between July 1, 2021 and June 2, 2022 must be entered by June 3, 2022. Payment requests entered after June 3, 2022 will not be processed until after July 1, 2022.
Spotlight: Holton hospital achieves 46% reduction in readmissions amid COVID-19
Hospitalizations account for nearly one-third of the total $2 trillion spent on health care in the United States, according to the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Though most hospitalizations are necessary, too often patients are re-admitted soon after their initial hospital stay. Such readmissions are both costly and often avoidable.
Holton Community Hospital (HCH) in northeast Kansas achieved a 46% improvement in their Unplanned All Cause 30-Day Readmissions Rate between September 2020 and February 28, 2022. Through their work with HQIC and KHC, they implemented a unique Readmission Risk Assessment and developed a proactive approach to care coordination, which resulted in the dramatic improvement of the hospital’s readmission rate. Read more about their project at: www.khconline.org/holton.
KHC webinar: Hospital Sharing on Improving Sepsis Bundle Compliance
KHC’s Office Hours at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 25, will feature a round table discussion with several Kansas hospitals to provide information on how they have improved their sepsis bundle compliance. Register here.
Free CME opportunity
KU Medical Center is offering a continuing medical education opportunity for primary care providers. The full program consists of one-hour zoom sessions over the lunch hour. The sessions are free for PCPs to attend. Register here for the upcoming session and recordings of past sessions.
HQIN webinar: Substance Use and Stigma in the Latino Community
If you missed this 20-minute program, you can still listen to the recording by Dr. Cristina Rabadan-Diehl, a national subject-matter expert on opioid stigma and cultural disparities. Comments from those who attended the live session, included: “This was a very powerful and moving presentation.” “The best webinar I have ever attended!” Access the recording here.
Updated eCQM resources for 2023 reporting period
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has posted the electronic clinical quality measure specifications for the 2023 reporting/performance period for eligible hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals, hospital hybrid, outpatient quality reporting and eligible clinician programs. CMS updates the specifications annually to align with current clinical guidelines and code systems so they remain relevant and actionable within the clinical care setting. Measures will not be eligible for 2023 reporting until they are proposed and finalized through notice-and-comment rulemaking for each applicable program. The updated eCQM specifications are available on the Electronic Clinical Quality Improvement eCQI Resource Center here: https://ecqi.healthit.gov.
Funding opportunity for Community Health Worker clinic teams
KHC, in partnership with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, is soliciting applications from clinics interested in embedding teams of Community Health Workers (CHWs) at clinics in Brown, Crawford, Johnson, Finney, Wyandotte, Sedgwick, Thomas, and Mitchell Counties. CHW teams will work to provide greater access to COVID-19 prevention and response while addressing chronic diseases and access to social determinants of health that exacerbate COVID-19. For more information, visit: www.khconline.org/CHW.
Quality Improvement in Kansas RHCs
Jill Daughhetee — KHC Director of Education and Communications — led an afternoon seminar titled “Quality Improvement in Kansas RHCs,” at the Kansas Association of Rural Health Clinics pre-conference at the Spring MGMA Kansas meeting in Wichita on April 20. She facilitated hands-on, interactive quality improvement activities in which participants worked in teams to use Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) cycles to create practical plans for implementing change in their organizations upon return to their RHCs.
Attendees learned about CMS, KDHE, CDC, SAMSHA technical assistance, and privately funded KHC initiatives as well as how their organizations and the communities they serve might benefit from engagement in these quality improvement initiatives. More information here (PDF).
New KHC team members
KHC has recently hired two new Quality Improvement Advisors (QIAs): Kaylie Andersen, MS, and Julia Pyle, MSN, RN. QIAs work in collaboration with the KHC Program Directors and other KHC staff—as well as valued partners, including the Kansas Medical Society and Kansas Hospital Association—in providing program support and services to Kansas hospitals, physician practices, health systems, community partners, and related organizations.
Kaylie Anderson has 10 years of experience performing reporting and benchmarking in non-profit health care. She has in-depth knowledge of the practical and technical specifications of clinical quality measures as well as system-administrator-level familiarity with electronic health record systems. Most recently, she was a Patient-Centered Medical Home Quality Improvement Coordinator at KC CARE Health Center (an FQHC) in Kansas City, Mo. She earned a Master of Science degree from AT Still University in Kirksville, Mo.
Julia Pyle has more than 30 years of experience in the health care industry with a background that includes critical care, education, supervisory, and executive leadership roles. She has been a leader in bringing high-reliability concepts and evidence-based practices into hospitals to ensure delivery of high-quality care and excellent customer satisfaction. Julia earned her undergraduate degree at Pittsburg State University before earning a Master of Science degree at the University of Missouri in Kansas City.
KHC Director of Operations to retire in June
Longtime KHC team member Rhonda Lassiter, CAP, OM, will be retiring in June. Rhonda joined KHC as Executive Assistant in 2013 and is retiring as Director of Operations. KHC team members have depended on her not only for her tireless job-related duties but for her gentle and joyful approach in bringing everyone together as a team. She will be greatly missed.
Her husband, Lee, retired in August of 2020 from BCBSKS as Director of Membership after 27 1/2 years. Her son Bobby Ross, his wife Ileana, and son, Javier, live outside of Denver in Aurora, Co. Bobby works for Trelora Real Estate. Her daughter, Kristin Ross, lives in Topeka and is a copy writer with Mammoth Creative in Meriden. Rhonda said her plans for retirement are to visit their grandson more frequently and sort closets. She and Lee have traveled abroad many times and hope to do more of that, as soon as they’re comfortable leaving/boarding their 15-month-old Shiba Inu, Nikko, for more than a couple of hours. Rhonda said it has been a pleasure working for KHC and supporting its board of directors for nearly nine years and she will always be grateful to Kendra Tinsley for hiring her.
KHC’s current Project Coordinator Treva Borcher will be taking over much of Rhonda’s duties. She can be reached at
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About the Kansas Healthcare Collaborative
KHC is a provider-led 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a mission to transform health care through patient-centered initiatives that improve quality, safety, and value. Founded in 2008 by the Kansas Hospital Association and the Kansas Medical Society, KHC embodies the commitment of two of the state’s leading health care provider groups to act as a resource and continuously enhance the quality of care provided to Kansans. More information at: www.KHConline.org.
If you have any questions about this update or other matters, please direct them to Jill Daughhetee, KHC Director of Education and Communications,