The day-long event will allow you to network with other FSCI-participating hospitals and learn from leaders and current participants of ACS NSQIP. Using your hospital’s individual risk-adjusted report, which you will receive prior to the meeting, you will learn how to establish the processes for your own internal team as you work together to improve surgical care.

To register, click here.

Hugh Greene, president and CEO of Baptist Health, recently was installed as chairman of the Florida Hospital Association. The association consists of 205 hospitals and health systems from across the state. Greene is completing his year as chair of the JAX Chamber.

What is your first priority in leading the Florida Hospital Association?
There are really two significant priorities. The first relates to the Medicaid program that ensures access to health care for the poor in our state and serves more than 3 million residents. Last year alone, there were $495 million in cuts to the Medicaid program and more than $966 million since 2005-06. There are three significant issues. First, we are concerned about further reductions in light of the state revenue shortfall as legislators understandably seek to balance the state budget. We are also very concerned about the elimination of certain key Medicaid programs, such as the Medically Needy and Aged/Disabled programs, which remained intact in the last legislative session but are at risk. Finally, we continue to work with those in Tallahassee to ensure an effective and smooth expansion of Medicaid managed care across the state. Secondly, in addition to this advocacy work, Florida hospitals are participating jointly in certain major quality initiatives, such as the Surgical Care Initiative, in concert with the American College of Surgeons, to reduce surgery-related infections, for example. This also is high-priority work to continue to improve quality and patient safety.

What does it mean to Jacksonville for the state group’s leader to be based here?
I am not sure there is any particular significance of the chair being from Jacksonville. My selection reflects my long tenure in the state and longstanding involvement in statewide issues with the association, having served on its executive committee and board for a number of years. It is important to note that Bob Brigham from Mayo and Doug Baer from Brooks are also on the association board.

Will you have more, less or the same amount of travel compared to your chairmanship this year of the JAX Chamber?
The chamber did not entail significant travel. Clearly, the overall time commitment with the chamber far exceeds the actual hours spent in the association role. The chamber chair role necessarily entails a huge time commitment as there are innumerable events and meetings associated with this position. For example, there are only quarterly meetings of the FHA board. In fact, I have historically been involved with most of the FHA activities as a member of the executive committee, although serving as chair will likely incrementally add some time commitment in the form of telephone calls and other activities.

How much time will you spend in Tallahassee to work on legislation?
Due to the outstanding association CEO and staff, I will not spend an inordinate amount of time there. I have always been in Tallahassee 8-10 days a year as part of my association involvement and my serving on the Low Income Pool Council as a governor appointee. I do not envision any real increase in time there.

Do you consider the health care industry as the leading job producer in the state?
While not unaffected, health care industry employment has certainly been less impacted by the economic downturn than many others. In fact, Florida hospitals still overwhelmingly report that they have difficulty filling specific nursing and allied health professional positions within 60 days of posting a vacancy. Therefore, the industry remains a robust contributor to employment in our state.

Health Science Center Jacksonville News
By: Matt Galnor
Published: Friday, October 14, 2011

Joseph J. Tepas III, M.D., professor of surgery at the University of Florida College of Medicine—Jacksonville, was honored by the Florida Hospital Association this week.

Tepas, chief of the division of pediatric surgery, was named the 2011 Florida Surgical Care Initiative Champion during the association’s annual meeting in Orlando.

Tepas is statewide surgical director for the initiative, designed to improve surgical outcomes of patients while reducing the cost of health care. He has been instrumental in recruiting providers across the state.

More than 100 Florida hospitals have expressed interest and 64 of them are now participating.

“Ultimately, care will improve, best practices will emerge, costs will go down and Florida will play a very prominent role in how surgical care develops in this country going forward,” Tepas said.

The “champion” award is given to a member who raises quality and patient safety standards by implementing the initiative.

“It was the work of a lot of very talented people, I just get to be the pretty face at the top,” Tepas joked.

The awards are chosen by FHA leadership and a team of judges from outside Florida. The association has more than 200 hospital and health system members across Florida.

Please remember to register early using this form. Registration is limited to the first 900 participants due to space. FSCI participants receive the discounted meeting rate of $95 for two participants from each hospital. Additional participants from your hospital may register for the full meeting rate of $520. A FSCI-specific breakout will be held during the meeting. For more details, please click here. For an informational brochure, please click here. Please also remember to reserve discounted hotel rooms at the Westin Copley Place online here.

We hope to see you in Boston!

Topics:

1. FSCI Update

• MOC credit for FSCI hospital surgeons
• Registration and details about SCR training scheduled for March 28-April 1

2. Improvement Systems to Accelerate Change – Bruce Spurlock, MD

The purpose of these calls is to provide a forum for ongoing collaboration among FSCI members across the state.

Even before we have risk-adjusted data, we have important topics to cover such as implementing change within your organization, establishing the right structures and processes for quality improvement, as well as hearing from hospitals who have been successful in engaging their quality teams and other staff, and identifying efficient data collection methods.

As we move ahead and the first FSCI reports are available, these calls will provide a forum to review results together and work together on improvements, learning from those who have excellent results, and helping all hospitals work to improve their patient outcomes.

For conference call information, please contact Martha DeCastro at martha@fha.org.

FSCI Collaborative Calls are monthly – scheduled for the 2nd Thursday of every month, from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m.  All members of the FSCI team are encouraged to participate in the calls, and we hope all hospitals will participate in every meeting!

“We formed FSCI to set a national example for quality care, and show the nation and policymakers that here in Florida, we deliver high value care,” said Bruce Rueben, president of the Florida Hospital Association. “FSCI is the tool that can help us do that. FSCI will help prevent complications, save lives, improve care and reduce costs. That’s how we define value.”

FSCI’s four measures – SSI, UTI, colectomy and elderly surgery outcomes – were developed by ACS in partnership with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as possible national outcome measures. Two of the measures were recently endorsed by the National Quality Forum (NQF).

“Through FSCI, Florida’s hospitals will have a valuable head start on working to improve in these key areas, before these measures are publically reported and tied to reimbursement,” Rueben told participants.

“FSCI is not just about making sure we’ve completed all the required processes. It’s about reviewing the care we’re providing, learning from those results, and making care better for our patients on an ongoing basis,” said Clifford Ko, MD, FACS, director of the ACS Division of Research and Optimal Patient Care. “Our hospitals will benefit, our surgical teams will benefit, and most importantly, our patients will benefit.”

Throughout the day, speakers highlighted FSCI goals, how data is collected and reported, and how the collaborative will work together to improve care throughout the state.

“We have the opportunity to lead in our state and in our nation to improve surgical care for our patients,” said Dr. Joseph Tepas, MD, FACS, ACS Board of Governors member and Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at the University of Florida College of Medicine-Jacksonville. “We need to make the commitment to do better.”

“We need the best data, and then we need to put that data into action,” said Bruce Spurlock, MD, CEO of Convergence Health Consulting and a national expert on collaborative quality improvement. “The FSCI collaborative will allow you to share tools and best practices, learn new implementation strategies and network with others around the state. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel if someone already has a QI strategy that’s successful.”

In the coming months, Dr. Spurlock will continue to work with FSCI by leading the initial FSCI monthly collaborative calls.

Participants also heard from local ACS NSQIP participant Jillian Knight, surgical clinical reviewer at Baptist Hospital of Miami. The hospital has used its ACS NSQIP data to reduce general and vascular surgical site infections from 4.42% to 1.77%, and has achieved “exemplary” results on 17 ACS NSQIP measures. It has also achieved $4 million in savings annually since 2007 and its mortality rate is in the ACS NSQIP 90th percentile, resulting in hundreds of lives saved. Five hospitals in the Baptist Health South Florida system participate in the full ACS NSQIP and the sixth system hospital will join FSCI.

In the afternoon, breakout sessions and panel discussion allowed Surgeon Champions, Surgical Clinical Reviewers, quality improvement leaders and other leaders to learn more about the program, ask questions and begin networking with fellow participants around the state. Participants heard from Jennifer Ritz, RN, quality manager and former surgical clinical reviewer from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Mich., and from Dr. John Morton, MD, FACS, surgeon at Stanford  University School of Medicine and national chair of the ACS NSQIP surgeon champions group.

The meeting marked the start of collaborative-wide activities. Following the meeting, collaborative conference calls will occur monthly. Please mark your calendars to participate in collaborative events beginning in March.

Please let us know if you have any questions about how FSCI helps in MOC requirements.

This session for FSCI members will provide additional background on FSCI and update them on the implementation of the program. It will be an opportunity for FSCI members to share thoughts and experiences from their respective institutions, ask questions of others in similar environments and gain an understanding of the importance of objective quality improvement.

For more information on the meeting, please click here.