REGION 15-REGIONAL HEALTHCARE PARTNERSHIP
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
1:00 p.m.
El Paso First Health Plans, Inc.
1145 Westmoreland Drive
El Paso, Texas 79925
PRESENT
Cathy Gibson, CCO, Chief Waiver Officer-UMC
Gina M. Palafox, UMC
Sarah Allen, UMC
Blas Meza, UMC
Gloria Vega, UMC
Lorrie Giessel, UMC
Julie Gest, UMC
Joanne Bonilla, UMC
Moses Priego, UMC/Learning Collaborative Director
Cynthia Y. Martinez, UMC
Mariam Yazdi, UMC
Matthew Watford, UMC
Sandra Pineda, UMC
Oscar Perez, TTUHSC
Garrett Levin, TTUHSC
Norma Garcia, TTUHSC
Tom McConnell, Tender Care Home Health
PRESENT
Claudia Lozano, City of El Paso Health Department
Fernando Gonzalez, City of El Paso Health Department
Jorge Ramirez, City of El Paso Health Department
Nick Emerick, City of El Paso Health Department
Elizabeth Cereceres, City of El Paso Health Department
Bruce Parsons, City of El Paso Health Department
Robert Arvizu, City of El Paso Fire Department
Marcus Cano, Sierra Providence Health Network
Cindy Hernandez, EHN
Mathangi Madhu-Purushotham, HCA/Las Palmas
Maria Villanos, TTUHSC
Maria Teresa Ambat, TTUHSC
Carol World, Salvation Army
1. CALL TO ORDER & ROLL CALL
Ms. Lorrie Giessel called the meeting to order at 1:05 p.m.
2. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE FEBRUARY 2015 MEETING
There were no recommended changes and the minutes were adopted.
3. ANCHOR UPDATES
Ms. Gibson presented her overview of recent communication from HHSC as follows. On Category 3, HHSC
continues its technical review and will be contacting providers to finalize baseline data and DY4 and DY5 goals.
Providers may receive calls or emails from Jennifer, Noelle, or Amanda of HHSC, who are providing technical
assistance for this subject area. For any providers with unresolved NMI requests from October DY3 reporting, results
on the NMIs will be sent by March 31st. If supporting documentation has not be approved, then recoupment of
payemnt, if any, will occur in mid April.
On the topic of waiver renewal or extension, HHSC submitted its Waiver Transition Plan to CMS on March 22,
2015. Region 15’s Diabetes Learning Collaborative was mentioned in the plan on page 4 as an example of
collaborative efforts leading to development of improved referrals among providers. Ms. Gibson also mentioned that
HHSC continues to express interest in gathering information statewide regarding evidence based best practices that
have been developed through successful project implementations. All projects are welcome to forward information.
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HHSC has confirmed that providers have a project withdrawal window available from February 1 through May
1, 2015. During this window, no penalty will result from withdrwal of a waiver project.
HHSC will be updating RHP Plans and posting information on its website beginning mid-April. Providers may
be asked to verify or confirm information during the process of formally updated plans. Projects will be grouped by
project type. Each RHP website will eventually have a Stakeholders Resource page linked to HHSC’s website. The
deadline for completion of Plan updating is May 15, 2015.
Ms. Gibson also reported that activities continue regarding the mid-point assessment performed by Myers &
Stauffer as required by the terms of the Program Funding and Mechanics Protocol. Recently, Myers and Stauffer
began review of information reported for 3 year projects. Providers should be aware that M&S may contact them in
the near future with additional questions regarding these 3 year projects.
Ms. Gibson announced dates and times of upcoming webinar presentation from HHSC on April Reporting to be
held on April 7, 2015.
4. DSRIP PROJECT PRESENTATIONS, COLLABORATION, DISCUSSIONS OF LESSONS LEARNED (Note:
Please refer to power point slides of each presentation posted on the region 15 website for detailed information):
A. “The CAUTI Crusher UTI Action Plan and its Effects on CAUTI Reduction in the Intensive Care
Unit,” by Cindy Hernandez, BSN, RN, and Mariam Yazdi, BSN, RN, University Medical Center of El Paso.
This is a quality improvement project developed in the Nurse Residency Project to address reducing rates of
CAUTIs in the hospital ICU setting. Lessons learned by the participants include the necessity of bringing awareness of
the issue to all clinicians, to engage in efforts to cultivate enthusiasm for solving the problem, and to help nurses advocate
for timely removal of CAUTI’s, among other improvement ideas.
B. “Ultrasound Guided Peripheral IV Insertion in the Emergency Department,” by Matthew Watford,
BSN, RN, EMT-B, University Medical Center of El Paso.
This is also a quality improvement project developed in the Nurse Residency Project. In this project, Mr.
Watford researched and developed a policy for supporting use of Ultrasound to assist in cannulation of veins by nurses in
the ED setting. This is a nurse driven training program with evidence based data to support benefits to patients and staff.
Lessons learned from this project include the existence of an opportunity for certain ED nurses, who are willing,
interested, trained and educated, to increase their autonomy and skills in the ED. Benefits include improved patient
satisfaction, a decrease of complications of traditional IV insertion, greater nursing satisfaction, and improved efficiencies
in the ED.
C. “Vaccinations for Health,” by Deputy Chief Robert Arvizu, City of El Paso Fire Department.
This is a program that began as a means to combine resources of two departments in order to provide essential
services to the city’s senior population. Paramedics of the fire department administer flu shots, pneumonia vaccines and
basic health screenings to persons over age 50 who are enrolled in Medicaid or uninsured. Lessons learned to date
indicate that the program is well received in the senior community and efforts continue to keep identifying popular sites.
D. “Real Data,” by Nick Emerick, MA, City of El Paso Health Department.
This is a project that collects valid and reliable race, ethnicity, and language data to reduce disparities in delivery
of healthcare services within the community. Several institutions participate including UTEP, UTH, Texas Tech, City of
El Paso Fire Department, and the City Department of Health. Lessons learned to date include focusing on collaborating
with hospitals for baseline data and needing to schedule transportation to improve voucher return rates.
E. “Improving Care and Outcomes of High Risk Newborns after NICU Discharge using the Patient Care
Navigation Program,” by Maria Teresa Ambat, MD, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
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This is a DSRIP project that targets infants born at less than 32 weeks gestational age and/or infants whose birth
weight was less than 1500 grams who are discharged from the El Paso Children’s Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Lessons learned to date focus on quality improvement measures developed through PDSA activities. Phone call
reminders to parents are helpful, family meetings are necessary prior to discharges, and welcome packets with service
information improved understanding of newborn parents.
F. “Increasing Well Child Exams,” by Maria Theresa Villanos, MD, Texas Tech University Health
Sciences Center.
This is a DSRIP project that focuses on improving the rate of completion of nationally recommended preventive
pediatric healthcare examinations. Lessons learned in the project include recognition that careful review of data and
findings lead to improvement in completion rates. And, continuous and strong efforts need to be made to remind parents
and advocate for well child exams.
5. DEVELOPMENT OF NEW Region 15 BEHAVIORAL HEALTH LEARNING COLLABORATIVE
Ms. Gibson announced that efforts continue in developing a new behavioral health collaborative that will be led
by Emergence Health Network. Ms. Cindy Hernandez, EHN, also spoke about focusing the collaborative on topics or
ideas that would be most meaningful and productive for the community given other ongoing efforts. Ms. Hernandez
invited all present at the meeting to feel welcome to join and contribute ideas about the vision and mission statement that
needs to be developed. Notice of the next development meeting will be sent to all persons on the region 15 email
distribution list.
6. ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION OF PROJECTS OR ANY ISSUES OF CONCERN
Discussions were held among meeting participants regarding DSRIP issues of their own concern.
7. ADJOURNMENT
Ms. Gibson adjourned the meeting at 2:50 p.m.
Ms. Cathy Gibson, Chief Waiver Officer
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