Athena Go Live is successful

    Melissa Memorial Hospital successfully implemented its new electronic records management system Tuesday, Sept. 19. A presentation detailing the outcome of Go Live was delivered to the East Phillips County Hospital District board Tuesday, Sept. 26.
    The project impacted every department and was managed by MMH IT director Jennifer Wernsman with Athena Health electronic medical records. Wernsman described the factors creating the successful implementation as a huge level of employee engagement, leadership dedication, online training, and great teamwork and attitudes.
    The decision to move to the EMR system arose from MMH’s devotion to providing patients with the best care from the best people using the best technology. Wernsman said Athena’s philosophy is if you use the system right, no order will ever be missed. The goal is to offer the best patient experience, with patient safety being the most important factor, she added.
    Building the new system took an immense amount of behind-the-scenes work as each department was responsible for its own content. A great team effort was put forth by 17 staff members from various departments who worked together to establish efficient workflows. The process helped develop a better understanding of how the departments affect one another.
    The new system will help provide consistency between departments and develop  effective workflows and best-practice processes. Wernsman noted that the Athena representatives on site at Go Live said it was their best and favorite Go Live yet. Full implementation will take three to four months.
    The Athena implementation has been a priority this month, said MMH CEO Trampas Hutches. Utilizing the new system will help MMH work at optimum levels, he added.
    
CEO shares status updates with board
    Hutches informed the board that MMH received a $50,000 grant to change financial planning to focus on budgeting for total expenses, change capital, working capital, fixed asset planning, debt principal methods and reserve building. “This is a radical shift in financial planning from the traditional budgeting methodology,” said Hutches. Securing this grant opens the door for MMH to be eligible for an additional $250,000 grant with no restrictions through the Colorado Health Foundation, he added.
    The August 2017 Quality Committee outcomes report showed only two readmissions for patient compliance to medications. All benchmarks were good with only one patient complaint, which was resolved. Swing bed utilization is up, having one per week continuously. Outpatient is outperforming last year and the pharmacy is doing very well — increasing utilization, Hutches reported.
    The Holyoke Childcare Initiative Committee met Thursday, Sept. 21, and formed a 501(c)(3) board to create a paper trail for funding. Hutches reported that the committee voted to move forward with the CU students’ assistance in designing the child care facility. The students will start within the next couple of weeks to have a final product in February or March. At that time the committee will go after funding, said Hutches.

CFO reviews financials
    CFO Wes White presented the preliminary 2018 budget at last week’s board meeting. MMH will start department budget reviews in October. The goal is to have the budget ready for submission at the Nov. 28 board meeting, noted White.
    A public notice is required by state regulation of the date, time and place of the budget hearing, which will be announced in the Enterprise no later than the week prior to budget submission. If a mill levy is required, it must be certified and submitted to the assessor by Dec. 15, he added.
    Upon review of Governance Policy 4.8, the board approved an increase in audit fees to $60,000 because the cost  for the prior two years’ audits were over the $28,000 budgeted amount. The governance investment policy was accepted with approved changes.
    White reviewed the balance sheet for August, reporting cash and investments at $5,458,828, equal to 149 days of operating expense and 49 days greater than the board policy. Current assets were $7,961,064 and current liabilities were $2,042,375 for a current ratio of 3.9:1 compared to the Board policy of 2:1.
    In review of the August income statement, White reported that clinic utilization was under budget and hospital utilization was over budget. Clinic and hospital professional fee revenues were under budget by 31 percent, while hospital revenues were above budget by 9 percent. Operating expenses were over budget by 2 percent, and net income for the month was $28,721.
    
MMHF reports
    MMH Foundation board representative Steve Young reported that the foundation appointed a committee to begin preparations for the Legacy Event scheduled for Feb. 10, 2018. Also, he reminded board members of the Legacy of Thanks event to be held Sunday, Nov. 12, in the hospital lobby.

Other business
    In other business at the Sept. 26 meeting, the board:
    —Approved expenses for board member Steve Young to attend a Colorado Hospital Association meeting.
    —Approved four reappointments, including Alicia Bennett, D.O., in teleneurology, Jessica Skomp, FNP, in family medicine, Kevin Cuccinelli, M.D., in family medicine and Kristie Borne, P.A., in dermatology; two regular appointments, including Ananda Fine, M.D., in teleneurology and Tim Meyer, O.D., in optometry; and two resignations, Daniel Possehn, D.O., in radiology and Judd Jensen, M.D., in teleneurology.
    —Held a 16-minute executive session for investigation into provider insurance enrollment matters and investigation into personnel.