From COVID-19 to Hurricane Laura, Chief Nursing Officer Mary Jo Andre shares a message of appreciation and support to our nurses for their continued dedication, courage and preparedness in keeping our team and patients safe, while adjusting to what has become our new normal in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more
The 2020-21 flu season has arrived and it’s time for our One Amazing Team to step up, make a plan and take action against the spread of the flu.
Starting this week, Employee Health will administer flu vaccines at no cost to Texas Children’s employees; Baylor College of Medicine employees working at Texas Children’s facilities; Morrison, Crothall contract employees; and volunteers at Texas Children’s.
Getting your flu vaccine is the first and most important step you can take to prevent transmission of the flu and protect yourself and others – and it’s even more critical this year, with the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing and health care systems around the country closely conserving resources.
It’s also easier than ever this year to make your flu shot plan. We’ve launched a new external website at texaschildrensbenefits.org/flu with all the workforce-related flu resources and information you need to get prepared. On this site, our team members can:
By getting vaccinated against the flu, you are helping to keep our patients and their families, our entire workforce and our community safe. For a step-by-step guide to making your flu shot plan for this year, visit texaschildrensbenefits.org/flu.
The 2020 Annual Required Training (ART) course is now live in HealthStream and available to all Texas Children’s employees, contractors and volunteers, who must complete the mandatory training no later than Friday, October 30.
To access ART, simply log into HealthStream and find the training on your “To Do” tab. Then, click on the “Start” link next to the course titled, “Texas Children’s 2020 Annual Required Training.” To receive credit, all required workforce members must review all course slides and sign the attestation to confirm they have completed the course as directed.
We can do just about anything these days with our smartphones. We can send and receive emails, make online purchases, connect with family and friends on social media, schedule doctors appointments and even access our medical health records, thanks to smartphones and modern software applications.
In our IT driven world, patient and provider communication should be conducted quickly, securely and conveniently, especially when it comes to accessing and exchanging electronic health information.
In 2016, The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology passed federal legislation called the 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule that puts patients in charge of their health care by allowing them to access their electronic health information more easily through the use of smart phone applications of their choice. The interoperability, information blocking, and patient access to data and electronic health record certification requirements outlined in the 21st Century Cures Act will go into effect in multiple phases and will impact our patients, health care providers and health IT software developers.
The Information Blocking provision under the 21st Century Cures Act is the first phase that will go into effect on November 1, and will impact access, exchange or use of electronic health information. The Information Blocking rule will apply to patient portals and applications – like MyChart, Care Everywhere and EpicCare Link – where a patient can easily access their medical records online. However, the rule does not apply to Texas Children’s traditional medical record information release process, where a patient has to go through the Medical Records Office to request copies of their personal health information.
Some of the core data elements that will require autorelease through our patient portals include allergies, assessment and plan of treatment, clinical notes, clinical care teams, health concerns, immunizations, lab results, medication, demographics, procedures, unique device identifiers for implants, and vitals data.
“Under the new rule, health care providers could be liable for information blocking if they do not release this data through these patient portals,” said Brian Stanford, Director of Health Information Management. “Right now, most of this data is not automatically released. Starting in November, we will be required to release this data via MyChart and other patient portals to make it more accessible so patients don’t have to go through the traditional medical record release process to obtain a copy of their health information.”
While there are a few exceptions to the information blocking rule – for instance, psychotherapy clinical notes are exempt from being automatically released into a patient’s electronic health record – this new process of information sharing will be a culture change for our health care providers and our patients.
“Our providers are used to reviewing health reports first before contacting their patient to discuss the results and plan of care,” said Maggie Weimer, Practice Administrator for Transition Medicine. “Now that this health information will be released automatically into the patient portal, a patient could access this information before their provider has had the chance to reach out to them to discuss their results. This change can come as a shock to the patient, especially if there is a particularly sensitive diagnosis.”
To prepare and educate the organization about the Cures Act, a workgroup has been assembled to carefully review the regulation, review our policies, procedures and business practices, and develop a systemwide communication plan to ensure our providers are compliant with this new federal regulation.
“With regard to information blocking exceptions, we are working with our legal department to carefully review certain situations where we could block the autorelease of information if the provider feels that releasing this information could potentially cause reasonable harm to the patient,” said Stanford. “We are collaborating with our IS team, senior executive leadership, and our MyChart and patient information exchange workgroups to help us evaluate and determine what our obligations are around the Cures Act.”
In addition to the ONC Final Rule, The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Final Rule includes additional requirements primarily for payers, that are also intended to increase interoperability.
“As more provisions go into effect in the upcoming year, our Cures Act workgroup team will continue to meet regularly to ensure the organization is informed, prepared and compliant,” said Weimer. “We are working with our internal partners and Marketing to help us facilitate timely communications as needed.”
Stay tuned to Connect for more updates on the Cures Act and the organization’s implementation efforts.
Texas Children’s has many unsung heroes who keep our organization running behind the scenes in ways most of us can’t even imagine. One of those unsung heroes is the 17-member Centralized Credentialing Office team.
This team shoulders some heavy responsibilities that greatly impact the quality of care offered at Texas Children’s and the organization’s bottom line. For starters, the team helps determine what providers get to work at Texas Children’s by ensuring we issue privileges to the utmost experts in their field.
Researching and verifying a provider’s credentials before they are appointed to Texas Children’s Medical Staff and every few years after that is one of the team’s top priorities. Their research is viewed by Texas Children’s Credentialing Committee, Medical Executive Committee and the Board of Trustees.
“We care deeply about what we do and feel passionate about the people we are putting before our patients,” said Brandy Hebert, director of the Centralized Credentialing team. “We feel confident that the people chosen to provide care to our patients are the best.”
The Centralized Credentialing team also is in charge of managed care credentialing for all commercial providers and Medicare and Medicaid enrollment in 49 states. These enrollment processes have to be revalidated every three to five years.
“Not many people realize the details of what this department does, but I can tell you as a partner in Revenue Cycle, what they do is critical to our reimbursement,” said Kathleen Wood, director of business services for Texas Children’s Physician Service Organization. “I continue to be impressed by what this group of individuals does.”
The team’s efforts were recently recognized when they received a perfect score on their National Committee for Quality Assurance reaccreditation. They were also recognized as a best practice/best in class for the third consecutive year at Verity’s User Group Conference. Verity is the owner of the credentialing software the Centralized Credentialing Office team uses to do their jobs.
Dr. Mark Ward, chief of the Credentialing Committee, said he was excited to learn about the team’s reaccreditation score but was not surprised since the team always strives to do their best.
“Even though members of the Credentialing Committee thank them for their hard work often, it’s nice they got some recognition aside from us,” Ward said. “What they do is essential service to our organization.”
Are you registered to vote?
Are your co-workers registered?
How about your family members or neighbors?
The 2020 General Election is November 3, 2020, and the deadline in Texas to register to vote or update your voter information is October 5, 2020. Texas Children’s Government Relations department is leading our System efforts to make sure the answer to all of these questions is, “YES!”
Posters will soon appear at various locations around the organization with QR codes to help you with the following:
1.) Check your voter registration status.
2.) Update your voter information, or
3.) Register to vote. As our adherence to COVID-19 precautions prevent us from hosting in-person campus voter registration events, sharing this news story and its important links with your co-workers, family, and friends via text or email is especially important this year.
Every U.S. citizen has a right to vote, and here are some things to consider to get ready to participate in this year’s general election. First, check your voter information as soon as possible by clicking here. Next, have you (or a member of your family) recently moved or changed addresses? Unless you want to vote in your old voter precinct on election day, you must update your voter registration to reflect your current residence.
If you can’t find your voter registration information, you can complete an online mail-in voter registration webform by going here.
To assist with successfully completing the web form:
1. Print the form and
2. Address the envelope to the registrar address indicated in the top right of the printed form.
3. Fill out the form and review the application carefully
4. Stamp and seal the envelope and place the filled out form in the convenient United States Postal Service mailbox.
5. To confirm your voter registration was received and processed, visit this website and click on “Am I Registered?”
Finally, besides voting for our next president, not sure who else is on the ballot? Go here and look up your county’s candidates for each race on the November 3, 2020 ballot.
For more details on the voting process and creating your personal plan for early voting or voting on election day, click here.
Texas Children’s non-partisan voter education activities are executed in collaboration with the Children’s Hospital Association guidelines on Permissible Nonpartisan Candidate and Voter Education Activities, which can be found here. All materials and publications associated with Texas Children’s voter education and registration activities is in no way is intended to reflect an endorsement for, or opposition to, any candidate or political party.
You can always access the latest voting details by visiting this page on the Texas Children’s site.
Beauty is all around us
The following passage was written by Texas Children’s Chaplain Pam Krinock.
In the kitchen of my childhood home there was a pottery bowl with an inscription by Goethe on it that read, “Every day one should at least hear one little song, read one good poem, see one fine painting and speak a few sensible words.” One year I made this quote my New Year’s resolution. As we plod on through this era of social distancing, with its disruption of normal activities, trying to remain resolved to keep ourselves and others safe, I keep seeing that bowl and hearing its words of wisdom echo in my heart. For certain, it is noticing the beautiful things in life that keep us centered.
I feel so blessed to work in a place where I can hear the soothing music of our music therapists playing in our patients’ rooms and our patient’s voices release inner emotion in song. Walking down any hallway I can see fanciful paintings created by children and cannot help but be cheered. As I am in and out of patient rooms, I daily hear a few kind words unfurl the tendrils of compassion that reach out to where our physical touch can no longer go. Looking out of the windows in our patient buildings, we have the opportunity to notice “God’s sky art,” as one child labeled the clouds and rays of sun. Recently I was deeply touched by a beautiful sculpture. Someone, after listening to the family’s stories about their little boy’s love of baseball, put a baseball in his hand as he lay intubated. This tender gesture will leave a lasting impression. Beauty is all around us. Our words and gestures provide the rhythm when our days need structure and direction.
Poetry in particular is helping me to maintain a sense of connection to the wider world these days. It makes me laugh, or cry, and connects me to the heart of another in ways I could not have imagined. I am taking the time to discover new poets. Lynn Ungar is a current favorite as she has written quite creatively during the pandemic. In her poem Toilet Paper she ponders over our beliefs about what will keep us safe.
How many rolls will make you safe?
Wouldn’t it be better if you, yourself,
were multi-layered and soft, and strong?
I cherish each day working with all of you. Together we are multi-layered, and soft, and strong. I hope that you too will bask in the beauty around us and that it will give meaning, rhythm and a soulfulness to your days.