MDNews - Greater Kansas

STORMONT VAIL HEALTH PRESENTED CHECK TO UNITED WAY Stormont Vail Health presented the United Way with a check from the proceeds of its 2019 employee campaign on Thursday, Jan. 16. One of the tenets of the organization is "Together we honor our heritage, embrace diversity and work every day to improve the health of our community." Stormont Vail Health team members lived this tenet by raising $169,000 for the United Way of Greater Topeka. This support comes through employee contributions during Stormont Vail's week- long campaign and an annual gift basket raffle. Individual departments also organize their own bake sales, penny wars and similar fundraising activities. Many also make a point to participate in community service projects during the campaign. MERCY, ORTHO FOUR STATES SIGN ACQUISITION AGREEMENT: ORGANIZATIONS TO COME UNDER MERCY OWNERSHIP IMMEDIATELY Orthopedic Specialists of the Four States, Premier Surgical Institute and Stateline Surgery Center signed an agreement to become part of Mercy, effective Jan. 26. "For more than a decade, Ortho Four States has been providing compassionate high-quality orthopedic and pain manage - ment care to our patients in Joplin and the Four-State Region," Ortho Four States CEO Joe Caputo says. "We are honored to be the trusted providers in restoring patients' qual - ity of life through state-of-the-art surgical and nonsurgical procedures. Today, we are proud to announce the strengthening of our ability to treat patients as we become part of the Mercy ministry, an organization with a 100-year legacy of healing." In recent years, Ortho Four States has expanded its footprint and services to in - clude multispecialty care. Premier Surgical Institute and Stateline Surgery Center are home to leading specialists in orthopedics, gastroenterology, gynecology, otolaryngol - ogy, dentistry, pain management, podiatry and more. Orthopedic Specialists of the Four States and Mercy have had a connection for years. Founding Ortho Four States physicians Christopher Banwart, Jonathan Grantham, Brian Ipsen, John Ogden, Terry Schwab, Robert Stringer and Paul Toma had privileges at the former St. John's Regional Medical Center. "This agreement creates a powerful force for good," says Tracy Godfrey, MD, President of Mercy Clinic Joplin. "Bringing together the experience and talent of multiple organiza - tions can only mean one thing — providing the best orthopedic care in the Four-State Area. At Mercy, we're excited to offer our current patients new services while bringing our min - istry of healing to those we have yet to serve." "We believe that the community will benefit greatly from bringing these organizations together as part of Mercy," says Jeremy Drinkwitz, President of Mercy Hospital Joplin. "Mercy is thrilled to add these well- known, high-quality healthcare providers to our ministry." The organizations will continue to operate under their current names and branding as Mercy begins the process of transitioning them to its electronic health record soft - ware, Epic. It's estimated that process will be complete in August, at which time a blessing and grand opening will be held and the or - ganizations will begin using the Mercy name and branding. In the immediate future, patients and community members should notice very little change. All current Ortho Four States, Premier Surgical Institute and Stateline Surgery Center patients should be able to continue their care uninterrupted, and Mercy plans to retain all staff as Mercy coworkers. KANSAS BUSINESS GROUP ON HEALTH SELECTED FOR EMPLOYER-LED EFFORT TO IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE IN KANSAS AND NATIONALLY The Kansas Business Group on Health (KBGH) has been selected to lead efforts in Wichita and throughout Kansas to improve mental health and substance use care. This is part of a transformative initiative called The Path Forward for Mental Health and Substance Use led by the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, American Psychiatric Association, American Psychiatric Association Foundation Center for Workplace Mental Health and Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute. "KBGH is honored and excited to be chosen as one of eight regions in the country to carry out this much-needed work," says Shelley Duncan, KBGH Executive Director. "Our member employers will greatly benefit from the outcomes of this work and ultimately help transform the provision of mental health and substance use treatment in Wichita and beyond." KBGH will lead one of eight Regional Employer Stakeholder Engagement Teams (RESET Regions) to leverage the influence of their employer and other healthcare purchaser members to work with health plans, medical and behavioral health groups, consultants, and brokers to combat this public health crisis. To gain national traction, similar efforts are underway in California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. A report published last month by Milliman found the current state of mental health and substance use treatment in America is dire and only getting worse. Results showed that patients were much more likely to resort to "out-of-network" providers for behavioral health treatment than for other conditions. To overcome these issues, The Path Forward has identified Five Priority Strategies that constitute our nation's best opportunity to transform behavioral health care at a population level and improve access to necessary early detection and appropriate treatment. These best practices include (1) improving access to "in-network" behavioral health specialists, (2) expanding use of the collaborative care model to integrate behav - ioral health into primary care, (3) implement- ing measurement-based care in both primary care and behavioral specialty care to improve quality and outcomes, (4) expanding tele- behavioral health and (5) ensuring mental health parity compliance. n 1 8❱❱❱❱❱ H O S P I T A L R O U N D S

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