Fall is in full swing!  I miss the days of making the rounds house-to-house for trick or treating, but love seeing all the kids dressed up as super heroes, ninja turtles, and princesses.  Nowadays I dress up my dogs, which gets me the “look” from my husband!  In addition to Halloween, each year in October I look forward to seeing all of you at our Annual Conference, which is happening Thursday and Friday this week.

During CRHC’s Annual Conference we have the opportunity to engage as rural communities.  We must take a serious look at how to make the transition from volume to value.  With 27 rural hospital closures nationally since 2013, we know this is only the tip of the iceberg.  Thursday morning during the conference Maggie Elehwany, Government Affairs and Policy Vice President from the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) will be talking about The Landscape of Rural Health Policy.  Maggie will discuss the struggles when rural hospitals close including the economic impact to the community, access to care, and patient impact.  She will also discuss the ACA and NRHA’s plans for introducing a bill during their Policy Institute in February 2015, which will focus on keeping the current system in place while rural health moves towards restructuring itself.

We must start showcasing how we are demonstrating innovation through value based healthcare models.  We know 26 of Colorado’s 51 federally certified Rural Health Clinics are signed up for the Accountable Care Collaborative (ACC).  The ACC is Colorado’s Medicaid primary healthcare delivery model.  Medicaid clients are attributed to a Primary Care Medical Provider, who contracts with a Regional Care Collaborative Organization (RCCO) to act as a medical home for ACC clients.  The Rural Health Clinic is paid $3 per member per month for each ACC client attributed to the clinic.  If your clinic hasn’t engaged in this process let us know and we’ll help you get signed up – it’s that easy!

We also know that Critical Access Hospitals and Rural Health Clinics are showing improvement in operational and clinical outcomes through our Healthy Clinic Assessments and Improving Communications and Readmissions (iCARE) programs.  During the Annual Conference we have several presentations focused on the business side of quality: gaining control of costs and public perception with a focus on patient centeredness, data, quality and finances, the implications of the All Payor Claims Database (APCD) on rural Colorado, the  Colorado State Innovation Model (SIM) and the road ahead, workforce recruitment and retention, the impact of telemedicine on our communities, rural residency developments in our state, community paramedicine, Cold Spotting – building a local community of solution, the future of HIE and culture change.  Phew… what an agenda.

Our keynote speaker Sandra Ford Walston, the Courage Expert, will energize the group through discussion of courageous leadership – an inside job.   She is a an internationally recognized speaker, learning consultant, corporate trainer and courage coach for almost twenty years who helps organizations, teams and individuals tap into their courage.  Fitting for the conference, she also has a strong background in healthcare.

Featured on the circuit as witty, provocative, concrete and insightful, she has changed the lives of thousands of leaders each year.  Sandra is the internationally published author of three books and she has also been published in magazines such as Chief Learning Officer, Training & Development, Strategic Finance and HR Matters.  Sandra is qualified to administer and interpret the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and is an instructor at the University of Denver.

Assisting others is a goal in Walston’s life, whether as a friend, consultant, speaker, coach, author or hospice volunteer. Fascination with the richness of life and a deep commitment to upholding the highest of human values have been the threads from which Walston has woven her life experiences. She values experiencing all aspects of life with passion. She challenges herself beyond the status quo, pushing for excellence in sports, travel, relationships, writing, consulting, coaching, and speaking.

I’m excited to see everyone on Thursday at CRHC’s Annual Conference and engage in conversations on how together we can accomplish the task of moving from volume to value.

I’ll leave you with a quote that our keynote speaker provided, “Everyday courage has few witnesses.  It is no less noble because no drum beats and no crowds shout your name” by Robert Louis Stevenson.