Program Details
Pennsylvania Flex State Profile
The Technical Assistance and Services Center (TASC), a program of the National Rural Health Resource Center, provides technical assistance for the Rural Hospital Medicare Flexibility (Flex) Program in the form of information, tools and resources. State Flex Programs benefit from sharing information with one another and the Flex State Profiles are meant to be a method to encourage that sharing.
State Contacts
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State Office Director, Pennsylvania
Flex Coordinator, Pennsylvania
Budget Assistant, Pennsylvania
Graduate Student Intern, Pennsylvania
Survey Results
In each core area, what are the top Flex activities in your state?
Core Area 1: Support for Quality Improvement
In collaboration with Quality Insights of Pennsylvania (QIP), the Pennsylvania critical access hospitals (CAHs) are engaged in the AHRQ Culture of Patient Safety and Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS) project. Each CAH will be receive an initial survey of their patient safety culture, will receive the TeamSTEPPS training and then be surveyed post training to assess the changes in patient safety culture.
Core Area 2: Support for Operational and Financial Improvement
The Toyota Production System in Healthcare through Lean Healthcare West and Penn State Continuing Education is being offered to 16 critical access hospital (CAH) staff from two different CAHs in the Spring of 2013. These two CAHs will have the opportunity to select two staff who could become future in-house trainers for subsequent Lean training of additional staff.
Core Area 3: Support for Health System Development and Community Engagement
In coordination with the Pennsylvania Trauma Systems Foundation, Level IV Trauma Hospital Standards have been developed and adopted. Three Pennsylvania critical access hospitals (CAHs) and two additional small rural hospital have committed to becoming Level IV Trauma hospitals and have begun the process to become designated as Level IV Trauma Hospitals.
Please describe a success story or innovative program from the Flex program in your state:
One innovative program has been the partnership between the Pennsylvania Flex Program and the Penn State College of Engineering senior Industrial Engineering students. As their capstone course requirement, students have been placed in Pennsylvania critical access hospitals (CAHs). They have been involved in projects including: supply chain management, operating room scheduling, central scheduling, and electronic health record (EHR) implementation.
State Contact Details
Lisa Davis
State Office Director, Pennsylvania
(814) 863-8214
Specialty Areas / Background
Public health, public policy, and special populations
State Office Director since June 1999
Larry Baronner
Flex Coordinator, Pennsylvania
(814) 863-8214
Specialty Areas / Background
Hospital management, physician office management, and human resources
Flex Coordinator since February 2001
Sheryl Shaffer
Budget Assistant, Pennsylvania
(814) 863-8214
Specialty Areas / Background
Budgeting
Budget Assistant since March 2001
Ashley Brinton
Graduate Student Intern, Pennsylvania
(814) 863-8214
Specialty Areas / Background
Electronic health records, surveys, and hospital specific projects
Graduate Student Intern since September 2010