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Ohio

State Office Director

Heather Reed
(614) 752-8935
Heather.Reed@odh.ohio.gov

Specialty Areas / Background

Heather Reed provides oversight for the Primary Care and Rural Health Program. Collectively, the Program is responsible for administering six federal grants (SORH, Flex Program, SHIP, Black Lung Clinics Program, Primary Care Office, and State Loan Repayment Program), as well as several million in state funding (fees and General Revenue Funding) for recruitment and retention efforts as well as funding to safety net providers for uncompensated care. Heather has worked for numerous years to coordinate rural health policy and activities statewide, provide technical assistance to rural communities in their efforts to improve health systems, and disseminated relevant rural health information to constituents of the SORH. Additionally, Heather is the co-chair of the Statewide Rural Health Coalition, on the Steering Committee of the Ohio Rural Development Partnership, staffs the Flex Advisory Board, and serves as an active member of the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health and the National Rural Health Association, and was a member of the National Advisory Committee for Rural Health and Human Services.

State Office Director since December 1991

 

Flex Coordinator

Tina Turner-Myers
(614) 752-5133
Tina.Turner-Myers@odh.ohio.gov

Specialty Areas / Background

Tina Turner-Myers has worked as the Flex Program Coordinator since September 2004, as well as staffed the Small Rural Hospital Improvement Grant (SHIP) Program. While in this position, Tina has developed relationships with the Quality Improvement Organization for the State of Ohio (Ohio KePRO), developed multiple quality improvement initiatives, established and facilitated the QI Network for CAHs in Ohio, written the Flex and SHIP Program grants, coordinated and facilitated the Flex Advisory Board meetings, successfully implemented the goals and objectives of the Flex Program, and updated the State Rural Health Plan regarding CAH communities. Prior to this position, Tina has worked as the Director of a department serving low income seniors at a non-profit organization. In that position she was responsible for developing and managing department strategies, budgets, time frames, staffing, funding and goals. Tina has also worked for the State of California's Health Information Technology Department, Health Services Department, and Parks and Recreation Department managing contracts, programs, grants, bids, electronic discharge data reporting and training, and training local hospital staff throughout the state of California.

Flex Coordinator since September 2004

 

Top Three Flex Activities in 2009

  1. Continue the Quality Improvement Network efforts (benchmarking projects and tracking CAHs reporting data to CMS).
  2. Carry out the goals of the Ohio State Rural Health Plan (HIT, improve networking and collaboration among CAHs, RHCs, and FQHCs, workforce issues, and provide health promotion resources).
  3. Continue to award and distribute funds to CAHs for quality improvement, patient safety, HIT, EMS, and HIPAA related activities.

Flex Program Success Story

The SORH and Flex Program had collaborated to coordinate efforts to provide funding for 5 Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) and CAH projects in Ohio. In April 2009, the Ohio Department of Health provided an additional $95,000 to the Foundation for Healthy Communities (through an existing 18 month grant award of over $1.4 million to provide funding to 33 of 34 of Ohio's CAHs for quality improvement, EMS training, patient safety, networking, and hardware and software purchases). The Foundation for Healthy Communities made another RFP available to all CAHs to respond to an opportunity to receive a total of $114,320 (including the $95,000). The 5 FQHC and CAH collaborative projects are briefly described below:

  1. Hardin Memorial Hospital and Allen County Health Partners applied for project planning funds to support the development of a Public Health Section 330(e) application. Hardin is committed to evaluating the feasibility of locating a health center in a hospital building creating a health services campus in downtown Kenton, Ohio and will provide support services such as laboratory and radiology to the health center. Hardin and Allen County Health Partners have been working together with the Hardin County Department of Jobs and Family Services, local medical providers, schools, and the Mental Health Recovery Services for the past two years. Allen County Health Partners operate a PHS 330(e) community health center in Lima, Ohio and a PHS 330 (g) migrant health center in Tipp City, Ohio.
  2. Highland District Hospital and Health Source of Ohio applied to provide diabetes testing supplies for patients with financial need (guidelines for qualification include federal poverty guidelines, qualifying catastrophic events, or recent change of debt to income ratio) in Highland, Adams, and Brown counties. In 2001, three area hospitals (including two CAHs) and a FQHC came together to establish a Rural Health Collaborative of Southern Ohio with one of its guiding principles to identify health care needs, which can be addressed most effectively and efficiently in a collective manner. The members of the Collaborative are Adams County Regional Medical Center (CAH), Brown County General Hospital, Highland District Hospital (CAH), and Health Source of Ohio (FQHC).
  3. Galion Community Hospital and Third Street Family Health Services applied to have a Health Needs Assessment for Crawford County prepared. While using published data, the research study would include the basics of general population data, health information, oral health need information, analysis of payer mix in the community, insurance, Medicare and Medicaid enrollment and utilization vs. the uninsured, unemployment rates and trends, socioeconomic indicators, presentation of key findings to Galion Community Hospital, written and electronic final report suitable for peer distribution. The findings will provide guidance for future direction and development on a community level and results will be shared. The goal is to provide the necessary basic information to identify how Third Street Family Health Services can tailor their services to match current needs, and to efficiently help solve current health problems in Crawford County.
  4. Bucyrus Community Hospital and Third Street Family Health Services applied to improve the quality of life and address the unmet need of primary care dental services for low-socio economic status (low-SES) tobacco users in a five county area, as a part of the Crawford Health & Wellness Coalition. The five counties include Crawford, Marion, Morrow, Richland, and Wyandot. The low – SES patients will receive free dental care when they normally would not seek expensive dental services to reduce the number of patients seen in the much more costly hospital ER for dental related pain and swelling.
  5. Barnesville Hospital and Ohio Hills Health Services applied to support the recruiting and retention of a family practice physician to the Freeport Family Health Center.

Most Significant Acheivement

The QI CAH Flex/SHIP Network was developed in 2004, and includes representatives from 33 CAHs, SORH staff, and OHA staff. The group has continued to expand with other quality improvement interests such as patient safety, Balanced Scorecard, HIT, HIPAA compliance, reduction of medical errors, and quality improvement staff education and performance. The Network is responsible for encouraging Ohio CAHs to report their core measures to the CMS Hospital Compare. The number of CAHs reporting data to the CMS Hospital Compare website increased from 26 CAHs to 28 CAHs, totaling 82.4% reporting, compared to the national 69.1% reporting.

In 2008, the Network experienced some changes with the decrease in focus on rural hospitals of the State's Quality Improvement Organization and CMS Statement of Work. In response this challenge, the Ohio Department of Health's Flex Program released a request for proposal to solicit a consultant to provide project and group facilitation, technical assistance and training for the quality improvement staff at the CAHs through the Network. In September 2009, the consultant was identified and will begin work in October 2009. The successful consultant is Performance Management Institute (PMI) and a CPHQ consultant with Stratis Health.

The Flex Program Coordinator and PMI will conduct quarterly meetings that will be data driven, utilize PMI's web based platform RPM and "Message Board" with PMI consultants, analysts, and CPHQ from Stratis Health to monitor and respond to all questions in a timely manner. RPM technology will also serve as a central database through the incumbent "CORE Manage" module for data mining, research, and presentation of findings around CMS Core Measures for statewide benchmarking to the CAHs. "Initiative Tracker" will be used as a method to document, record and share best practice policies and procedures among the participating CAHs. Training will also be provided by PMI consultants and Stratis Health CPHQ consultants in person, via webinar and via teleconference to support the evolutionary and expanding nature of CMS public reporting through Hospital Compare.

The Ohio Flex Program is looking forward to future successes regarding quality improvement and the other program goals.

Flex Program Details

Location: Ohio Department of Health
Number of CAHs: 34
Web site: http://www.odh.ohio.gov/

State Rural Health Plan
Appendix A - The Economic Impact of the Health Sector in Rural Ohio, 2006
Appendix B - Ohio Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas
Appendix C - Ohio's Critical Access Hospitals, Federally Qualified Health Centers & Rural Health Clinics
Rural Assistance Center State Resources