Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services

Top Flex Activities

CAH Quality Improvement

The Montana Flex Program (MT Flex) encourages public quality reporting through Quarterly Quality Calls, weekly Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project (MBQIP) emails, a Montana-based manual in printable format, and through the Montana Flex Performance Improvement Network (PIN) website.

To directly impact improvement and provide education, MT Flex focuses on project-based and skills-based education and certification programs. MT Flex offers a professional certification preparation course on a cyclical format. In FY 2020, MT Flex project will facilitate Stratis HEalth'vided a prep course and learning group to a cohort of CAH staff interested in obtaining certification in infection prevention and control via a collaborate learning format.

MT Flex provides project-based learning for performance improvement in our MBQIP 2 Outcomes (M2O). Annually, a cohort of 10 to 15 Montana CAHs complete a facilitated, targeted improvement project that integrates quality coordinator education, Lean methods, and statewide networking using the foundational elements of a rapid improvement project. The FY 2020 project will facilitate Stratis Health’s Quality Improvement (QI) Basics program with new QI staff.  

MT Flex will continue to work with the very robust Montana Antimicrobial Stewardship (ABS) Collaborative towards increasing the number of facilities that are meeting the seven core elements of ABS. This past year, the collaborative began to provide support to work on implementing ABS seven core elements, but completion was delayed due to COVID-19 restrictions. Additionally, MT Flex is working with a regional cohort of facilities to provide direct pharmacy assistance for ABS Program development and pharmacy review. MT Flex encourages use of hospital and Rural Health Clinic (RHC) Days of Therapy Tools and provides technical assistance and reporting reminders. Technical assistance is also provided to ensure data validity, continuity, and integrity; software training; and data management resource training.

CAH Operational and Financial Improvement

Lean internships have been a cornerstone of the Montana Flex Program for many years. Up to eight hospitals are accepted for a two-week rapid improvement project conducted by Montana State University (MSU) Industrial Engineering students in the summer. The students work in conjunction with hospital stakeholders to apply their knowledge of Lean principles and tools to complete an improvement project of the facility’s choice within a two-week period. Project participation provides the opportunity to work on the following activities:

• Target a specific improvement event identified by the facility

• Involve project stakeholders in an organized, problem-solving process utilizing Lean methodologies

• Provide real-world learning experience for MSU students

• Utilize outside expertise to rapidly complete an improvement project

Over the years, Lean projects have included inventory/supply chain management, charge capture, staff scheduling, food service/dietary systems, admission/registration processes, patient wait times, and workflow. Education on Lean principles is also offered to CAH Leadership in FY 2020.

In FY 2019, MT Flex contracted with the National Rural Health Resource Center to develop a Montana CAH Balanced Scorecard that includes indicators on quality improvement, financial and operational improvement, and population health. Montana CAHs were invited to participate and provide input into development. This activity continues in FY 2020. MT Flex will also contract with LilyPad for POND web app for Rural Health Clinic data collection.

Utilizing Flex funding, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) Trauma Systems planned to bring in a national instructor to host an Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) instructor course to increase the instructor pool by eight in FY19. Montana lacks the minimum number of instructors required. Unfortunately, this activity was cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions and will be carried over into FY 2020.

Other financial and operational activities include trustee education to develop understanding of governance, survey readiness, and participant support to attend annual financial conferences.

CAH Population Health Improvement

MT Flex will be facilitating the Community Access to Mental Health First Aid & Resources (CAMHFAR) program in five CAH communities again in FY20 as COVID-19 restrictions allow. CAMHFAR is a format for convening all community stakeholders, not just CAH staff, to develop pathways and relationships between primary points of contact for those in need of assistance and to offer community members Mental Health First Aid training. The Montana Flex Program is inviting CAHs to take the lead on the project by reaching out to the stakeholders, hosting the training, and gathering the partners at the conclusion of the training to decompress and share resources. In addition, after each training, a community resource guide will be developed and provided to all.

MT Flex actively collaborates with the Montana Office of Rural Health to support up to eight CAHs’ efforts to develop community health needs assessment (CHNA) implementation plans. Implementation plan data is analyzed through the development of a global report to identify areas of need for additional resources.

In addition to Flex activities contracted with the Montana Health Research and Education Foundation (MHREF), DPHHS partners in the Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Bureau will have activities for Worksite Wellness and Prenatal and Postpartum Breastfeeding Support. The Worksite Wellness will expand to eight CAHs in FY20 and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) evidence-based programs will be added. Prenatal and postpartum breastfeeding support training will be offered with little to no cost to CAHs. A Rural Train-the-Breastfeeding-Trainer Program will be provided at no cost for up to 10 host CAHs and 10 scholarships for a Critical Access Certificated Lactation Program are available to CAH staff.

Rural Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Improvement 

Montana DPHHS EMS will be utilizing Flex funds to contract with a vendor to create a data bridge with the national CARES registry in FY20.

Please provide information about network activities in your state to support Flex Program activities.

All MT Flex activities are coordinated through the Performance Improvement Network (PIN), which is comprised of all 49 CAHs. Network activities are supported through a PIN listserv, a website, and regional and statewide meetings. MT Flex focuses primarily on cohort work, where hospitals with similar needs work on projects and share project results and processes with the entire PIN.

Please provide information about cross-state collaborations you may be working on related to the Flex Program.

MT Flex is working with a cohort of states to develop an on-demand trustee education platform.

Program Statistics