Announcements
Fort Peck QAPI Learning Session 6
Fort Peck QAPI Learning Session 6
Posted April 2021
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Fort Peck QAPI Learning Session 5
Fort Peck QAPI Learning Session 5
Posted April 2021
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Fort Peck QAPI Learning Session 4
Fort Peck QAPI Learning Session 4
Posted April 2021
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Mountain Pacific Releases FY2023 Annual Report
Mountain Pacific recently released its fiscal year (FY) 2023 annual report, which celebrates business growth and accomplishments from July 2022 through June 2023. In addition to celebrating 50 years of partnering alongside health care professionals, communities, patients and their families and other stakeholders, Mountain Pacific also launched a new logo and look and successfully advanced our work supporting Medicaid members, Medicare beneficiaries, Tribal health communities and several other health and well-being initiatives across our region of service!
We invite you to explore our FY2023 annual report and understand a significant cross-section of the work we do. We look forward to continued growth and success in FY2024!
Wyoming Nursing Homes Receive Quality Health Care Awards
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 25, 2023
Contact:
Jill Alessi, CEO
Mountain Pacific
jalessi@mpqhf.org | (406) 457-5820
Wyoming Nursing Homes Receive Quality Health Care Awards
(Casper, Wyo.) – Mountain Pacific is proud to announce the Wyoming recipients of the 2023 Nursing Home Quality Awards. This year’s award criteria were based on a quality measure point system that included decreasing adverse drug events, preventing infection, decreasing readmissions, improving resident vaccination rates for influenza and pneumococcal vaccines and a bonus category that acknowledged nursing homes that were never referred to Mountain Pacific from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for a COVID-19 outbreak.
Five Wyoming long-term care facilities met these goals and will receive their awards during the Wyoming Hospital Association conference held by Leading Age Wyoming in Cheyenne on Wednesday, August 30.
One facility will receive the Excellence in Quality Award, the top award:
South Lincoln Nursing Center
Four facilities will receive the Achievement in Quality Award:
John’s Health – Sage Living
Green House Living for Sheridan
Amie Holt Care Center
Rocky Mountain Care – Evanston
“All our nursing homes in Wyoming have persevered through trials of the pandemic,” said Callie Perkins, Wyoming account manager for Mountain Pacific. “Each has shown a dedication to providing quality care to our communities. Mountain Pacific is thrilled to present these awards and will continue to partner with long-term care facilities across our region to help ensure every resident receives the safest, highest quality of care possible.”
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About Mountain Pacific—Mountain Pacific is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation and holds federal and state contracts that allow them to oversee the quality of care for Medicare and Medicaid members. Mountain Pacific works within its four-state region (Montana, Wyoming, Alaska and Hawaii, which includes the U.S. Pacific Territories of Guam and American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) to help improve the delivery of health care and the systems that provide it. Mountain Pacific’s goal is to increase access to high-quality health care that is affordable, safe and of value to the patients they serve. www.mpqhf.org
This material was prepared by Mountain Pacific, a Medicare Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO), under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Views expressed in this material do not necessarily reflect the official views or policy of CMS or HHS, and any reference to a specific product or entity herein does not constitute endorsement of that product or entity by CMS or HHS. 12SOW-MPQHF-WY-NH-8/23-10
Mountain-Pacific Announces New CEO
Mountain-Pacific Quality Health’s board of directors announced the appointment of the nonprofit organization’s new chief executive officer (CEO). Jill Alessi will take on the roles and responsibilities of CEO starting Monday, April 3.
Alessi has more than 20 years of experience in health care and health care operations. She is also an experienced business leader in developing and growing strategic programs that support health outcomes and quality health care and address fiscal responsibility and social determinants of health. Alessi is also a registered nurse and holds a master’s degree in health care administration.
“We were very impressed with Jill’s innovative ideas, professionalism and experience,” said Mountain-Pacific Board Chair Allison Minugh, PhD, who is the CEO at Datacorp out of Cheyenne, Wyoming. “She will build on what Mountain-Pacific has accomplished over the past 50 years and lead us into our next phase of growth and service.”
Alessi was appointed after a nationwide search and an extensive selection process involving the organization’s board of directors and leadership staff. She succeeds Sara Medley, who retired from Mountain-Pacific in February.
“I am honored to lead this organization,” Alessi says. “I am so inspired by the work Mountain-Pacific does and the intelligent, passionate and creative professionals I’ve already met who do that great work. Mountain-Pacific supports so many health care providers, professionals and patients, and I strive to empower the leaders, partners and staff to achieve even greater success.”
Mountain-Pacific Quality Health Provides Detailed Profile for CEO Search
Mountain-Pacific Quality Health has contracted with WittKieffer, a global executive search firm, to lead the quest to find a qualified and dynamic CEO to replace current Mountain-Pacific CEO Sara Medley, who is retiring at the end of the year.
With help from Mountain-Pacific’s board of directors and leadership team, WittKieffer has assembled and posted a detailed leadership profile. The profile provides information about the employment opportunity, Mountain-Pacific, the position, goals and objectives for the position, candidate qualifications and how interested candidates can throw their hats in the ring for consideration.
“The CEO will be well versed in leading and advocating in a time of transformational change in health care,” the profile states. “The CEO will demonstrate a restless commitment to improvement and excellence. The successful leader will be a dynamic, thoughtful and results-driven executive who is called to lead Mountain-Pacific Quality Health into its next chapter of growth and service.”
The full leadership profile is posted on the WittKieffer website.
WittKieffer is accepting nominations and applications on Mountain-Pacific’s behalf. WittKiffer uses a candidate portal for application materials and inquiries. Any questions about the search can be directed to the office of Lyndsey Nicodem at lyndseyn@wittkieffer.com.
Sara Medley Steps Down as CEO after 45 Years at Mountain-Pacific
Dear stakeholders, partners and friends of Mountain-Pacific Quality Health:
On behalf of the board of directors, I am announcing the retirement of our chief executive officer Sara Medley, who has been with Mountain-Pacific for 45 years, the last decade of which as the CEO. Sara will step down at the end of the year.
Sara joined Mountain-Pacific in 1977. At that time, Mountain-Pacific was only serving Montana as the Montana Foundation of Medical Care. She went on to serve as the chief operating officer for 24 years, managing Mountain-Pacific’s quality improvement division and supporting the growth of the company, as its federal quality improvement work spread to Wyoming, Hawaii, Alaska and the U.S. Pacific Territories of Guam, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Over the last decade as CEO, Sara has supported even further growth for the company, providing vision and oversight as Mountain-Pacific leadership and staff have secured federal, state and commercial contracts, both in the states we already serve and in others as part of our expansion.
Sara has been a champion for Mountain-Pacific and its mission to provide innovation and solutions for better health, setting bold goals—many of which she and her teams have reached or exceeded. Arguably, though, her greatest gift as CEO has been her personal vision to “make people’s lives better,” and she has accomplished that for our internal teams, our partners and the many providers, patients and families in the health care communities we serve. We thank her for her time and dedication over the last 45 years.
While Sara will be greatly missed, Mountain-Pacific’s work will continue. Living in the world of health care has made us proficient at adapting and continuing to succeed and thrive. We attribute our accomplishments to the great people who have worked with and for Sara over the last several years. The timing of her departure comes when Mountain-Pacific is at its strongest. We are now looking for someone to help us reach even farther.
The board of directors has launched a nationwide search for a new CEO. We are currently vetting firms to support this search, and we encourage both internal and external applicants who understand the unique needs of rural and frontier health care communities and the diverse populations who live within them. An ideal CEO for Mountain-Pacific will carry on the organization’s entrepreneurial spirit and truly care about the growth and advancement not only of the company, but also of all the people who work for us. We look forward to meeting Mountain-Pacific’s next CEO.
Sincerely,
P. Allison Minugh, PhD
Mountain-Pacific Quality Health Board Chair
Read official letter.
Mountain-Pacific Quality Health Stories of Us – FY2022 Annual Report
Fiscal year (FY) 2022, July 2021 through June 2022, brought a lot of change and growth for Mountain-Pacific Quality Health. We pursued several business opportunities, and we are building new partnerships nationally, at the state level and with commercial businesses. We have constructed strategy plans, streamlined processes and reorganized and restructured staff in a way that allowed for internal promotion and leadership building as well as bringing in new staff and support.
This annual report looks back at FY2022, focusing on some of our stories and some of the specific, innovative ways we are living our mission and “partnering within our communities to provide solutions to better health.”
As FY2023 is already underway, we are continuing to assess our opportunities to continue to grow and change and be of value to the health care communities we partner with and serve. We continue to be passionate about driving innovation in health care.
Robert Lopp Joins Mountain-Pacific Quality Health
Mountain-Pacific Quality Health is excited to announce the new hire of Robert Lopp. As part of the organization’s restructuring, Lopp will be the chief administrative officer, a new position that will oversee internal support services across all areas of the company and help integrate and allocate resources.
Lopp has held executive management roles in finance, information technology (IT), human resources, business relationships and health care provider relations. He has also been a long-time partner and advocate for improving health care, especially in rural areas. He has been a health care managing partner for investment, management, development and oversight for rural health partners in joint ventures with more than 45 hospitals, including the majority of Montana and Wyoming’s critical access facilities and community health centers and a number of other health care systems.
Lopp’s IT experience is extensive. He has been responsible for IT and business unit strategic planning, consulting and training for several large, well known companies, including eBay, PayPal, Morgan Stanley, Sprint and Western Union, to name a few. He has developed and supported IT initiatives and projects with university systems, including the University of Texas, Texas A&M, Colorado University, Daniels School of Business, Colorado State University, University of Utah and University of Wyoming. He has also developed and supported IT initiatives and projects with state government agencies, including Texas (Departments of Revenue, Education, Health and Human Services and Corrections), Arizona (Departments of Revenue, Economic Development and HHS), Utah (Departments of Revenue, HHS, Social Services and Corrections), Colorado (all agencies), Wyoming (all agencies), Montana (Departments of Administration and ITSD) and Idaho (Departments of Revenue and Lottery).
Lopp obtained his bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Affairs from Brown University. While Lopp resides in Kalispell, Montana, he will frequently commute to Mountain-Pacific’s headquarters office in Helena.
New Business
Mountain-Pacific Quality Health and Frontier Psychiatry Launch 3D ECHO
March 23, 2021
Mountain-Pacific Quality Health and Frontier Psychiatry are launching 3D ECHO, a four-state, tele-mentoring initiative that delivers medical education and health care management to clinicians in remote settings.
The region’s newest Project ECHO hub is called 3D ECHO to reflect the importance of supporting the three dimensions of health care: biological, psychological and social dimensions. 3D ECHO will launch with a 10-part series about the fundamentals of substance use disorders (SUDs) starting on April 7, 2021, featuring the following topics:
Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT)
Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) for Alcohol Use Disorder
Engaging Patients about Their Cannabis Use by Discussing Pertinent Research
Epidemic-Proof: Opioid Use Disorder (OUD)
Treating Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Adults with Co-Occurring SUDs
Kratom
Benzodiazepine Abuse
Methamphetamine Abuse
Substance-induced Psychosis
Teleconnections in SUDs Treatment
The ECHO model, which has been deployed successfully worldwide, uses experts to lead virtual clinics, increasing the capacity for providers across the region to deliver best-in-practice care to their local communities.
“We know the 3D ECHO project will have a huge impact on extending much needed services across our region, which is largely rural or frontier,” said Sara Medley, Mountain-Pacific’s chief executive officer (CEO). “Frontier Psychiatry has extensive experience working with and developing relationships among providers, practitioners, patients and communities in remote areas of our region. Our partnership is a natural fit, and we look forward to working side-by-side with Frontier Psychiatry for this project and others to come.”
The rural health care experience and relationship Frontier Psychiatry has with providers in Montana, Wyoming and Alaska combined with Mountain-Pacific’s provider relationships will allow 3D ECHO to overcome regional barriers to care.
“I’ve had the privilege of leading Project ECHO clinics since 2016,” said Eric Arzubi, MD, CEO and co-founder of Frontier Psychiatry. “It’s exciting to launch 3D ECHO, a regional initiative with Mountain-Pacific, that will support clinicians in even the most remote communities.”
Mountain-Pacific and Frontier Psychiatry will run the first 3D ECHO clinic from April to August 2021. Additional offerings are planned and will be announced at a later date. Learn more about 3D ECHO.
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Developed by Mountain-Pacific Quality Health, the Medicare Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) for Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, Hawaii and the U.S. Pacific Territories of Guam and American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Contents presented do not necessarily reflect CMS policy. 12SOW-MPQHF-AS-CC-21-121
Mountain-Pacific Quality Health Awarded Security Risk Analysis Contract
January 11, 2021
Mountain-Pacific Quality Health, a nonprofit, health care quality improvement organization headquartered in Helena, Montana, is partnering with the Great Plains Health Data Network (GPHDN), affiliated with the Community HealthCare Association of the Dakotas (CHAD) and the Wyoming Primary Care Association (WYPCA) to help health centers safeguard patient information.
Under a new, three-year contract, Mountain-Pacific will support the privacy and security of patients’ health information by helping GPHDN’s health center members ensure the security standard of their health records. “After a thorough search for a company who could help us meet our data security goals, Mountain-Pacific stood out as an outstanding and cost-effective option for our network. We already began working and couldn’t be happier with the partnership that is being built,” said Kyle Mertens, Health Information and Data Analytics Manager with CHAD.
“Patient privacy and security are a big part of providing quality health care to patients,” said Sara Medley, CEO of Mountain-Pacific. “Our staff has the expertise to help health care providers comply with federal privacy and security laws, so they can focus on what matters most—caring for their patients.”
The GPHDN consists of 11 participating health centers in the Dakotas and Wyoming, consisting of 70 sites, collectively serving over 98,000 patients. As GPHDN’s newest partner, Mountain-Pacific’s security risk assessment services will review and modify current policies as needed, help health centers establish a plan to address a security breach if one were to ever occur and develop a training program for employees to minimize the risk of an information breach.
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This press release is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $1,560,000 with zero percentage financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.
Mountain-Pacific Quality Health Named Partner in Newly Awarded American Indian/Alaska Native Health Care Quality Initiative
December 30, 2020
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) awarded a four-year contract to Comagine Health, Mountain-Pacific Quality Health and other partners to lead the American Indian/Alaska Native Healthcare Quality Initiative within the CMS Network of Quality Improvement and Innovation Contractors (NQIIC). Comagine Health, Mountain-Pacific and other partners previously led this work for four years in Arizona, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota. The new work will continue to provide technical assistance to all of the 25 Medicare-certified Indian Health Service (IHS)-managed hospitals across the country to assist with pandemic response and emergency preparedness and to help reduce opioid-related mortality, improve patient safety and improve transitions of care among the American Indian/Alaska Native community.
Along with Comagine Health, Mountain-Pacific is partnering with a number of Quality Improvement Organizations to carry out this work, including Stratis Health, Great Plains QIN-QIO, Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality and Telligen.
Learn more on hospital quality improvement at www.cms.gov.
In The News
Nursing Home COVID-19 Booster Vaccination Data Now Available
As part of its commitment to improve transparency and help families and caregivers find the best nursing home care for their loved ones, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is now posting data on COVID-19 vaccine booster shots administered to nursing home residents and staff on the Medicare.gov Care Compare website. The data will show resident and staff booster rates at the facility level and will include national and state averages. Read the full statement.
COVID-19 Booster Shots for Americans
On Wednesday, August 18, 2021, public health and medical experts from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a statement on the Administration’s plan for COVID-19 booster shots. Booster shots for all Americans will be available beginning the week of September 20, and starting eight months after an individual’s second dose. At that time, the individuals who were fully vaccinated earliest in the vaccination rollout, including many health care providers, nursing home residents, and other seniors, will likely be eligible for a booster. Read the full statement.
Staff COVID-19 Vaccinations Required in Medicare and Medicaid-Participating Nursing Homes
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is developing an emergency regulation requiring staff vaccinations within the nation’s more than 15,000 Medicare and Medicaid-participating nursing homes.
This new requirement is a key component of protecting the health and safety of nursing home residents and staff by ensuring that all nursing home staff receive COVID-19 vaccinations. Read the full statement. View the White House fact sheet.
Success Stories
Success Story: Embracing Quality Improvement Processes Lead to Improved Dining and Resident Satisfaction
December 20, 2018
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Success Story: Team Work Reduces Infections and Antibiotic Resistance
October 17, 2018
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Success Story: Patient Perspective Provides Educational Opportunity and Lesson in Compassion
October 16, 2018
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Topics
–Healthy Living
–Immunizations
–Meaningful Use
–Physician Quality Reporting System
–MACRA-Quality Payment Program