May, 2022 |  Vol. 7   No. 11

Deputy Director's Corner

Happy May, everyone!  

As always, there is a lot going on at MHD!  Bring your kids to work day was a lot of fun and I know Gail will have some pictures.  We’ve had a fun team-building day, celebrated Administrative Professionals Day, Babe Ruth Day, High Five Day, raffle baskets, the search for the golden egg, and enjoyed having the food trucks.  Thank you to MHD Connections and the IDL Team for all that you’re doing to make our workplace fun and inclusive!

We have also posted and are in the process of filling several new positions at MHD.  It is really unprecedented to get a 5.5% pay increase and 19.5 FTE!  When we have our May organizational chart I will send that out to everyone so you can be sure to see all the changes and additions.

I know many of you are still waiting to hear anything further on distributed work.  There is a new call center initiative that will include Nikki Ashley’s and Jessie Veit’s groups.  Since two people on Nikki’s team were in the original pilot, and since the 19.5 FTE increase our 20% margin, this will free up some spaces to add a few team members for distributed work, and we are working on that.

On Monday, you got an email at 10:05 with a link to the Quarterly Pulse Survey.  Please take the survey!

I wanted to take some space, here, to mention all the many initiatives we have going on and give a shout out to those involved with them.  Some are new, some are not.  Some are big efforts we need to celebrate your hard work on, even if they’re things required by CMS or state legislation.  And some are things that you are just doing because you want to see MHD be best in class!

Will Morgan is heading up implementing our new specialty plan for our foster children and those in state custody. Michelle Kohrmann, Eric Martin, and Amber McCadney-McKenzie are heading up a pilot program to track follow up after inpatient hospitalization.  Eric is also working on another pilot for foster children with a group called Family Forward.  Renee Riley’s placemat initiative is to analyze our claims data for disparities across age, race, and geography with regard to our pregnant MHD participants in order to give recommendations for us so we can better serve that population.  Dana Bernier and the education unit are revamping and updating educational materials and finding new ways to provide education to our providers and others.  Melody Webb is leading a new effort to update participant addresses to decrease our returned mail.

In Ashley Wilson’s new role, she will be working on her placemat initiatives around new employee orientation and training, a MHD resource library and enhancing the intranet, and new professional development opportunities.  She’s also going to begin to tackle a thorough review of federal and state laws and regulations, the State Plan, our policy manuals, and our practices to make sure they are aligned and that we are compliant.  And, she’ll be working with our various units and vendors to review communications we send out, as well.  We are going to pick up again with revamping our provider manuals and Julie Phillips is leading that effort.    Molly Kempker is implementing our new PACE program. Renee Riley continues to head up our project with Cerner, for a medical records platform for foster children.  Lori Bushner is heading up a maternal health workgroup, bringing members of the MHD team together with other stakeholders to move us in the right direction with policy recommendations.  She is also working on ways to better promote prevention programs for our participants.

Tina Morlock is tracking some Community Health Worker high-utilizer pilots that are going on with some of our Federally Qualified Health Centers.  Glenda Kremer and Nanci Nikodym are working to make changes in how we can pay for therapy services.  Glenda is also leading our cost-sharing overhaul, and she and Hallie Malone continue to work on the “No Wrong Door” effort that is designed to create ease for our participants seeking or utilizing home and community-based services.  Glenda has also been working on alternative ways to provide care to our medically complex children.  Karen Pendleton has been leading the effort to update our PASRR processes with the Departments of Health and Mental Health.  This is the Preadmission Screening and Resident Review process used for certain individuals who may need nursing facility care.  Terri Woodward is busy implementing the next phase of Electronic Visit Verification or “EVV”.

Eric and Amber have also been working on a waiver for individuals with Serious Mental Illness or Severe Emotional Disturbance (SMI/SED).   Lisa Smith is heading up the effort to procure a new pharmacy module.    Kelly Connell continues to head up the Encounter Data Workgroup to improve the quality of our managed care encounter claims’ data.  Amy Kelsey is in charge of implementing the Interoperability Rule, and Kathryn Dinwiddie is leading the effort to begin a new contract period with our three managed care health plans.  Danielle Gesch is busy implementing a new Enrollment Broker or “Beneficiary Support System.”

Fatimah Jennings is establishing a MHD member forum, to exchange information to best serve all participants, Fee for Service and managed care alike.  Each plan has its own member forum but we decided it would be beneficial to have an overall MHD forum as well.  Josh Moore and I are working with our vendor Relias to find innovative ways to assist providers, like professionally done videos on certain topics. David Ward is working on a project to update all of our MOUs with DMH and with DHSS.

I want to say that a lot of MHD team members are involved in these efforts so thank you to all!  If you think you have a project that should be on our project tracker, let me know.  Remember, some of our projects have been moved over to Justin Clutter’s Transformation Dashboard, so they may not be mentioned here.  We’ll highlight them in future newsletters and dive into some of these efforts more in future newsletters, too.  Let me know if you have any in particular that you want to learn more about.

All of these efforts and more, are in addition to not only the hard work you do every day, but also the continual focus on improvements when you see the opportunity.

Thank you. Jessie

Data Governance Corner     Last month, the role of the Data Stewards was introduced. Another important task that Data Stewards perform is to act as the liaison between the data analysts and the business users on report requests. One way they do that is to enter the tickets for report requests into Jira Service Management (JSM), formerly Jira Service Desk (JSD). While the JSM process may seem unnecessary to some because it’s easier and faster to simply email Ryan, it has already proven to be a valuable process. The process of tracking report requests in JSM allows for peer review of data requests before being released, quickly searching to see if a data analyst is already working on a request so we don’t duplicate efforts, and documenting how and why we are accessing and using our data, which is a requirement of HIPAA. In the future as more reports are entered into the JSM tool, we will be able to anticipate data needs and built more dashboards for easier access of the information that is needed for decision making and supporting programmatic needs. It is also used to balance the workload between the MHD Data Analysts and the IBM Data Analysts.

• Mental Health Awareness Month to raise awareness for individuals living with mental or behavioral issues and seeks to reduce the stigma that they experience. It is suggested to celebrate the  month by understanding how stress impacts your body, developing your support network, and reaching out to friends or family members that you believe may be struggling.
• Older American Month is led by the Administration for Community Living. It seeks to celebrate the accomplishments of the elderly as well as raise awareness concerning elder abuse and neglect.
• Jewish American Heritage Month: This yearly observance recognizes American Jews and their their importance to our nation. To celebrate this event, make a Jewish recipe, tour a museum, or pick up some Hebrew words!
• Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Mexican Heritage as it commemorates the date that the Mexican army defeated the French army. You’ll often see it celebrated with parties, parades, traditional Mexican foods, and mariachi music.
• Happy Birthday to Malcolm X! In the 1960s, Malcolm X was a prominent civil rights leader and figure in the Nation of Islam. He was assassinated in 1965. His birthday is celebrated on May 19^th, and it’s known as “Malcolm X Day.”

Staff News

Moving on up...

Congratulations go out to the following MHD members:

• Nanci Nikodym was promoted to the new Behavioral Health Coordinator.   Nanci brings extensive experience with MHD and DSS. We are thrilled to have her join the behavioral health team at MHD!
• Ashley Wilson was promoted to the new the position of MHD’s Quality, Compliance, and Process Improvement Professional.  Ashley brings years of quality work and commitment to MHD to the position, and this is a very exciting opportunity for MHD!  
• Amanda Clutter was promoted to a Benefit Program Senior Specialist in MMIS. We will miss her in Admin but this is a great opportunity.  We know she will do very well in her new position.
• Madelyn Craig was promoted to an Administrative Assistant in Admin.  Madelyn is already a valuable member of our Admin team and will definitely succeed in her new role. 
• Beth Mitchell was promoted to a Benefit Program Specialist in Program  Operations. Beth will work with the Medically Fragile Adult and Brain Injury waivers, as well as Private Duty Nursing, Personal Care and Home Health state plan programs.
• Bridgette Hicks was promoted to a Benefit Program Senior Specialist in MMIS.
• Erica Peart was promoted to a Benefit Program Specialist in MMIS.  Erica will primarily be working as an eligibility liaison between the MMIS and other eligibility systems
• Marcie Duncan was promoted to a Benefit Program Senior Specialist in Constituent Services. 
• Tabytha Whisler was promoted to a Benefit Program Senior Specialist in Pharmacy Rebate.
• Tracy Sigg was promoted to a new position as MHD’s Senior Budget Analyst to assist with ongoing annual budget preparation and to serve as the budget liaison for system changes related to MHD’s financial transactions.. Tracy has been in the Budget Unit for two years and has a lot of MO HealthNet knowledge, a perfect fit for this new position.
• Andrea Smith has been promoted to a Benefit Program Senior Specialist position in TPL, replacing Fran Stegemann who will be retiring at the end of May.

Wecome To The Team...

Kaitlin Bellinger joined MHD's Managed Care Unit as a Program Specialist.  She will be assisting with program policy, waiver, and contract compliance within the Managed Care unit.   She formerly worked for the Office of State Courts Administrator. Kaitlin has a Bachelors in Social Work from the University of Missouri Columbia and is currently working on a Masters in Public Affairs. Kaitlin currently lives in Jefferson City with her husband and 4 cats: Finn, Pascal, Chell and Daisy.    Kaitlin says she plays Trivia every Thursday at Cork & Board, loves game night with family and crafting.   A little know fact about her is that she has had her right eardrum reconstructed 3 times and is learning French.    She also said she recently got married in September 2021 and going to Palm Springs in April for a friend's wedding and honeymoon.

Amy Lage joined the Managed Care Quality Oversight group as a Research Data Analyst.   She formerly worked at the Family Support Division.  She also has a Bachelors Degree in Psychology from Trevecca Nazarene University. Amy lives in Jefferson City with her husband Bryan and 2 sons Greyson (5) and Garrett (9 months_. Amy enjoys walking, reality TV, and playing with her kids.  A  little know fact about her is that she enjoys trying different healthy recipes.

Jay Carver joined the Managed Care Quality Oversight group as a Research Data Analyst.  He formerly worked at MMAC.  He has a Bachelors in U.S. History Sciences at Lincoln University. Jay lives in Jefferson City with his wife Kelley. In fact, they were just married April 23.  They also share the house with Ms. Kitty and Oliver the dog. Jay enjoys watching TV and cracking jokes.   A little know fact about him is that he is an ordained minister.

Amanda Boehmler joined the Managed Care Quality Oversight group as a Research Data Analyst. She formerly worked at the Department of Health and Senior Services in procurement.    She is working on her Masters degree now and graduates sometime this summer. Amanda and her husband (who also works for DSS) live in Jefferson City with their 2 year old son. Amanda enjoys hanging with her family and playing strategic board games.

Donovan Dassrath joined MHD as a Benefit Program Specialist in the Pharmacy/Clinical Policy Unit.  He formerly worked at FSD. Donovan currently lives in Jefferson City.  He also attended school at Jefferson City High School and college in Springfield. Donovan's hobbies and interests includes working out at the gym, movies and going to the Lake.  He says, "He embraces lift like there is no tomorrow."

Leslie Schulte joined MHD as a Benefit Program Senior Specialist in MMIS.   She comes to us from the FSD Processing Center. Leslie attended Jefferson City High  School, Lincoln University and Moberly Community College.    Leslie resides in St. Martins with her husband Daemian, son Trent (10) and daughter Whitney (1).   Leslie enjoys fishing, hunting, camping, crafts, Amish shopping and Cardinals baseball!!   A little known fact  about her is that she is obsessed with Moose, is allergic to ALL Missouri plants, addicted to Amazon and double jointed in both knees.

This and That.....

Roxanna Halderman is a Mimi again.  Her son and daughter-in-law blessed her with a handsome new grandson.  Maverick David Halderman, born on 4/20/22 at 12:18am.  7lbs 13oz and 20.5 inches long.  Roxanna says she is a "Super happy Mimi!!"

Kids Day at MHD 

Kids' Day 2022 at MHD was a great success.   The Pharmacy Unit had some some events planned as you can see in the pictures.

Harley was one of our little visitors from Bring your Kids to Work Day.  If Harley was the Medicaid Director....She says No rules! Free snacks! No meetings! It would be very interesting if she was the Director at MHD.  Harley is Ashley Wilson's “Little”. They started hanging out in 2019 and met through the Big Brothers& Big Sister program.

Employment Opportunities

Do you have a friend or family member looking for a career change or job opportunity?   Are you looking for a career development/promotional opportunity?  Visit  MO Careers to view & apply for  current job openings.   Below are a few positions currently open:

• Accounting Specialist   at DESE's Division of Financial & Administrative Services Division. Closes May 10.
• Administrative Manager  at DFAS.  Closes May 5.
• Administrative Specialist 1 at the Office of Sate Courts Administrator's office.   Closes May 11.
• Benefit Program Specialist at DLS. Closes May 6.

Don't forget to check out the new training tab has been added to our intranet page.  Additional training has been added.   Check it out at the below training link:

• BIS-EDW Cognos Training Schedule & Enrollment  (Webex)

MHD  Connection News

Happy Spring at last!   Here are a few things MHD Connection has cooked up for April and coming months. 

Save the Date:  June 15 is the date for the summer MHD picnic! The event will be held at the North Jefferson City park (formerly known as Cedar City) from 12:00 - 4:00 p.m.  There will be food, games and dunk booth.   More information will be provided closer to the event.

Food Trucks: 

5/2  Sid's Snacks & Cool Beans

5/17:  Lilly's Cantina

MHD Connection team members include:  Lori Parrish (chairman), Christina Jenks (treasurer), Christie Masterson (secretary), Jeff Terry, Brittany Goetz, Melissa Massman, William Morgan, Heather Voegeli, Lauren Slover,  Pam Burris, Stephanie Hunt and Stacie Gibson.   Please share your ideas/suggestions on things you might have regarding events, staff forum topics, etc.

Spring Fling Baskets Thank you to everyone that participated in the Spring Baskets raffle.  MHD Connections is excited to announce that we raised a total of $644, of which $322 went to the Baby Lillie Foundation.

This  lucky group were some of the winners of the Spring Fling Baskets. Winners were: Basket 1 (Margarita Basket) – Brittany Goetz Basket 2 (Personal Care Basket) – Connie Sutter Basket 3 (Hard Liquor/Soda/Snack Basket) – Marissa Crump Basket 4 (Mystery Money Basket) – Dianna Payne Basket 5 (Gardening Basket) – Cinda Bishop Basket 6 (Personal Care Basket) – Courtney Sooter Basket 7 (Wine Basket) – Christie Masterson Basket 8 (Laundry/Air Freshener Basket) – Madelyn Craig Basket 9 (Lotto Card Basket) – Ashley Logan Basket 10 (This and That Basket) – Gail Luecke

What's Cooking at MHD?

Do you have a family recipe you'd like to share that we can post on the Recipe Corner on the intranet page or in the newsletter, etc.?  If would like to submit an item just send an email to Gail.  Keep those recipes coming and enjoy these delicious treats!!  Here are a couple of those recipes featured on The Recipe Corner.  

MHD Calendar & Area Events

Visit our Calendar of Events page for WEBEX Meeting Info

• May 9  Truman's Birthday - State Holiday
• May 18 General Assembly Adjourns
• May 30 Memorial Day - State Holiday

Hey! Stay outta my can, will ya?!!! The Howerton Building offers multiple recycling options: Paper — Large green Dumpster bins throughout the building for non-confidential paper; gray bins with slotted lids for confidential paper. Cans and Bottles — Containers in all galleys, including Center Court, for plastic bottles and aluminum and “tin” (soup) cans. Cardboard — Rolling bins just inside the dock area on the first floor for cardboard. Plastic Bags — A box in Center Court for clean plastic bags. Questions: Feel free to contact John Mier at 751-7079 or John.R.Mier@dss.mo.gov “Trash cans are for icky stuff — which I love!” — Oscar

REMINDERS CONFERENCE ROOMS:  Please remove meetings from the conference room calendars if you know that staff will be attending your meeting remotely and you will not need the conference room.   Please refrain from reserving conference rooms for 2 or 3 people if there is an office available. KEEP YOUR OUTLOOK CALENDARS UPDATED PLEASE!   This includes scheduled days off, meetings, trainings, etc.  By doing this it will help immensely to ensure meetings are scheduled within your work hours and help staff working deadlines to be able to plan around planned absences or if they need to reach you.  Thank you.