Happy April!

This is what Google told me about April: April was the second month in an early Roman calendar, but became the fourth when the ancient Romans started using January as the first month. April is named for the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite.  Google also said April is humor month, so I expect to hear a lot of jokes this month from Nate.

What did April Fools’ Day say after it won an award? Prank you.

DSS is about to undertake a major effort to restart doing annual redeterminations on Medicaid participants to determine if they are still eligible for coverage. If you visit this link, you can read all about it. Click on the toolkit for even more information.

MHD is going to pilot a Welcome Committee! We want new employees to be welcomed and to feel busy and engaged when they arrive at MHD. So, the Welcome Committee is going to assist supervisors with anything they need – tours, meeting others, information about Howerton, whatever! I want to thank Ashley Wilson for her work on this and there will be more information to come.

Spotlight on Safety: Please visit the MHD intranet for all kinds of resources! One form located on the Intranet is the Threatening Call Form. You will see the suggestion to print this out and keep it handy by keeping it right underneath your phone. If you don’t like that idea, you can always pin it up on the wall of your office or cubicle.  You’ll notice that there’s a number to call and make the report. If this should happen, at DSS we also call or email the information to Dana Carrington with DLS so he can add the information to the DSS threat database that he maintains.

Do you have questions about what is a threat that you’d report? Some things are pretty black and white. If someone says they’ve planted or left a bomb, that’s obviously a threat. Some people still call these checklists “Bomb Threat Checklists.” If someone says they’re on their way to Howerton to cause harm to someone, that’s obviously a threat. But what about something more vague? What if someone said to me, “Jessie, you’re not helpful at all. If I ever run into you at the store, you better watch out.”  What would I do with that? Well, if it’s someone I was talking to in the context of my job, and they know I’m with DSS, I’d go ahead and email that to Dana. We can often find a picture of the person and provide that to our team members who monitor the front desk, so they would know not to let that person in if he or she showed up at MHD. If you have questions about this topic, please let me know!

Jessie

On March 16, 2023, MO HealthNet Division submitted five-year renewal applications for Missouri’s Partnership for Hope and Missouri Children with Developmental Disabilities 1915(c) Home and Community-Based Services Waiver Programs. These are two of Missouri’s four Home and Community-Based Services Waiver Programs that are designed to serve individuals with developmental disabilities. These waivers offer an array of services including day habilitation, personal assistant, community specialist, environmental accessibility adaptations, and many other services. 

This is the final approval letter from CMS on the Hospital rebase and payment methodology changes. I would hate to try to quantify the energy and hours that the team has poured into this effort – but this represents multiple years of work. While this will not be the permanent payment methodology - it is the most significant change to how we pay for hospital care in more than 20 years. Devising and implementing a completely new payment methodology for inpatient and outpatient services, eliminating outdated and misaligned payment streams, adjusting rates for acuity, stopping abuse by out of state providers, and adding a measure of fairness to our methodologies – is certainly no small feat. To do that with political headwinds, a pandemic, stakeholder pushback, and a lawsuit or two - among other things – is truly remarkable. 

The net impact of this – will be a more sustainable Medicaid program that helps ensure we continue to have the ability to serve Missouri’s most vulnerable and a more fair way to pay the providers on which our program depends. While this certainly isn’t the conclusion of the work we need to do – it is a major milestone.

So many members of the MHD team made this happen – and I certainly don’t have them all listed here, but without their efforts and persistence this would not have happened. Truly Best-In-Class!

The nomination for Project Hep Cure (Innovation), has been selected to receive the 2022 Governor’s Award for Quality and Productivity (GAQP).

Eleven nominations were received for the GAQP, representing eight state agencies.  The 2022 award-winning teams are listed below:

The ceremony to recognize each winning team will occur in June, more details to come. Congratulations to all involved!

An online training module covering DSS travel policies and requirements is now
available in the Employee Learning Center. This 15-minute course can be found here.

Danielle Dodd joined MHD on March 7th as a Special Counsel. Danielle comes to us from the DLS Litigation team and we're very excited to have her at MHD! 

Because Danielle is actively involved with current DSS court cases, she will split her time between the DLS offices at the Broadway Building, and with us at Howerton, allowing her to wrap up some things. She will be over here full-time beginning April 3. Welcome to MHD, Danielle!

Meet O. G. McClinton III, he is the new Analytic Trainer with IBM.

"I thrive when supporting training implementations. It is my passion. As a natural born educator, I enjoy using Adult Learning Theory combined with my personal training style to create effective and enjoyable training experiences for end users regardless of my role on a project. I also enjoy helping clients realize their full IT potential. I am an accomplished HealthCare IT professional and Senior IT Advisor with specialized experience in developing and supporting sustainable training programs and IT infrastructures at the senior level. Within my toolkit, I have knowledge and experience in adoption, optimization, implementation strategy development, curriculum design, training, vendor selection, and C-level project management. I am a proponent of the concept of One Team, One Dream." Welcome to MHD, O.G.!

Jake Morlock promoted from the Institutional Reimbursement Unit with MHD to a Data Analyst in the Information Services Unit, Data Management Office. Congratulations, Jake! 

"I was recently promoted to a data analyst position within MHD after already being within MHD for a year and a half. I live in Jefferson City with my wife. I have worked for the State of Missouri for 12 years; I have worked within the Department of Revenue and for Employment Security before this. In this new role, I will be focusing on where the system and policy work impact data governance, reporting, and T-MSIS."

When Is Easter 2023 And Why Does The Date Change Every Year?

"The first thing to understand is that the Moon has a different calendar year to the Earth. While Earth takes 364.25 days to orbit the Sun, the Moon takes 29.5 days to orbit the Earth. So, a lunar year is 354.3 days. There’s a 10 or 11-day lag between the two. The calculation is made between full Moon dates, the equinox and the Jewish festival of Passover. Passover is always on the day of the full Moon, which this year is Thursday, April 6, 2023." Read the full article at this link. 

Taurus (April 21-May 21)

• Strengths: Patient, reliable, responsible, practical
• Weaknesses: Stubborn, possessive, greedy
• In the workplace: People born under this sun sign are often known as “the rock of the workplace”. They value their security and stability and are known for being dependable and reliable in the workplace. You can typically count on a Taurus to be unfazed by potential emotional turmoil that may easily cloud other’s vision.

Ingredients

• 1 box white cake mix
• Ingredients listed on the box (eggs, water, oil)
• 2 (3.3 oz.) boxes instant white chocolate pudding
• 3 1/2 cups milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar(or more to taste)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Food coloring (blue, green, pink, and yellow)

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to a temperature specified on the box. Grease a 9×13 inches baking dish with baking spray and set aside.
• Prepare the cake mix according to the directions listed on the box.
• Next, divide the mixture into 4 equal portions and add a few drops of food coloring in each bowl, and stir well.
• Then using a spoon, make small droops of each mixture in the bottom of the baking dish. Drops will spread in greased dish so you should do this quickly. I suggest you to drop one color at the time leaving a few inches apart between the drops, then make the drops with second color, then the third, then the fourth, until you cover the bottom of the pan. Then drop another layer on top until use all the batter. Finally, tap the baking dish on the counter to flatten the surface, do not spread with the spatula to avoid mixing the colors. Using a toothpick, swirl the colors just a little bit. Do not over mix, you want the colors swirled not mixing together. Bake as directed on the box.
• When the cake is baked, and sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes, poke the cake. Use the handle end of a wooden spoon poke holes all over the top of the cake, almost an inch apart, then allow it to cool completely.
• In a bowl, combine the white chocolate pudding and milk, whisking until the pudding is dissolved. Before the pudding sets completely, pour it over the cooled cake, trying to fill all the holes completely. Spread remaining pudding on top and place in the fridge to set completely.
• When the pudding is set and the cake is completely cooled, top the cake with whipped cream. Mix chilled heavy cream and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar and mix until stiff peaks form. Spread over the pudding layer.
• Garnish with sprinkles before serving.
• Store in the fridge.