Mo HealthNet Monthly-June Edition

June 2023 | Vol. 8 No. 12

Deputy Director's Corner

Happy June and Happy Employee Appreciation Month. A lot of you are not as old as I am, but I have friends ask me sometimes when I’m going to retire. And I always think, but why would I do that? I love the people I work with! Of course, I will someday, but my point is, the MHD team makes me enjoy coming to work every day, so I appreciate you for that, in addition to appreciating you for your commitment and hard work. What you do every day is so important to our participants and our providers. By now I think everyone is experiencing the state’s “multi-factor authentication” for using webmail or the VPN. OA sent an email on May 5 at 9:51 a.m. with information, in case you need to refer back to it. Please be sure to report if you are having any problems. Also, on May 5 you got an email from the Director’s Office introducing the DSS Leadership Academy. I hope you applied by May 29 if you were interested, but if time got away from you, let’s hope this opportunity comes around again! Save the date: Don’t forget that the MHD Employee BBQ is Tuesday, June 13, and if you really like to plan ahead, mark your calendars for Tuesday, December 12, for the awards luncheon. If you help with the budget books every year, you might begin to see some changes this year as the state implements MOVERS. MOVERS is the Missouri Vital Enterprise Resource System, and you can read about it here. For now, we’ll still be doing the program descriptions in Excel, but our budget team will start to use some of the new functions. Some onboarding statistics for the month of April, on vacancies: The statewide time to fill was 57 days with an average of 6 applicants per posting. The DSS time to fill was 38 days with an average of 7 applicants per posting. The MO Healthnet time to fill was 32 days with an average of 7 applicants per posting.

I am signed up to get emails from the Department of Mental Health, Division of Developmental Disabilities (you can sign up too,) and yesterday they sent an email about a Mental Health and Medicaid Newsletter.  It says they plan to do this newsletter every month, and the May edition is here.

Don’t forget to check out the always-improving MHD intranet. In addition to all the resources, you’ll find great pictures and the MHD Recipe Book.  You will also find the link to Cheers for Peers on the main MHD page. Also check out the new MHD Teams Directory located in the Resources section.  I love this!  I keep it printed out on my desk. You will also find Emergency Management and Safety information in the Policies and Procedures section. If you go there and click on Personal Safety, you’ll find a guide about personal safety for children. With school out and more free time for kiddos, this is good timely information.

Also, with school out, longer days, and warm weather, remember to take care so you return home to a safe and secure home at the end of the day, and that you don’t wake up to any surprises. If you have a garage, try to clear it out enough that you can park inside, and close your garage door – don’t leave it up overnight. If you park in your driveway or in a parking lot or on the street, lock your car and don’t leave anything of value in sight (that means even your spare change.) Make sure your windows and doors are shut and locked when you leave in the morning, and don’t leave ground floor windows open or unlocked overnight.  Same thing for patio doors. Check your porch lights to be sure they’re all working.  And remember the See Something Say Something approach!  Jessie

MHD Happenings

Data Management Corner I hope everyone has had a great start to summer and is enjoying the warmer weather and sunshine. As we move into a new season, we here in the Data Management Office are looking to grow some of our programs – particularly our Data Governance Program by relaunching the Data Steward Group. For those that do not know, the Data Steward Group was established in 2020 as part of the Business Intelligence Solution-Enterprise Data Warehouse (BIS-EDW) project as part of the Data Governance Program. Data Stewards are not data analysts or even necessarily report writers, they are the program and policy staff, often called business owners of the data that is stored in the data warehouse. They know how their programs’ data are used and understand how to interpret it. They know who in their unit to ask to get answers that they don’t have themselves. The initial focus of this group will be working on defining the terms that we use in our everyday work to make sure we are speaking the same language across the Missouri Medicaid Enterprise. Defining terms is a much more difficult task than it sounds like, as creating a business definition in easy-to-understand terms is complex and has a lot of considerations. The Data Management Office is currently recruiting Data Stewards from across all program and policy areas within MHD. Each program/policy area will need at least one Data Steward. Currently, we are looking at no more than 4-hours a month for a time commitment. If you are interested in volunteering to be a Data Steward, please discuss with your supervisor and send an email with your interest or questions to Zana Stephenson (zana.stephenson@dss.mo.gov). I will be collecting volunteers through June 15. After that time, I will be working with managers to assign Data Stewards for areas that do not have any. -Zana

After prepping and studying for months, Marissa Crump in the Administration Unit passed her Project Management Exam and is officially signing her name 'Marissa Crump, CAPM.' Congrats, Marissa! Well done.

Robin Beeler wanted to share what fun they've been having in the Medicare Unit. "What a great team I work with each day!! Everyone received a Super Star certificate for the great work they do each and every day. They took it a few steps further and got decorations for their cubes, and now have star hats and are referring to themselves as the 'Golden Girls.' I just love working with this group. Unfortunately, everyone was not available for the photo shoot."                                                                                 Pictured: Marsha Scrivner, Barbara Hart, and Zenetta Hewkin. 

To commemorate the department-wide Week of Remembrance, the Rebate Team put together a memory tree to honor those who previously worked at MHD that have passed away or retired. What a beautiful tribute!

Eric Martin, in EBDSU notified Kim with MSBA of the new Provider Bulletin that was posted regarding a Precertification Update for School-Based Behavioral Health Services. Kim was elated with Eric sharing the new information with her...

"Thank you so very much for all your hard work to make this happen! I cannot begin to tell you the impact that this will have on schools! You have been an amazing friend to schools as they strive to provide the best possible medical services to children who require such services. You have been a tireless champion with us to address equity and access issues for children with special needs throughout Missouri by addressing policy and regulatory issues related to Medicaid claiming. You are truly amazing!" 

The Education and Training team has been presenting the last few months to Missouri’s Local Public Health Agencies. The topic they presented was 'Prenatal Case Management.' Case Managers are responsible for locating, coordinating and monitoring necessary services for participants who need access to necessary comprehensive health services. They were able to network with providers from all over Missouri. Acting Director, Paula N., from DHSS reached out with many praises to the Education and Training Team. 

"I wanted to personally thank each of you and recognize your efforts, expertise and customer-focused technical assistance at our regional local public health meetings in recent weeks before your leadership. I was personally present in Richmond Heights yesterday and was able to listen and experience Amanda’s and Anna’s interactions; I'm sure all the others on the team were equally prepared and attuned to the needs and questions of our local public health partners. I heard several comments, both to you and following the meeting of how pleased folks are to now have names/faces of whom to reach out to with questions, and how appreciative they were to the open discussion about coding, what is reimbursable, etc. Thank you – it's work like yours that influences non-state partners of state agencies sincere interest in their issues!"

A HUGE shout out to the Education and Training team! Great work! 

The following is a note from a participant expressing great gratitude to the Show Me Home program.  

"Show Me Home and the people behind this program have given me my life back. They helped me achieve what I though was impossible, when I was lost in the system and in a nursing home, I didn't see a way out. Then, Show Me Home helped me into an apartment I could afford after they paid for my moving expenses and startup costs. God Bless them for truly saving my life. There is no going back, now it's up to me."

This is such a heartwarming message. What a blessing the Show Me Home program really is, amazing work!!

This is a huge kudos to Gayle Dougan in Program Operations.

"In April we had to pause our processing of enrollment forms for Health Home program while the newly re-built enrollment application was updated in MMIS. This meant our forms for providers piled-up while we waited for system work to be completed. We ended up having a small window to process nearly 2000 forms by the end of the month. Gayle stepped in and went above and beyond processing 645 forms. She had just learned how to process the forms, and not only did she process a hefty number of forms, but she did this with 100% accuracy (not easy!)  Way to go Gayle. This is amazing teamwork, and we appreciate all your efforts in what was a stressful period of change, to a greatly improve the quality of our HH program.  

Amanda Fahrendorf, MO HealthNet Division’s Lead Education Specialist, presented at the 2023 American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management (AAHAM) MO Payorpalooza. Following the conference, a participant described Amanda as the “star of the show.” Speaking at this event has opened the door for future events with other agencies that are currently being scheduled. MHD is lucky to have Amanda as she is passionate about assisting providers and the citizens of Missouri. MHD is making a difference in the lives of Missourian’s every day!

Lisa Knipp is the Transplant Coordinator for MO HealthNet. She receives a request from a provider stating that one of our MO HealthNet recipient’s needs a transplant. Lisa reviews the documentation from the provider and corresponds back and forth with the providers until they have everything they need. These requests go to Dr. Kling for review and approval. Once approved, Lisa enters the Prior Authorization in the system and prepare the contract for the provider. Lisa then follows the case until the participant has received the transplant and any other services from us that they need around this procedure. The following is a shout out to Lisa Knipp in Pharmacy Clinical from a Revenue Cycle Specialist from OptumInSight. 

"I just wanted to you to know that Lisa Knipp is WONDERFUL!! She is so efficient always getting right back with me when I have a question/need help. She has always been that way since I took over transplants in April of 2018. I deal with other provider reps, and they rarely even respond until I have sent them more than one email and they definitely do not pick up the phone if I call. Lisa is just so WONDERFUL; I just can’t say that enough. I really appreciate her help and how well she knows her job. Again, she is amazing. I am truly sincere about this."

Amazing work, Lisa!!

Welcome to MHD!

Chelsea Hammond joined us at MHD on May 1st in the Pharmacy Unit as a Benefit Program Senior Specialist. Welcome to MHD, Chelsea!

Sylas Hall joined us at MHD on May 18th as a Benefit Program Technician in the Medicare Unit. Welcome to MHD, Sylas!

Promotions

• Briana Watson accepted the Program Development Specialist (Security) position in the Information Services Unit and began on May 30th. Briana came to the Information Services Unit from the TPL/HIPP Unit, and they are very excited to have her join their team as she will help with security/access job functions! Congrats, Briana!
• Patty Preiss accepted a Benefit Program Specialist position, promoting within the Third-Party Liability Unit and started on May 30th. Congrats, Patty! 

"This Memorial Day, let us remember all our heroes who have left us while fighting for our country." -Unknown Hope everyone enjoyed the nice, long holiday weekend!

Out of Office Happenings

Zana Stephenson's daughter, Mia, received an award at her recital over Memorial Day weekend. How sweet, with beautiful flowers to match. Congrats, Mia!!

Madelyn Craig and her family had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and spent all of their time either playing at the park, BBQing, or poolside. "Emery isn't the biggest fan of being in the pool yet, she'd rather eat snacks in the shade."

After a year of waiting, the Bialczyk family was able to move into their newly constructed home. The Belle High School Building Trades program, a group of 10 high school students and one instructor, completed the construction in mid-May and the family has called it home ever since. Garret and Danica hosted an open house to their community, family and friends to give the students an opportunity to show off their hard work and skills. We are so proud of their accomplishments and know these students have a bright future, no matter the endeavor. The Bialczyk family looks forward to playing in the large yard, gardening, hunting, hosting gatherings, and watching the sunsets with the great back deck view.

What a beautiful view! Congratulations on your new home, Bialczyk's!

Click the photo above or scan the QR code to share your ENGAGE 2.0 experience.

Caribbean American Heritage Month: This month recognizes those of Caribbean descent and the impact their accomplishments have had throughout American history.

LGBT Pride Month: Pride Month recognizes LGBT people and the effect they’ve had on the world.

June 2 – Indian Citizenship Act of 1924: This act granted Native Americans born in the U.S. citizenship. However, they were not given the right to vote until 1957.

June 11 – Puerto Rican Day Parade: This parade is a demonstration of cultural pride that seeks to raise awareness of issues in the Puerto Rican community.

June 12 – Loving Day: This day is the anniversary of the court decision that legalizes interracial marriage.

June 19 – Juneteenth: This day commemorates when the last African Americans learned of the Emancipation Proclamation (over two years after it was originally issued.)

June 26 to July 1 – The Hajj: This day begins the annual pilgrimage to Mecca that all Muslims must take once in their lives if they are physically and financially capable.

June 27 – Helen Keller’s Birthday: This day celebrates the birth of Helen Keller, an individual who was both blind and deaf. She was a leading humanitarian in the 20^th century as well as one of the co-founders of the ACLU.

Training and Field Trip Opportunities

• June 13, TMSIS, 10:00-11:00 a.m. in CR 202

• June 22, State Regulations and State Plan Amendment Overview, 10:00-11:00 a.m. in CR 202

Trainings: Follow this link to view upcoming trainings.

June Upcoming Dates & Events

• June 1st, El Oso's Food Truck, 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.
• June 6th, National Drive-In Movie Day, showing: 'A Beautiful Mind', in Conference Room 202 at 1:00 p.m.
• June 12th-June 16th, MHD Team Member Appreciation Week
• June 13th, Luau Employee BBQ, Lunch and Entertainment provided, 219 Murphy Ford Rd. Centertown, MO from 12:00-4:00 p.m. 
• June 20th, National Ice Cream Soda/Shake Day

Zodiac Signs in the Workplace

"Whether you believe in astrology or think it’s straight up nonsense, it can be a very interesting topic to learn about and can invite us to learn more about ourselves and others."

Gemini (May 22-June 21) Strengths: Curious, adaptable, versatile, intellectual Weaknesses: Inconsistent, indecisive, superficial In the workplace: Geminis have been known to be “the most delightful to work with”. This sun sign is ruled by Mercury, so they value communication. The symbol of Gemini is the “twins”, which can make them seem “superficial” at times as they may act different in different surroundings. However, it’s important to keep in mind that this sign is very adaptable to its surroundings and can vibe with anyone.

Cancer (June 22-July 22) Strengths: Loyal, sympathetic, persuasive, imaginative Weaknesses: Manipulative, pessimistic, clingy In the workplace: Cancers are very much in tune with their own emotions, as well as other’s emotions which can make them a very caring co-worker. The symbol for Cancer is a crab, which reflects how Cancers can sometimes be very guarded (like how a crab’s shell provides protection) which makes it hard to let their true personality shine through.

What's Cookin' at MHD?

Churro Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients: 2 packages crescent rolls Filling: 2 – 8-ounce packages of cream cheese 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla Topping: 1 stick butter 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon 1/4 cup sugar

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread one package of crescent roll dough across an ungreased 9 x 13 pan.
• Beat two packages of cream cheese with one cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Spread mixture over rolls.
• Spread out second package of crescent rolls and lay on top of the cream cheese mixture.
• Melt butter and spread evenly over the top.
• Mix cinnamon and 1/4 cup of sugar and sprinkle over top.
• Bake at 350° for 25 – 30 minutes until lightly browned.
• Cool completely before cutting. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Store extras in the refrigerator.