MINUTES 

MAINE HEALTH DATA ORGANIZATION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
SENATOR INN, AUGUSTA, MAINE
THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 2003

The meeting of the Maine Health Data Organization (MHDO) Board of Directors began at  9:15 a.m. with the following Board members present:  Richard Bruns, Chair, Dana Kempton, Vice-Chair, Vaikko Allen, Warren Bartlett, Theresa Bellmore, Robin Bickford, Michael Brannigan, Lynn Davey, Cathy Gavin, Mark Granzier, David Johnson, Doug Libby, Dick Lowd, Rebecca Martins, Diane Moongrove, John Portela, and Sydney Sewall.  Absent members were Peter Gore and Vicki Purgavie.

The March 13, 2003, MHDO Board minutes were approved as written.

Executive Director Report
March Financial Summary:  Director Alan Prysunka stated that $50,615 has been transferred to the General Fund and will appear on the next monthly financial summary.

Compliance Issue-Referral to AG’s Office:  MHDO staff informed the Board that the GE Group has not paid their assessment and asked for Board approval to refer them to the Attorney General’s Office to begin enforcement action.  A motion was made and seconded to refer the GE Group to the Office of the Attorney General.  The motion passed unanimously.

Legislative Update:  Al Prysunka provided the Board with an update on the legislative documents he has been monitoring during this legislative session.  The following were voted unanimously Ought Not To Pass:  L.D. 112, L.D. 132, L.D. 432, L.D. 857 and L.D. 1121.  
Mr. Prysunka stated that L.D. 497 was left as a vehicle by the Insurance and Financial Services Committee and L.D. 535 in the Health and Human Services Committee was tabled, both looking for guidance in the form of legislation from Governor’s Office.  The Board received a copy of the committee amendment to L.D. 421 which changes the MHDO’s at-large member to specify a mental health provider to be selected by Maine Association of Mental Health Services.  This led to a discussion regarding the different representation of groups such as the Maine Association of Mental Health Services and the Maine Psychological Association.  Diane Moongrove offered to speak with Sheila Cumerford to help clarify the representation of these groups.  The Board also received a copy of the committee amendment to L. D. 532 which states that the MHDO will look at other assessment options and amend the MHDO’s assessment rules.   Mr. Prysunka will present options to the Board at a future date.  He also suggested that the Board look at repealing Chapter 245:  Uniform Reporting System for Non-Hospital Ambulatory Service Data Sets as that data will be collected from the claims data base, with the exception of the uninsured data.  Mr. Prysunka will check on the percentage of uninsured data that is captured and this issue will be placed on the next agenda.  
Mr. Prysunka stated that he will notify Board members when the hearing on Chapter 120:  Release of Information to the Public is scheduled.  Mr. Prysunka informed the Board that the MHDO was not included in the recent supplemental bill which would have requested additional funds be contributed to the General Fund.  He also stated that the bill to change MHDO’s statute has not yet come out of the Governor’s Office.

MHDO Board Minutes
April 10, 2003
Page 2

Consumer Representative:  Al Prysunka informed the Board of his efforts to find a consumer representative to specifically represent low income citizens.  The Board suggested various resources for Mr. Prysunka to pursue.  The issue will be revisited at the May Board meeting.

Data Submissions Update:  Mr. Prysunka informed the Board that another training session was held for hospitals regarding the in-house editing system-PD Check.  He stated that although there are problems with a couple of hospitals the new editing process overall is going well.  However, he did reiterate to the Board a concern with hospitals adding to the payer file.  Mr. Prysunka plans to contact hospitals directly to discuss the issue.  He also stated that the payer files can be used to track down unlicensed payers to claims database. The Board received a data submissions update and a discussion ensued regarding steps that may be taken to improve the percentage of releasable inpatient data six months after the MHDO’s filing deadline.  The Board was informed that now when the MHDO receives data from the hospitals it can be released much faster then before PD Check was in place.  Mr. Prysunka stated that he will bring Chapter 241:  Uniform Reporting System for Hospital Inpatient and Outpatient Data Sets to the Board in the next year and briefly identified the changes that need to be made.  

Hospital Data Accuracy Discussion:   The Board was provided with a table showing a summary of ICD-9 diagnosis codes for inpatient discharges and outpatient visits related to infections, complications, and poisonings.  Mr. Prysunka stated that Trish Riley had asked for information pertaining health care quality.  He also stated his concern that certain people believe the data is inaccurate due to upcoding.  It was recommended that medical records personnel attend a Board meeting to give their perspective on how coding is done, what these codes mean, and to explain upcoding.

Al Prysunka disseminated copies of reports regarding health care quality to the Board for discussion.  It was stated that the MHDO does not have the monetary resources to do similar reporting but it was recommended that the MHDO be aware of the issue.  Mr. Prysunka was asked to invite Trish Riley to a future Board meeting to explain what the Health Action Team’s expectations are from the MHDO.  Mr. Prysunka informed the Board that it may have to wait until after the session and some decisions have been made.

Public Comment
Suanne Singer updated the Board on the progress being made by the Maine Health Data Processing Center stating that they have heard from 100% of the payers.  The processing, now in its third month, is increasing and as many claims were processed in March as was processed in January and February combined.  It is anticipated that by June the four largest organizations will submit their data.  Ms. Singer also stated that New Hampshire is also considering initiating a health claims database.

The meeting adjourned at  10:55 a.m.