Nearly 400 health care providers and administrators gathered for education analysis of industry developments and strategies during the 2016 Medicaid Conference on Oct. 6 at the Hampton Inn Tropicana Event Center.
Among the major trends observed by conference keynote speaker Kip Piper — a health care expert and publisher of the Piper Report — are team-based care delivery, as opposed to care by an individual provider, and the shift from focusing on the novelty of medical products and services to their authentic values.
“What you want to do, particularly in health care when you have people’s lives and millions of dollars at stake, is to answer, ‘What is the true value of these products and services?’” Piper said.
“Don’t think the price you are paid is equal to the value of the service you provide. It is the best the state can do, but it is not the proxy. So how do (you) make sure what is approved, what is covered, what is paid for, is of value? Meaning that, it generates the best outcomes (and) is reasonably cost-effective.”
Piper, who addressed a similar conference Oct. 4 in Reno, is a former senior adviser to the Center for Medicare &Medicaid Services administrator, director of the Wisconsin Medicaid Program and senior Medicare budget officer at the White House Office of Management and Budget.
“Sometimes we just don’t know what our contributions will be, and that’s life,” Piper told attendees. “But your effect goes on. Just don’t forget that when you deal with all the frustrations. What you do, does matter.”
Medicaid was expanded significantly under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The number of Nevada Medicaid recipients as of July was 623,123, up from 323,531 at the end of 2013, according to statistics obtained from the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange.
Call center company enters market
Columbus, Ohio-based Continental Message Solution, a call center and live answering services company, announced its expansion into Las Vegas in September. Continental Message’s new offices are at 2590 E. Flamingo Road.
“The new office increases disaster preparedness by having locations far apart and in areas without inclement weather to disrupt operations,” said Rich Titus, director of marketing and business development at Continental Message Solution. “This allows us to better serve the Southwest and West Coast clientele, and provides us with the space required to facilitate additional growth. We’re also excited about the employment opportunities this will open up to the community.”
Operations went live Oct. 1, with 10 employees coming aboard initially.
CMS offers several services 24/7, including customer and emergency services, virtual receptionist, retail and order support, call-off lines and wake-up calls.
New tavern opens at Galleria at Sunset
World of Beer, a franchised tavern that carries more than 500 bottled beers and 50 beers on tap, along with tavern fare, craft spirits and live music, opened its doors in a 4,900-square-foot space at the Galleria at Sunset shopping center Sept. 22.
World of Beer franchisees can choose from more than 30,000 labels in the company’s database to stock in their location.
The Henderson location is owned by Wolfgang Hauck. World of Beer, founded in 2007 in Tampa, Florida, has more than 80 locations nationwide.
Great Harvest Bread Co.
reopens Henderson location
Owners of a Great Harvest Bread Co. franchise in Henderson celebrated a grand reopening last week after shutting down for several months during a move to a larger location in the same area.
Jason and Kim Jacobs, a husband-and-wife team that owns the Great Harvest location at 661 Marks Street, moved from 1,000 square feet to more than 2,600 in September. The owners celebrated with a ribbon-cutting hosted by the Henderson Chamber of Commerce.
“We are excited to once again bring the great people of Henderson Great Harvest Bread and look forward to being integrated in the community,” Kim Jacobs said. “We will continue to work with local businesses for fresh ingredients, mill our own wheat in-house and make everything from scratch on a daily basis to deliver the quality products that this town deserves.”
The Jacobs have operated in Henderson since August 2014.
NV Energy Foundation launches
program to put veterans to work, help the environment
A veterans employment and nature conservation program was launched at the end of September.
“From Military Service to Green Service: Veterans Conservation Corps” had a kick-off event at Anthem Hills Park in Henderson.
Veterans who are part of the Nevada Conservation Corps will work on trail and habitat restoration projects in Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area, and Basin and Range National Monument.
The program is a partnership between the Friends of Sloan Canyon, Nevada Conservation Corps, Conservation Lands Foundation, Bureau of Land Management and NV Energy Foundation. The project was made possible with a $75,000 grant to the Conservation Land Foundation by NV Energy Foundation.
