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A multi-agency effort to improve community health in Southern Nevada is making progress…Officials involved in the Community Health Improvement Plan detailed several areas of progress for the initiative…

• A program that will switch 911 emergency callers with low-priority health issues to a hotline manned by an on-call nurse is expected to start in July…
• The district’s mobile health clinics are on course to expand their presence in areas with a dearth of health care facilities and services starting in June.
• An effort to target obesity and tobacco usage by promoting active lifestyles and healthy eating has gained momentum...an app called Neon to Nature, which promotes using walking and biking trails, have exceeded goals, and officials have success in enrolling students in smoking prevention programs and getting schools to participate in fitness programs...

As lawmakers began a detailed review of the state mental health budgets on Friday, speakers asked them not to cut services to the mentally ill, but rather to reinvest the money where critical needs continue to exist...a Joint Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means subcommittee took a look at the funding proposals for mental health services, which are proposed to see some state general fund spending reductions in the coming two years...Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services, state general fund support would decrease from $93 million in the current budget to $83 million in the new spending plan, with the loss of 38 staff...Northern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services, the general fund budget reduction is from $32 million to $26 million with the loss of 56 positions...Officials with the Division of Public and Behavioral Health told lawmakers that funding for mental health programs is increasing, but services being provided from the state general fund are being shifted to the Medicaid program with an expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Medicaid costs are shared by the state and federal governments...Private sector psychiatric hospitals are also being built to provide treatment to the mentally ill because many are now Medicaid eligible and do not have to be treated in state-funded hospitals...

It’s been in the air for much of the past year, and as many of the some-feared and some-promised changes have happened around us, those health care business owners who rely on insurance reimbursement have waited with bated breath for a sign of what’s to come. The Trump administration has promised, via stump speech and now executive order, the rapid repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act, but what is simple to say is often far more difficult to accomplish.

• MEDICARE UNSUSTAINABILITY... the U.S. population continues to age... This has contributed to explosive growth in Medicare participation...
• INSURING THE UNINSURED...the American public has determined to no longer accept 30 million uninsured Americans who are not Medicare-eligible as the status quo. Caring for these individuals through catastrophic care via public emergency rooms has become untenable both fiscally and morally…
• VALUE-BASED CARE...care reimbursement models have been established to replace the traditional fee-for-service model that has dominated American health care for generations. FFS models reimburse health care providers for services rendered in the form of treatment or testing and have seen unsustainable inflation over the past 10 years…
• ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS...One of the key elements of a VBC system is the interoperability of health care records, which permits and encourages (by ease of use) coordination of care across providers...This reduces redundancies and the probability of contraindicated treatment being administered in good faith…
• ACCOUNTABLE CARE ORGANIZATIONS...are groups of health care providers who come together to voluntarily give coordinated high-quality care to their Medicare patients. ACOs tie payments to quality metrics and the cost of care…
• WHAT’S NEXT?...Increase capacity utilization...Consolidation…
• SCALING UP...While apparently antithetical to the current market, scaling up is the external version of increasing capacity utilization. Often a practice’s assets can only be maximized by increasing the scale of the practice...

A nip here, a tuck there — Las Vegas Valley’s medical industry has been evolving for years...And as the region continues to advertise to tourists as a destination for medical services, one sector in particular has blossomed: plastic surgery…Las Vegas has become an international hot spot for plastic surgery, with people traveling to find the doctor who best suits them. That means local doctors are working to keep up with international trends and the latest innovations...For procedures that don’t require hospitalization, patients often book vacations and consider surgery just one of the many activities they’ll do while in town...Another potential benefit of a Las Vegas procedure for tourists is privacy. Clients who don’t want friends or family to know about their procedures or see them with bandages and bruises can enjoy the city, stay for follow-ups and take in the sights without running into someone they know...

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced...that Nevada will expand mental health care services with the implementation of new community-based behavioral health care clinics...The whole idea is to try to provide better integrative care to individuals that have both substance abuse and mental disorders...We’ve never done well in this state, and probably most other states, in coordinating so that patients are getting care by the same team…the two-year Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic...will offer 24-hour mobile crisis services, outpatient mental health and substance abuse treatment as well as recovery support.

The Nevada Senate Health and Human Services Committee heard a bill Wednesday that aims to restrict which medical professionals can administer Botox...The bill, sponsored by State Sen. Joe Hardy...would bar dental hygienists, medical assistants and aestheticians from administering botulinum toxin...one of the biggest reasons for restricting who can administer the powerful toxin is the lack of training some have in spotting infections...The bill was fiercely opposed by dental hygienists...it was unfair to categorize dental hygienists with the other professions included in the bill, claiming they have extensive training in anatomy around the head and neck...No states allow dental hygienists to administer Botox...

The state medical board has launched a new website designed to help Nevadans understand the impacts of using opioid-based medications...The knowyourpainmeds.com website created by the state Board of Medical Examiners will also serve as a portal for consumers to file a complaint if they feel their medical provider is not acting appropriately related to the prescribing of medications...We feel that the launch of this new informational tool clearly demonstrates the board’s commitment to creating awareness and our efforts to address this problem...Opioid abuse is expected to be a significant issue for the Nevada Legislature this session...

Medicine on the Move...The unusual clinic on wheels is a partnership between Health Plan of Nevada and Southwest Medical Associates. It has been operating since April, as many as six days a week. Drivers Ernie Drown and Chris Philips take the 45-foot truck to locations across the state, but primarily in Southern Nevada...The clinic can handle immunizations, X-rays, ultrasounds, and physical and laboratory exams. It has been to the Las Vegas Rescue Mission, FamilyConnect, St. Patrick’s Church food pantry, the Volunteers of America shelter for the homeless and more...The idea behind the mobile clinic was that we really need to reach our patients out in the community and make it easy for them to access health care,"’ said Toni Corbin, senior vice president of operations at Southwest Medical Associates. "We’re taking health care on the road to where it’s needed."

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval said Saturday he would take his concerns about the overhaul of the Affordable Care Act to Capitol Hill where lawmakers are mulling over various proposals to replace Obamacare...The nation’s governors, in town for their annual meeting, are expected to spend Monday talking with Republican leaders and members of Congress about repeal and replacement of the health care act...Many states, including Nevada, broadened Medicaid programs to take advantage of federal funds to help insure more elderly and poor. Officials in those states are concerned about how the federal government will continue its funding commitment for the expanded programs...Sandoval said congressional overhaul of the ACA is a top concern for governors and that the “conversation is ongoing.”...

The first Southern Nevada case of Zika virus disease not related to travel was confirmed this week in Clark County, according to the Southern Nevada Health District...A woman was tested Dec. 28, and results released Wednesday confirm that she tested positive for Zika virus disease. The health district’s website indicates the virus was transmitted to the woman by sexual contact...No local mosquitoes have tested positive for the presence of Zika virus, and the woman did not have a travel history that would indicate she was infected in another region…