Why Participating in Missouri’s Annual Hospital Licensing Survey Matters

Each year, Missouri hospitals are asked to complete the Annual Licensing Survey, a collaborative effort among the Missouri Hospital Association, American Hospital Association, and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services aimed at helping your hospital realize regulatory reporting efficiencies.

In addition to fulfilling requirements for hospital licensure and financial reporting, the data gathered through the survey is instrumental in shaping MHA’s services to benefit your hospital when it comes to health care policy, enhancing patient care and safety, and supporting workforce initiatives.

Here’s how your hospital’s participation in the Annual Licensing Survey makes a difference.

Advocacy efforts

When federal and state legislators consider policy changes affecting hospitals and health care, they need real data — and that’s where the Annual Licensing Survey comes into play.

Information from the survey is shared in an aggregated form for the entire state and each of Missouri’s eight congressional districts. The data then can be used to assess the fiscal strength of hospitals by congressional district, including payer mix, discharges, emergency room volume, operating margin, net margin and cash positions, said Andrew Wheeler, MHA vice president of federal advocacy and finance.

“This information has been helpful in discussions with members of Congress about protecting the 340B Drug Pricing Program, protecting Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital funding, preventing Medicare site neutrality payment reductions, extending the Medicare dependent hospital program and extending the enhanced Medicare low-volume payment adjustment,” he said.

Participation by hospitals in the Annual Licensing Survey strengthens MHA’s advocacy efforts by offering a comprehensive perspective of Missouri’s health care environment, along with each hospital’s unique role within their community. 

Regulatory requirements

In addition to the survey being a DHSS requirement for licensing hospitals, information is used by hospitals for applications to accreditation organizations, such as The Joint Commission.

“Survey organizations need this information, so they know what kind of surveyors to send to hospitals and how many surveyors to send,” said Lynn Rasnick, vice president of clinical and regulatory affairs at MHA. “They look at the number of off-site locations under the hospital’s license and what services are provided at that location.”

The survey also is referenced when recredentialing payer plans as well as applying for a facility's annual liability insurance, Rasnick said.

Patient care and safety

In addition, the data collected from the Annual Licensing Survey is important to quality care and patient safety initiatives, according to Jackie Gatz, MHA’s senior vice president of quality, safety and research.

MHA’s Quality, Safety and Research team leverages data from the survey to inform MHA-member hospitals about changes to the regulatory environment and opportunities for new performance improvement collaborations, she said.

“Many of our initiatives are deployed based on a hospital’s number of beds or by service line, and the survey allows us to develop quality and safety programming to member cohorts based on the capacity and capability of each individual hospital,” Gatz said.

Workforce insights

Survey data provides insights into staffing levels, workforce shortages and hospital capacity.

The information collected helps support hospitals and state leaders in forecasting workforce needs, aligning education pipelines with in-demand occupations, and justifying investments in training and retention efforts, according to Jill Williams, vice president of workforce development at MHA.

“This survey also offers insights that could be used to address staffing challenges and improve access to care, particularly in underserved communities,” she said.

Need assistance?

The Annual Licensing Survey is a critical data collection effort facilitated through the Hospital Industry Data Institute, MHA’s data company.

“By taking the time to complete the survey carefully and thoroughly, your team helps ensure Missouri hospitals are ready to meet the needs of the communities they serve,” said Brandon Hutchison, MHA’s and HIDI’s senior vice president of research, data and information services. 

If Missouri hospital staff have questions or need help accessing or completing the survey, contact HIDI Support at hidi@mohospitals.org or email asf@mohospitals.org for assistance with the survey.