MINUTES

Regular Members Present:	Vice Chair David Runnion-Bareford

Linda Gillies

Brenda Thomas

Alternate Members Present:	Janice Harmen

Sharon Ashley

Ex Officio Members Present: Owen Howell, PA-C & Health Center Director

Janet Anderson - Health Center Administrator

Edward T. Steele, MD - Supervising Physician

Alison Wood, PA-C

Rhonda Shand - Administrative Coordinator

Members Excused:	Mike Kerr

Maura Michael

Charlotte Mitchell

Others Present:	Tammy Kippley, PA-S

Peggy Pike, Secretary

CALL TO ORDER

Vice Chair D. Runnion-Bareford called the meeting to order at 3:30 PM and a quorum was established.

WELCOME NEW MEMBER

Sharon Ashley, HCAB alternate, was welcomed as a new member to the Board.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

MOTION by Linda Gillies to approve the minutes of July 18, 2013 as written. B. Thomas seconded the motion and it passed 5-0.

HEALTH CENTER DIRECTOR REPORT

The Annual Evaluation for July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013 was presented to the HCAB by Owen Howell, PA-C - Health Center Director. O. Howell reported that the number of patient visits were way up over last summer, and he attributes the rise in large part to tick bites and Lyme Disease cases. He welcomes any suggestions or feedback on the Annual Evaluation Report from the Board . The Chart Audit was done in June and the results are included in the annual report for review. Owen reported that Leslie Radcliffe has been doing the chart audit for about 4-5 years, and that the consistency in having the same person perform the audit is extremely valuable. The Quality Assurance Committee met on July 18, 2013 to review the chart audit. Please refer to the Quality Assurance Committee Report attached. Owen said that the two areas they hope to focus on are recording height and weights at each visit, and giving more attention to adult vaccinations. The AED is an ongoing program and the Board is provided with a list of AED locations in town. The program continues through the direction of the Islesboro Ambulance Association and the Town of Islesboro.

Alison Wood, PA-C wanted to re-emphasize the increase in patient visits with the highest ever recorded for July and August. She noted that the front office staff was "right out straight", and that going forward, when budget talks begin, budgeting for summer time help will have to be taken into consideration.

Rhonda Shand pointed out that patient care is shared by the three PA's and the PA student in the summer, but that everything comes back to the front office staff, and there is no sharing of the workload when it gets back to the front office. OTI transcription services and Mary Fairfield, who worked part time, both helped with the extra summertime workload.

A. Wood, PA-C, would like to somehow find out what percentage of the increase in visits was due to Lyme Disease vs other. Sharon Ashley said that one factor she sees is that the population is aging and that summer people are staying longer each year.

POLICY MANUAL

SPECIAL CHARGES AND FEE POLICIES: The change to this policy is the elimination of #2 - "Free Check" for ear infections, wounds, burns, etc. O. Howell, PA-C noted that by eliminating this, the PA can use his or her discretion to charge for a recheck if warranted. He notes that a lot of times other medical issues are discussed during a recheck.

MOTION BY Linda Gillies to approve the change to Special Charges and Fee Policies as described above. Brenda Thomas seconded the motion and it passed 5-0.

HOURS OF OPERATION:	The change to this policy is changing the name of the answering

service provider from AnswerMe to Beltone Answering Service. Rhonda Shand said that the owner of AnswerMe sold her company, and the new people were raising the fees quite drastically. Rhonda shopped around and found Beltone to be much less expensive.

MOTION BY J. Harmen to approve the change to Hours of Operation as presented above.

Brenda Thomas seconded the motion and it passed 5-0.

The HCAB members signed all other pages requesting their signature in the Policy Manual.

HEALTH CENTER ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT

Janet Anderson, Health Center Administrator, said that she tries to be receptive to the needs of the PA's as well as to Peggy and Rhonda. She acknowledged how busy the summer months were at the Health Center and will continue to work closely with the Health Center staff.

OLD BUSINESS

None

ADDITIONAL/OTHER BUSINESS

Linda Gillies passed out the latest report of tick-related visits from April 15 to September 15, 2013 with total cases of 148. This report will go into the Town's newsletter. She also reported there were two articles in the NY Times recently discussing Lyme Disease, one of which was on the doctor who discovered Lyme Disease and the second article was on what happened to the Lyme Disease Vaccination. Allie asked Linda if there is anything the HCAB could do towards the effort of reducing the number of Lyme Disease cases, i.e. taking on a crusade against the barberry bush. Sharon Ashley asked if there is any correlation between the number of patients who are seen for Lyme Disease and whether they are pet owners.

November Health Talks: Rhonda Shand remembers the discussion where it was decided not to be locked into having the Health Talks only in November, but rather throughout the year as topics arise. D. Runnion-Bareford said that the Library space was a very good venue for this type of talk and he thinks it should continue at the Library. Health talk topics discussed were acupuncture (Monica Shields), Advance Directives, and a talk perhaps from Maura Michael on the Boardman Cottage (how does one apply, who pays for this, what services are provided, etc.)

Allie will call Monica Shields and David will talk to Maura. David and Allie will work together to line up and set the dates for the next couple of health talks.

The next meeting of the HCAB is on November 21, 2013.

The meeting adjourned at 4:30 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Peggy Pike