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The NC Health Care Facilities Association presents “Introduction to 2016 Requirements of Participation.” This session will provide a high-level overview of the more than 700-page final rule. There is a phase-in of the requirements and the training will focus on the portions of the rule that are in Phase One. Major emphasis in the requirements are focused on:

• Person-centered care
• Competency-based design of staff training and scheduling
• Care planning for Quality of Care and Quality of Life with emphasis on person-centered goals as well as involvement in decision-making
• Changing Patient Population to include behavioral health
• Focus on prevention of adverse events to include Medication Management, Quality Assurance and Assessment (QAPI) and Infection Prevention

To accomplish this, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) added new requirements where necessary, eliminating duplicative or unnecessary provisions, and reorganizing the regulations as appropriate. Many of the revisions are aimed at aligning requirements with current clinical practice standards.

This information will be presented by Polly Welsh, RN-BC, MPH, Executive Vice President of the NC Health Care Facilities Association. This seminar will be offered in Raleigh on November 10th and again in Charlotte on November 15th. Click here to download a brochure/registration form. Click here to register on-line! Don’t wait! Register today!

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The Palmetto GBA Medicare listserv is a wonderful communication tool that offers its members the opportunity to stay informed about:

• Medicare incentive programs
• Fee Schedule changes
• New legislation concerning Medicare
• And more!

To register, go to http://tinyurl.com/PalmettoGBAListserv and select “Register Now.” Complete and submit the on-line form. Be sure to select the specialties that interest you so information can be sent.

Note: Once the registration information is entered, you will receive a confirmation/welcome message informing you that you’ve been successfully added to the listserv. You must acknowledge this confirmation within three days of your registration.

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The November issue of the Medicaid Bulletin has been posted by the Division of Medical Assistance. Each month, the Medicaid Bulletin includes notices and updates pertinent to Medicaid providers in North Carolina. The current issue can be read by clicking here. Past issues can be accessed here.

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This notice impacts providers in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia competitive bidding area. For a complete list of included ZIP codes and map, click here.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced the Round 1 2017 contract suppliers for Medicare’s Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program. This program has been in effect since 2011 and is an essential tool to help Medicare set appropriate payment rates for DMEPOS items, save money for beneficiaries and taxpayers, while ensuring access to quality items.

Prior to the DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program, Medicare paid for these DMEPOS items using a fee schedule generally based on historic supplier charges from the 1980s. Under the program, DMEPOS suppliers compete to become Medicare contract suppliers by submitting bids to furnish certain items in competitive bidding areas (CBAs). Since implementation of the DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program on January 1, 2011, CMS has saved approximately $220 million per year in the nine Round 1 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) due to competitive bidding and other CMS fraud, waste, and abuse initiatives. The Round 1 Recompete contract period expires on December 31, 2016, and Round 1 2017 contracts will become effective on January 1, 2017, through December 31, 2018.

For Round 1 2017, CMS has executed 182 DMEPOS competitive bidding program contracts (92 percent of contracts offered). The Round 1 2017 contract suppliers have 534 locations to serve Medicare beneficiaries in these CBAs. Contract suppliers are required to meet CMS’ quality standards, meet applicable state licensure requirements, and be accredited by a CMS approved independent accreditation organization.

Contract supplier names and locations for each product category in each CBA can be found in the Supplier Directory at http://www.medicare.gov/supplier.

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The AHCA Quality Award program has three progressive step levels. This seminar will cover the first level, Bronze – Commitment to Quality. Bronze Award applicants begin their quality journey by developing an organizational profile including vision and mission statements, an awareness of their environment and customers’ expectations, and a demonstration of their ability to improve a process.

This session, held November 30th at the NCHCFA office, includes a full day of training and consultation on how to complete the AHCA/NCAL Bronze Quality Award Application led by the Administrator of the Quality Award Program and a trained Quality Award Examiner and award recipient. This training will decipher the criteria, answer questions, clarify concepts, and guide participants through the process of writing an organizational quality award application. Using interactive technology, participants will leave the workshop with their applications complete or with few areas to fill in.

Objectives:

• Gain knowledge on the AHCA/NCAL Bronze National Quality Award Application Process
• Understand the technical requirements of the application process and recertification policy of the Awards Program
• Review and learn the Bronze Quality Award Criteria
• Develop the framework of a Quality Award Application

It is never too early to begin thinking about and planning your quality award application. This is an opportunity for you and your team to begin your quality journey by working together through the writing process. Get your application ready early and have plenty of time to fine tune it before the deadline.

For the complete brochure and registration information, click here.

SPACE IS LIMITED!

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Alliant Quality wants to encourage SNFs to keep signing up for the National Collaborative – or SPACE. Alliant recommends having as much time as possible to get started on Quality Assurance Performance Improvement (QAPI) improvement work and improving facility quality measures in a systems approach to improve their five star and composite scores.

Alliant Quality is the Medicare Quality Innovation Network (QIN)-Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) for North Carolina. Under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Alliant Quality invites your nursing home to participate in a collaborative designed to ensure that every nursing home resident receives the highest quality of care.

The Collaborative offers an exciting opportunity to learn from high performing nursing homes regarding their processes as they pertain to consistent/permanent staff assignment, teamwork and communications, leadership, regulatory compliance, clinical models, and quality of life indicators. The Collaborative aligns national nursing home quality initiatives and partnerships such as the Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes Campaign, The Partnership to Improve Dementia Care, and QAPI. Targeted focus areas will include increasing mobility, decreasing unnecessary use of antipsychotics in residents with dementia, decreasing potentially avoidable hospitalizations and decreasing healthcare acquired infections and conditions.

When ready to register, click here for the Participation Agreement and fax or e-mail it back to Lisa Klemis, contact information is on the Participation Agreement. For more details, e-mail Jennifer Brock at Jennifer.Brock@area-F.hcqis.org or call (678) 527-3417.

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High-quality clinical care comes from high-quality education. Prove the value of your staff development program with help from author and staff development expert Adrianne E. Avillion, DEd, RN, in this new groundbreaking book. Dr. Avillion offers clear guidance to help you put your program’s worth into quantifiable terms and align staff development with your organization’s goals. Educators of all levels will be able to evaluate the effect of training on retention, staff competency, and patient outcomes.

To order, visit http://www.AHCApublications.org or call (800) 321-0343. Fax orders may also be placed at (800) 869-5605.

Product # 8333
AHCA Members (on-line price) $99.00

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This brochure outlines what physical restraints are, when they should be used, rules and regulations concerning restraints, and making decisions about using them. To order, e-mail your request to Donna Snyder at donnas@nchcfa.org.

• NCHCFA Member: $30.00 per 100 brochures plus tax and shipping
• Non-Members: $60.00 per 100 brochures plus tax and shipping

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Communicating Effectively: Success Depends On It

http://www.providermagazine.com/archives/2015_Archives/Pages/0715/Communicating-Effectively-Success-Depends-On-It.aspx

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Since 1845, all US presidential elections have been held by statute on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in years divisible by four.

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