UPDATE Weekly

Session Law 2016-94, Section 12.C.7. directs the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Division of Social Services to implement “Temporary Financial Assistance for Facilities Licensed to Accept State-County Special Assistance Temporary Payments.” The temporary payments are intended to offset the cost of room and board and care for SA residents. Monthly temporary payments are available to providers beginning October 1, 2016 and ending June 30, 2017, to the extent that funds remain available.

To learn more about this temporary assistance program, click here.

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The IMPACT Act of 2014 mandated the establishment of the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP). As finalized in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 SNF PPS final rule, beginning with FY 2018 and each subsequent FY, the Secretary shall reduce the market basket update (also known as the Annual Payment Update, or APU) by 2 percentage points for any SNF that does not comply with the quality data submission requirements with respect to that FY.

A new Quick Reference Guide for SNFs is available. This guide includes frequently asked questions, information on QRP help desks, and helpful links to additional resources for the QRP. To access the guide, click here.

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) inserted a new requirement in the latest version of the Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) manual. Specifically, facilities are now required to check the Final File Validation Report. This review must be done “to verify that the data was successfully submitted.” The manual adds that it may take up to 24 hours for the government to receive the validation report, “so facilities must allow for time to correct any errors and resubmit, if necessary.”

The new manual also contains a few other changes. For example, CMS noted that it is no longer mandatory to report the hire and termination dates of employees. It also made the following positions optional for recording: dentists, podiatrists and social service workers.

The American Health Care Association has developed a helpful compliance checklist that can be accessed by clicking here.

On April 21st, CMS released a memo summarizing the changes. This memo, S&C 17-25-NH can be accessed by clicking here.

A PDF of the latest PBJ manual is available here.

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Due to the large number of speaking requests CMS has received regarding the final EP Rule, they are offering an additional learning session through the Medicare Learning Network. During this session, CMS will provide an overview of the final rule and steps facilities can take to meet the training and testing requirements by the implementation date of November 15, 2017. This session is scheduled for April 27th from 2:30-3:30 PM ET. To register or for more information, visit MLN Connects Event Registration.

Don’t forget to check out the updated ASPR TRACIE CMS EP Rule: Resources at Your Fingertips document, where you can find links to resources applicable to a variety of providers and suppliers. Also, Yale New Haven Health System Center for Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response recently updated their CMS EP Rule Crosswalk which maps the association between the CMS EP Rule Conditions of Participation and existing regulatory and accreditation standards.

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NCHCFA Districts are scheduling their spring meetings.

District II
Royal Park Nursing & Rehab of Matthews
2700 Royal Commons Lane
Matthews, NC 28105
May 10, 2017
10:00 AM – 2:30 PM
To register, click here

District III
Clapp’s Convalescent Nursing Home
500 Mountain Top Drive
Asheboro, NC 27203
May 16, 2017
10:00 AM – 2:30 PM
To register, click here

District IV
Trinity Grove
631 Junction Creek Drive
Wilmington, NC 28412
May 11, 2017
10:00 AM – 2:30 PM
To register, click here

District V
Universal Health Care / Fuquay-Varina
410 Judd Parkway
Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526
May 23, 2017
10:00 AM – 2:30 PM
To register, click here

Topics include:

• Update from the QIO
• NC Works discussing how Business Services Representatives can help with staffing at county/local level
• NC Culture Change Coalition CMP grant information
• SNF Emergency Preparedness speaker

District meetings allow participants to interact with peers in a comfortable atmosphere, promoting valuable and productive conversation. Space will be limited to 50 individuals but, unlike the previous district meetings, this will be open to any employees of your facility who may benefit from attending.

These programs will offer 3.5 contact hours for nursing home administrators. The North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association is a Registered Sponsor of continuing education with the NC State Board of Examiners for Nursing Home Administrators. Comments regarding the Registered Sponsor Course may be addressed to: NCBENHA, 3733 National Drive, Suite 110, Raleigh, NC 27612.

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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) 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 Leighann Sauls at Leighann.Sauls@area-F.hcqis.org or call (919) 745-4730.

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Alliant Quality, the QIN-QIO (Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization) for North Carolina is seeking central North Carolina skilled nursing facilities interested in collaborating on the Special Innovation Project (SIP) Improving Access to Palliative Care in the Long Term Care Facility.

Palliative care focuses on comfort and improving quality of life. A team of professionals helps residents and families navigate through the health care system and make health care decisions that are right for them. Goals of this project not only include providing quality of life and satisfaction for residents of skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), but also provision of services that minimize risks of potentially avoidable transfers to acute care.

Often, nursing home residents lack advance directives that would assist them at the end of life. When a resident, without an advanced directive, suffers a worsening of their clinical condition, a cascade of care is put into motion and can trigger unwanted emergency room visits and admissions, which can lead to other complications. The provision of palliative care services for SNF residents supports person-directed care in a proactive way to honor the patient and their choices.

Alliant Quality, in partnership with SNFs and palliative care organizations, will develop customized education and learning sessions for SNF leaders to better understand palliative care and its beneficial role for the residents whom they are caring for each day. This educational offering will be pilot-tested in central North Carolina with SNFs who are interested in this Special Innovation Project offered through the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services.

Participating SNFs will have the opportunity to:

• Receive free training programs designed to improve their SNF staff competency and knowledge related to end-of-life care
• Join a learning network with experts on palliative care in the SNF setting
• Partner with palliative care providers in order to improve the quality of life of their residents
• Implement low-burden measurement strategies that monitor resident and family satisfaction with end-of-life care
• Improve rates of avoidable acute care transfers and hospital admission and readmission rates

For more information, contact:
Jennifer Judson RN, BSN
Project Lead, Palliative Care
Office: (678) 527-3473
Jennifer.Judson@alliantquality.org

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National Nursing Home Week® is May 14-20, 2017! AHCA’s 2017 National Nursing Home Week® (NNHW) specialty products are now available for purchase. This year’s theme with logo, The Spirit of America, is featured on many of the available items. This theme underscores the bond between staff, volunteers and residents that capture the American spirit. To purchase National Nursing Home week specialty products including posters, balloons, t-shirts, buttons, and more, shop on-line or call (800) 321-0343.

Members are encouraged to place orders early for best product selection (color, size, and available quantities). NNHW items are very popular and will sell out.

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Based on years of research, this practical guide illustrates the far-reaching benefits of empowered work teams in long term care organizations and explains in everyday terms how to implement the concept. The authors present a fully-validated model for introducing the empowered work team concept to direct care staff, gaining support from the administration, and supervising the teamwork process over time. Hands-on tools include assessment forms, staff training materials, and step-by-step implementation guidelines. Guidance and troubleshooting tips are provided in the resource’s final chapter. Facility and program administrators, directors of nursing, staff supervisors, and team leaders will find this guidebook an invaluable tool for nurturing a more effective and motivated staff and, as a result, an improved care environment.

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

Product #8250
AHCA MEMBERS $34.95

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If you were unable to attend one of our sessions on the introduction to the new regulations, the notebook used in the training is now available for purchase (Polly Welsh’s PowerPoint presentation). E-mail Donna Snyder to order a notebook for your facility at donnas@nchcfa.org. The cost is $25.00 plus tax and shipping.

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Leadership huddles: not just another meeting

http://sueschade.com/2015/03/leadership-huddles-not-just-another-meeting

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Strawberries are the first fruit to ripen each spring.

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