UPDATE Weekly

Do you understand all of the potential hazards faced by your facility? 2011 and 2012 were years in which the United States experienced some of the most devastating disasters that impacted the long term care community – wildfires out west, Hurricanes Irene and Sandy, the tornados in Joplin, MO / Tuscaloosa & Moulton, AL / Springfield, MA and the 2011 blizzard in the northeast. In Hurricane Sandy alone, more than 66 nursing homes and 11 hospitals evacuated and one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world was devastated.

With the recent explosion at the West Fertilizer Company in Texas where more than 100 residents from West Rest Haven Home had to be evacuated and other unfortunate public tragedies – 2013 is proving to be an even more challenging year. Adding to this already perilous environment, hurricane season is five weeks away and forecasters agree that the 2013 season will be very active with above average numbers of named storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic.

You never know when you will need to respond to a crisis event. You need to be prepared to respond NOW!

Register TODAY for NCHCFA’s seminar: ALL HAZARDS EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT FOR LONG TERM CARE. This seminar will be held at The Sheraton Hotel in Chapel Hill on May 16th, 2013.

Click here to register on-line now!

Click here to download and print the seminar brochure and registration form!

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This year, the American Health Care Association (AHCA) has partnered with The Advisory Board Company to provide members with two new Webinars on Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). On March 20th, AHCA presented the first Webinar titled “Preparing Post-Acute Providers for Accountable Payment.” AHCA reports that they received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the more than 200 organizations that dialed in! If you were unable to attend the first Webinar, please click here for archived access to the presentation.

AHCA is pleased to announce that the second Webinar in this series, titled “Partnership Strategies for Post-Acute Care Providers,” will be held on Wednesday, May 8th, from 1:00-2:00 PM Eastern Time. This presentation will explore 15 tactics for developing partnership strategies with ACOs and other provider organizations. These tactics will focus on easing care transitions, collaborating on quality, and migrating toward shared accountability. Facilities that attend should expect to learn more about:

• The rationale for tighter acute/post-acute alignment
• Tactics to reduce refer-to-admit time
• How to improve patient accountability to position yourself for risk-based payment models

To register for this Webinar event, please click here!

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The American Health Care Association (AHCA) has made the issue of Observation Stays one of its top advocacy and outreach priorities. Their efforts include supporting the Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2013, which ensures observation stays count toward the Medicare-required three-day hospital stay, and connecting with key members of Congress to support this legislation. To boost their efforts, AHCA needs your help in collecting stories and/or names of those beneficiaries who have been impacted financially and emotionally by this observation stays issue.

If you have a story to share with AHCA or the name of a beneficiary you could pass along who has been impacted by this issue, please e-mail Claire Krawsczyn. All who share their experience must sign the authorization form in order to give AHCA/NCAL permission to use the individual’s name, story and picture should they chose to submit one. For more information on this issue, please feel free to contact AHCA or visit the Observation Stays page. The recently updated observation stays issue brief can be found here for your reference.

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Make plans today to join your colleagues for the second annual NCHCFA Summer Symposium. The three-day event will be August 6-8, 2013 at the Marriott Grande Dunes Resort, Myrtle Beach, SC. Call the Marriott Resort at (800) 228-9290 to reserve your overnight room. Identify yourself as a NC Health Care Facilities Association Convention attendee! To make your reservation online, visit http://tinyurl.com/2013symposiumreserve. Please note that when our room block is full, rooms will be on a first come, first served basis at prevailing published rates.

Please call the Association office at (919) 782-3827 with any questions. Brochures will be mailed to members in May!

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The first NC Tracks checkwrite will be July 9th, but will apply only to pharmacy point-of-sale (POS) providers. Other providers will receive their first claims payments the following week.

NC Tracks will go live July 1, replacing the 35-year-old NC Medicaid claims-processing system known as MMIS, as well as other state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) systems that process and pay claims for mental health, public health and rural health services. The last checkwrite for Medicaid providers under the legacy MMIS is June 27, with funds transferred electronically the next day, June 28. The cutoff date for claims submission in that checkwrite cycle is June 20.

Although NC Tracks will pay claims on a weekly cycle, DHHS and its fiscal agent, CSC, determined that a first checkwrite for all providers could not be accomplished during the first week of operations. NC Tracks will process non-pharmacy POS claim types the following week — both backlogged claims from the legacy systems, and new claims submitted in NC Tracks by the July 12 cutoff will have a July 16 checkwrite and July 17 payment.

The payment cycle of NC Tracks will be weekly — valid claims submitted by midnight on Friday will be processed for a checkwrite the following Tuesday, with funds transferred to bank accounts on Wednesday, except in cases of a holiday. This allows 50 checkwrites annually, the anticipated exceptions being the last week of June (end of the fiscal year) and the week of Christmas. Providers should note that NC Tracks has a scheduled checkwrite the week of Thanksgiving.

The NC Tracks checkwrite schedule for July-December, 2013, can be found at http://www.ncdhhs.gov/dma/provider/calendar.htm. For more information about NC Tracks, including a checklist of actions providers must take prior to go-live on July 1, go to http://ncmmis.ncdhhs.gov.

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The North Carolina Culture Change Coalition will be offering a free workshop at three different locations throughout the state. Each location will offer a 9:00 AM – 12:00 Noon session or 1:00 – 4:00 PM session.

• May 22, 2013 at Wake County Commons Building (Raleigh) | 4011 Cary Drive, Raleigh, NC 27610
• August 6, 2013 at WillowBrooke Court at Plantation Estates | 701 Plantation Estates Drive, Matthews, NC 28105
• October 9, 2013 at Davis Health Care Center | 1011 Porters Neck Road, Wilmington, NC 28411

Administrator CEUs, drinks and snacks will be provided. To register, contact Patsy Rudolph at patsy.rudolph@kindred.com. Comments and questions can be directed to Becky Wertz, becky.wertz@dhhs.nc.gov or by visiting the NC Culture Change Coalition’s Web site at http://www.ltcenhance.com.

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Join Advancing Excellence for a Webinar on May 2. This Webinar will cover the details of the new Advancing Excellence Person-Centered Care goal and tools. This session will be of great interest to all homes and will be especially helpful for administrators, social services and activities staff.

This goal will introduce the concept and measurement of preference congruence – the degree to which nursing homes are honoring the care and activity preferences of their residents. The measurement of Preference Congruence provides nursing homes with a tangible way to measure and improve this person centered care concept so strongly tied to the culture change movement. The tool will also guide facilities in several ways to measure and bring the resident to the center of the care planning and care conference process. No matter where your nursing home is on the culture change journey – this Webinar is likely to greatly assist you in the process.

Title: Person Centered Care
Date: Thursday, May 2, 2013
Time: 3:15 PM – 4:30 PM EDT

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/887321153

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The national theme for the 2013 National Nursing Home Week (NNHW) is Team Care. NNHW will be observed in skilled nursing facilities throughout America, Beginning Mother’s Day, May 12th and continuing through May 18th, 2013.

NNHW’s theme recognizes residents and patients in long term and post-acute care settings, the dedicated staff who care for them, and the value of care planning where everyone “pitches in” for optimal outcomes. The observance is an opportunity to involve families, community members, youth, and others in a community-wide show of support and respect for these individuals and the staff who provide care or support services. Activities are designed to foster intergenerational contact, strengthen family relationships and to encourage volunteerism by individuals and local organizations.

Team Care should be on display at your facility by using special themed products that are available from the AHCA Bookstore. Order soon as quantities are limited. More information is available at the dedicated Web site http://www.nnhw.org and on Facebook. E-mail inquiries should be sent to nnhw@ahca.org. Please inform your staff of the date and theme!

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Mark your calendar now and plan to attend four value-packed days of learning and networking in Phoenix, AZ, October 6-9, 2013! Choose from over 60 sessions in 11 education tracks ranging from advocacy to finance to person-centered care to quality improvement. Take advantage of terrific networking opportunities, outstanding educational programming, and fabulous entertainment, all in a beautiful location. Visit http://www.AHCAconvention.org for event details and registration information! Early bird discount ends July 19, 2013!

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Submit nomination forms today for the American Health Care Association (AHCA) 2013 Volunteer of the Year awards. Nominations for the Volunteer of the Year award must be submitted through the NCHCFA office — not directly from individual facilities. The deadline for nominations is Friday, May 17, 2013. Visit the News and Updates section of the Member Center on the Association’s Web site at http://www.NursingHomesNC.com to obtain nomination forms and to review all rules and criteria. Because the nomination forms are reproduced as is and submitted to judges in the long term care community, please make sure your forms are typed. Variations of AHCA’s nomination forms will not be accepted. Faxed nomination forms will not be accepted. The winners will be honored at AHCA’s 64th Annual Convention and Exposition, October 6-9, 2013 in Phoenix, AZ. If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail or call Ms. Claire Krawsczyn at ckrawsczyn@ahca.org or (410) 340-2210.

AHCA will also recognize an honoree of distinction from an ICF/IID facility or HCBS Waiver Home for their dedication to improving the quality of life of clients and advancing community understanding of individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities. The same rules/regulations apply as above. (Intellectual Disabilities/Developmental Disabilities Hero of the Year Award- ID/DD Hero of the Year)

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Nursing home worker describes chaos of Texas explosion.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/nursing-home-worker-describes-chaos-texas-explosion-163153892.html?vp=1

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Twelve people have walked on the moon.

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