UPDATE Weekly

Register today to attend the fifth annual NCHCFA Summer Symposium August 9-11, 2016 at the Embassy Suites Resort at Kingston Plantation, Myrtle Beach, SC for the most up to date information affecting long term care. You can register and pay on-line. Visit http://NursingHomesNC.com & click on Fifth Annual Summer Symposium Registration! Administrators and registered nurses will be able to earn up to 11.5 hours of continuing education.

Call the Embassy Suites Resort at (800) 876-0010 to reserve your overnight room. Due to the popular time of the year in Myrtle Beach, the NCHCFA room block will fill-up! Use group code “HFA” to identify yourself as a NC Health Care Facilities Association Convention attendee! To make your reservation on-line, visit http://tinyurl.com/summersymposium2016. If you have any problems making your reservation, please call the Association office at (919) 782-3827.

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The North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association would like to thank our 2016 Summer Symposium Corporate Sponsors for supporting the upcoming Fifth Annual Summer Symposium in Myrtle Beach, SC! We appreciate your support: Healthcare Services Group, Liberty Healthcare Group, Medipack Pharmacy, NH Medical Services & QMX Mobile Health.

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Do not miss Your Pathway to Improved Palliative Care in Post-Acute Facilities on Tuesday, August 9th. Nearly 23% of patients discharged from a hospital to a nursing home are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days and a 2006 study estimates that Medicare costs associated with nursing home-to-hospital readmissions account for $4.34 billion annually. Palliative care throughout the continuum of illness involves addressing patients’ physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual needs, as well as helping them access information and retain their autonomy. Palliative care programs can help to ensure that patients are cared for in the setting best aligned with their wishes and treatment goals. This presentation is designed to foster the development of a formal palliative care program.

From 2013-2014, Healthcentric Advisors, the New England Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) applied knowledge from the nationally acclaimed Rhode Island Intensive Care Unit Collaborative to the post-acute setting with the goals of improving the care provided to vulnerable nursing home residents and reducing the costs associated with hospital admissions and readmissions. Sheryl Leary, LSW will share outcomes, learnings and tools generated from the Rhode Island Nursing Home Palliative Care collaborative.

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The American Health Care Association’s (AHCA) President and CEO, Mark Parkinson has released a memo of his 2016 mid-year report. The purpose of the memo is to outline what has occurred so far this year, discuss additional challenges and opportunities, and explain what AHCA is doing about all of this. The challenges addressed include:

• Mandatory Staffing Data Collection
• Five-Star
• Requirements of Participation
• Rehospitalization Penalty

A copy of the mid-year report memo can be accessed by clicking here.

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This requirement becomes effective on July 1st. Under PBJ, nursing facilities must electronically submit staffing data and census information on a quarterly basis moving forward. This is a requirement to participate in Medicare and Medicaid.

In order to assist providers in becoming compliant with the PBJ requirements, the American Health Care Association (AHCA) has made several resources available. These helpful resources can be found by clicking here.

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Recently, the Department of Labor (DOL) published updated regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). These new regulations revise the overtime exemptions for executive, administrative and professional employees, commonly known as the “white collar” exemptions.

The American Health Care Association’s (AHCA) legal consultant has prepared a memo outlining the changes. The memo includes information on changes to the “White Collar” exemptions, compliance with the Final Rule, DOL’s non-enforcement policy, and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) compliance with the payroll based journal.

The memo can be found on AHCA’s Web site. Members will need their login information to access the memo. AHCA has also posted a Webinar and slides with an overview of the rule.

The full text of the final rule can be found here. The new regulations take effect on December 1, 2016.

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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 so much more!

To register to receive the Palmetto GBA Medicare Listserv, go to http://tinyurl.com/PalmettoGBAListserv and select “Register Now.” Complete and submit the online form. Be sure to select the specialties that interest you so information can be sent. Once the registration information is entered, you will receive a confirmation/welcome message informing you that you have been successfully added to the listserv. You must acknowledge this confirmation within three days of your registration.

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There is a powerful lineup of speakers for the AHCA/NCAL 67th Annual Convention & Expo! During the opening session, don’t miss author, expert, and futurist in the field of Demography and Generational Marketing, Kenneth W. Gronbach. Kenneth uses wit, humor, and common sense as he forecasts societal, cultural, and political phenomena with uncanny accuracy.

During the closing general session, don’t miss co-author of the New York Times best seller In an Instant, Lee Woodruff! Lee chronicles her family’s journey to recovery following her husband Bob’s roadside bomb injury in Iraq and helped put a face on the serious issue of traumatic brain injury among returning war veterans, as well as the millions who live with this often invisible, but life-changing affliction. She will also share her personal insights as a caregiver.

To hear them, and register for the AHCA/NCAL 67th Annual Convention & Expo visit http://www.AHCAconvention.org! Get maximum savings when you register before the early bird deadline of July 22nd!

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Join Palmetto GBA for an informative Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) – Lower 14 RUGs Webcast! It will be held from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM on Wednesday, July 13, 2016. This Webcast is designed to provide an overview of assessments, Minimum Data Set (MDS), lower 14 Resource Utilization Groups (RUGs), documentation tips and useful resources.

Registration is required. To register for this Webcast, please click here http://event.on24.com/wcc/r/1206155/F761F33B2EE3C7F057C573FD73501763. Please note that a National Provider Identifier (NPI) and Provider Transaction Access Number (PTAN) are required to register. You should only enter ‘n/a’ if you do not have an NPI or PTAN.

The audio for this presentation will be broadcasting through your computer. For best results, it is recommended that you utilize/headphones. You will not be able to use your telephone to dial into the conference. A copy of the presentation will be available once the session begins.

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This is part of a series featuring one element of the Building Prevention Into Every Day Practice: Framework for Successful Clinical Outcomes.

Success in achieving positive resident/patient outcomes is even more critical now than ever before. The link between quality and payment in long term and post-acute care is growing stronger, as evidenced by the SNF Value Based Purchasing Program (VBP), Improving Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act, SNF Quality Reporting Program (QRP) and more. In addition, regulatory activity is intensifying through focused surveys on adverse events, dementia care and Minimum Data Set (MDS). The Five-Star Rating system and Nursing Home Compare have been revised and will add items in the future as it broadens public reporting and transparency. Most importantly, consumers expect and deserve high quality care.

The entire framework outlines key elements from both an organizational and clinical nature that are critical to successful clinical and organizational outcomes. Positively, these elements reflect common denominators that cross multiple care situations. Therefore, instead of being yet another initiative or single focused project to achieve just one outcome, it is a way of acting, thinking and being that will benefit multiple areas across an organization. Each element is addressed in detail throughout the framework.

This week the feature element is Clinical Foundation: Clinical Assessment

Key Takeaways: Clinical Assessment

 A thorough clinical assessment identifies issues precisely to enable high quality care.
 Clinical assessment has various components (observation, interpretation, etc.) and a given health care professional or licensed staff person may not be equally adept at all of those aspects.
 Performing an accurate and adequate assessment enables subsequent interpretation and clinical decision making.
 Interpretation of findings must be done prudently based on knowledge of the resident/patient and on understanding how to interpret the information, not just on knowledge of the topic (falls, behavior, pain, etc.)

Probing Questions for Team Reflection and Discussion:

1. How good are the assessments that our staff and practitioners do?
2. Are we getting enough information and organizing it effectively to allow for appropriate interpretation?
3. Do we obtain a chronological story and useful background information to support our assessments of all situations and symptoms?
4. Do we focus enough on improving the processes, not just the tools (forms, etc.)?
5. What factors impede completion of thorough and accurate clinical assessments? How can we address and minimize those factors?

Visit the AHCA Clinical Practice Web site to learn more about the element of “Clinical Foundation: Clinical Assessment” and answers to these key questions:

What does this mean? Why is this important? What are some examples? What is my part (as an individual employee, manager or practitioner)? What can my organization do?

Start somewhere, pick one element and work through it with your team.

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Alliant Quality is pleased to announce a new initiative to prevent and reduce the prevalence of Clostridium Difficile (C. Diff). This initiative will support nursing home submission of data into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) databank which will provide for analysis and creation of a national baseline for C. Difficile infections in nursing homes. NHSN provides LTC centers with a customized system to track infections in a streamlined and systematic way. Join this Webinar to learn more about how you can identify and track your progress toward stopping infections.

Introduction to NHSN – C. Diff Collaborative
Date: July 7, 2016

Time: 10:00 am

Register Now!
https://qualitynet.webex.com

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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. For more details, e-mail Jennifer Brock at Jennifer.Brock@area-F.hcqis.org or call (678) 527-3417.

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This newly updated and revised book presents ready-to-use materials for planning, implementing, and evaluating cultural competence strategies and programs. Learn to identify the needs of diverse constituents, evaluate and assess cultural competence on a companion Web site.

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

Product #8173
AHCA MEMBERS $80.00

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This DVD, Mobility and Safe Movement of the Elderly, Improving Your Skills to Prevent Injuries and Reduce Falls, by Teepa Snow, MS, OTR/L., FOTA, Dementia Care & Training Specialist, was developed in conjunction with Wake Allied Health Education Center, Durham Technical Community College and the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Office of Information Systems. The content is formatted in separate segments in order to customize the delivery of content to your learning objective. Handouts developed by Teepa accompany each video and may be reproduced. To order, e-mail your request to Donna Snyder at donnas@nchcfa.org. The price is $35.00 (tax and shipping included).

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Communication lessons from Yoda

http://www.mcknights.com/daily-editors-notes/communication-lessons-from-yoda/article/505838/

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At any given time, clouds cover roughly 60 percent of earth.

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