UPDATE Weekly

UPDATE will not be published next week due to the American Health Care Association (AHCA) annual convention. UPDATE will return to circulation on Wednesday, October 26th.

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Have you nominated one or more of your front-line staff? What a great way to recognize and celebrate someone who makes a significant difference in the lives of your residents and their families. To nominate someone, please click here to submit on-line! You may also visit the homepage of our Web site at http://www.NursingHomesNC.com and click on the PDF form beside 2017 NCHCFA Annual Awards Nomination to download and print the nomination packet.

Pictures for nominations submitted online may be mailed to the Association office or may be e-mailed to karenl@nchcfa.org. Only one nomination may be submitted for each discipline, but we welcome nominations from more than one department of your facility.

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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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As announced earlier this year, the Department of Labor (DOL), issued a final rule updating the overtime regulations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The new regulations revise the overtime exemptions for executive, administrative, and professional employees, commonly known as the “white collar” exemptions. Provisions of this final rule are effective on December 1, 2016.

On Monday, October 17, 2016, from 11:00 AM -12:00 PM ET, the DOL’s Wage & Hour Division – in partnership with the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy – is hosting a Webinar to highlight resources and guidance available for employers and answer compliance assistance questions. The session will include the opportunity to submit questions during the presentation’s Q&A segment, but attendees are encouraged to submit questions in advance to WHDNOComm@dol.gov.

Register for this Webinar here.

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Palmetto GBA has published the SNF Resource Utilization Groups (RUG) rates effective October 1, 2016. This official schedule can be found by clicking here.

As previously announced, the American Health Care Association (AHCA) also provides a rate calculator for their members. This tool also compares the current rates to the previous year’s rates. Click here to access this Excel based tool and instructions on its use.

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The List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE) has been updated to reflect changes made in September 2016. For additional information on the LEIE and to access this updated information, click here.

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District III has scheduled their next meeting for October 26th at Clapp’s Convalescent Nursing Home, in Asheboro. The meeting will begin at 10:00AM and end at 2:00PM. The presenter, Judy Wilhide from Brandt Consulting, will discuss utilizing chart reviews to verify accurate coding and scheduling to ensure your Quality Measure (QM) stars are accurate. Judy can predict QM rating, offer tips for strategic planning to balance Resource Utilization Group (RUG) and QM implications of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) and Prospective Payment System (PPS) Minimum Data Set (MDS) schedule. Several providers have used her several times and found her service very beneficial.

District meetings are designed to allow participants to feel more interactive and create a comfortable atmosphere, promoting valuable and productive conversation. The District III session will be held at Clapp’s Convalescent Nursing Home, 450 Mountain Top Drive, Asheboro 27203.

Due to size considerations, we will be limiting the number of attendees to 50 individuals but, unlike the previous district meeting, this will be open to any employees of your facility who may benefit from attending. Please complete the registration information and survey, https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LMNBWJX, to list your top three Quality Indicator areas of concern (outliers). This will give Ms. Wilhide a direction as to how to lead the discussion. If you have any other regional ideas, i.e. district education sessions, please include those comments in your survey response.

This program offers 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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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 TO 22 REGISTRATIONS!

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Alliant Quality, the Quality Innovation Network – Quality Improvement Organization for Georgia and North Carolina, is pleased to support North Carolina facilities in meeting the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) enrollment deadline to confer rights. All facilities participating in the National Nursing Home Quality Care Collaborative for C. Difficile, must meet the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) requirement by October 30. Alliant highly encourages facilities to start this process as soon as possible, to ensure meeting the deadline! For hands-on, technical assistance, please contact: Nickie Graves RN, BA, MPA, CIC – Technical Advisor, Infection Prevention at (678) 527-3679 or sonya.graves@alliantquality.org.

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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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On Thursday, October 27th from 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM ET, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will offer a conference call for participants to learn about the final rule to reform the requirements for long-term care facilities. These requirements are the federal health and safety standards that long-term care facilities must meet in order to participate in the Medicare or Medicaid programs. Find out about the changes included in the final rule; implementation and survey process; and provider training and resources. A question and answer session will follow the presentation.

To register or for more information, visit MLN Connects Event Registration. Space may be limited, register early.

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Restorative nursing is an essential part of reimbursement, compliance, and the quality of life of your residents. Improper care planning or unclear documentation can negatively impact resident care and your bottom line. The Long-Term Care Restorative Nursing Desk Reference is a new all-inclusive desk reference that describes the clinical aspects of restorative nursing in detail and provides a much-needed guide for nurses in a long-term care facility. This resource makes it easy to find instant answers to questions you may have about maintaining or developing your restorative program. The Long-Term Care Restorative Nursing Desk Reference offers the help you need to create or sustain an effective restorative care program that puts your resident’s needs first. This text also comes with a CD-ROM.

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

Product #8241
AHCA MEMBERS $149.00

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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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Not A Happy Accident: How Google Deliberately Designs Workplace Satisfaction

https://www.fastcompany.com/3007268/where-are-they-now/not-happy-accident-how-google-deliberately-designs-workplace-satisfaction

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The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.

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