UPDATE Weekly

NCHCFA is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2017 Nurse Aide of the Year Awards and the 2017 Riley W. Clapp Outstanding Service Award! Individuals will be recognized in Greensboro, NC during the Annual Convention and Expo.

District I Nurse Aide of the Year
Mary “Libby” Tallent – Grace Heights Health & Rehabilitation Center

District II Nurse Aide of the Year
Dianna Franklin – Autumn Care of Cornelius

District III Nurse Aide of the Year
Ida King – Peak Resources / Alamance

District IV Nurse Aide of the Year
Marie Cheeks – Quail Haven Village

District V Nurse Aide of the Year
Candice Miles – Franklin Oaks Nursing & Rehabilitation Center

2017 Riley W. Clapp Outstanding Service Award
Kelly Boyette – Southwood Nursing & Retirement Center

Make plans today to attend the 2017 Association Awards Celebration on Tuesday, February 28th for a very special evening! Brochures outlining specific program details will be available in December.

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During a CMS Open Door Forum hosted recently by phone, CMS staff reported that 90 percent of providers have submitted their 3rd quarter (July 1st – September 30th) 2016 staffing data to the Payroll Based Journal (PBJ) system. CMS noted that they will accept submissions until December 1st as long as providers are making a “good faith effort”.

After December 1, 2016, CMS will provide an indicator on Nursing Home Compare to report which providers have and have not submitted the PBJ data. All providers should do their best to submit their PBJ data as soon as possible if they have not already done so.

More information on the PBJ submission requirements can be found on the CMS PBJ Web site.

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In memorandum S&C: 17-03-NH, dated October 24, 2016, CMS announced that it was developing an on-line training program for Regional Offices (RO), State Survey Agencies (SA), providers, and other stakeholders on the new nursing home regulations. This on-line training included information about Phase 1 of the regulations and was available to all parties starting November 18, 2016.

The course contains information regarding:

• Incorporation of Phase 1 regulations into the State Operations Manual.
• The survey process to be used to address the regulatory requirements.
• Incorporation of the new regulatory language into the existing F-tag numbering system.

CMS has also created tools to be referenced during Phase I, S&C 17-07-NH included 3 attachments:

• F-tag Job Aide – Identifies the current F-tag associated with a new regulation
• Draft Appendix PP – Examines updated regulatory language in context
• Regulation Text by Current Tag Order – To assist in quickly locating regulatory details about a specific tag

NCHCFA created this PowerPoint training to give providers an easy way to identify what is required in Phase 1. Regulatory sections have been grouped in numerical order. Each grouping lists the key points and F-tag references for modifications of which providers must be aware. If the F-tag has no changes in regulatory language, it will not be identified.

Providers may access the CMS training here through July 2017.

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The US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday, November 22, that will prevent the US Department of Labor’s recently finalized overtime rule from going into effect on December 1. As a result of the injunction, the rule, which raises the overtime salary threshold from its current $23,660 to $47,476, will be delayed nationwide at least until a lawsuit contesting the legality of the rule is complete. In its injunction order, the Court concluded that those challenging the overtime rule—a collection of business groups and the attorneys general from 21 states—had shown a likelihood of success on the merits of their case and would suffer irreparable harm if the rule were allowed to become effective as scheduled. The lawsuit likely will extend well into 2017, which would allow President-elect Trump’s Administration and potentially the new Congress to have an impact on the litigation and the ultimate fate of the overtime rule.

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the Emergency Preparedness Requirements for Medicare and Medicaid Participating Providers and Suppliers Final Rule to establish consistent emergency preparedness requirements for healthcare providers participating in Medicare and Medicaid, increase patient safety during emergencies, and establish a more coordinated response to natural and human-caused disasters. CMS and ASPR Technical Resources, Assistance Center, and Information Exchange (TRACIE) are partnering to provide technical assistance and share resources and promising practices to help affected providers and suppliers start or update the documents mandated by the CMS EP Rule.

ASPR TRACIE developed the CMS EP Rule: Resources at Your Fingertips document so all related materials can be accessed with one click. Within this document are links to key resources:

• CMS’ recently developed frequently asked questions (FAQ) document that synthesizes answers to commonly asked inquiries about the CMS EP Rule.
• The FAQs, in combination with the CMS at-a-glance chart and Provider and Supplier Type Definitions Fact Sheet, can help providers identify and address planning gaps and facilitate compliance with the regulations.
• Interested in learning more about your local healthcare coalition? This chart can help you identify the preparedness office of your state public health agency. Remember, the release of the CMS EP Rule provides healthcare coalitions a tremendous opportunity to strengthen relationships and leverage a broader group of personnel and resources to provide for the medical needs of the whole community during a disaster.
• If you missed the Medicare Learning Network National Call on the EP Rule, you can access the PowerPoint slides, transcript, and audio recording here. This is a phenomenal way to understand what the EP Rule entails (from the CMS expert perspective) and learn more from ASPR’s NHPP Division Director, Melissa Harvey, and ASPR TRACIE’s Director, Shayne Brannman.
• ASPR TRACIE staff has responded to nearly 100 CMS EP Rule-specific technical assistance (TA) requests since the rule was announced. Appendix A of the Resources at Your Fingertips document provides two sample CMS TA requests.

The involved organizations will work closely to update the page and support technical assistance requests. These resources and others can found on ASPR TRACIE’s dedicated CMS Resources page.

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KEPRO is the BFCC-QIO authorized by the Medicare program to review medical services provided to Medicare beneficiaries in CMS Areas 2, 3, and 4. KEPRO reviews medical records to determine whether services delivered to these beneficiaries meet medically acceptable standards of care, are medically necessary, and are delivered in the most appropriate setting.

Several times a year, KEPRO publishes Case Review Connections to provide information to Medicare providers. The latest edition can be read by clicking here.

To join the KEPRO newsletter list, click here.

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Each month, Palmetto GBA publishes the Medicare Advisory with information important to Medicare providers, including skilled nursing facilities. The December 2016 issue is now available. To access this issue, as well as past issues, click here.

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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 Jennifer Brock at Jennifer.Brock@area-F.hcqis.org or call (678) 527-3417.

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Effective January 1, 2017, the Medicare Part A daily coinsurance for skilled nursing facility services will be $164.50. Currently the daily coinsurance is $161.00. For more information on the changing coinsurance, as well as the other Part A and Part B deductibles and coinsurance amounts, click here.

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Learn what it takes to effect real culture change within residential care settings while reducing the administration of psychotropic drugs in the symptomatic treatment of dementia. Dr. G. Allen Power, board-certified internist, geriatrician, nursing home practitioner, and Eden Alternative™ Educator, challenges all care providers working with individuals with dementia to undertake a true operational change. You will learn how to embrace more humanistic, enlightened practices that address the most common challenges in caring for people who live with dementia. Overcome communication challenges, minimize anxiety and depression, root out the causes of wandering, and gain insights into paranoia and delusions.

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

Product # 8249
AHCA Members (on-line price) $32.95

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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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Pitt study shows palliative care provides benefits to patients.

http://triblive.com/news/healthnow/11521374-74/care-palliative-patients

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Redheads experience more pain and require about 20% more anesthesia when going into surgery because a gene that influences their red hair color also influences pain receptors in the body.

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