UPDATE Weekly

Make plans today to join your colleagues for the sixth annual NCHCFA Summer Symposium. The three-day event will be August 9-11, 2017 at the Embassy Suites Resort at Kingston Plantation, Myrtle Beach, SC. Call the Embassy Suites Resort at (800) 876-0010 to reserve your overnight room. Use group code “HCA” to identify yourself as a NC Health Care Facilities Association Convention attendee! To make your reservation on-line, visit http://tinyurl.com/summersymposium2017.

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Last Friday, the American Health Care Association (AHCA) hosted a Webinar highlighting the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed rule for the skilled nursing facility (SNF) prospective payment system (PPS) fiscal year (FY) 2018 update. The recording is now available for members only.

During the Webinar, AHCA staff provided an overview of the proposed rule, which includes a 1% Medicare rate increase for skilled nursing providers. They also discussed the difference between the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (the regular annual payment update) and the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. Both were issued on Thursday, April 27.

Please note that an ahcancalED log-in is required to hear this recording

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With a growing library of Webinars, courses, tools and resources, ahcancalED has become a valuable resource to AHCA/NCAL Independent Owners and Not for Profit providers. If you haven’t yet started making use of it, now is your chance to learn how and get started!

The Webinar will take a tour of ahcancalED, review some of the programs and rich educational material available, and teach you how to easily navigate through the system. What makes ahcancalED different from other learning management systems is its customization to the needs of AHCA/NCAL members. From the new Requirements of Participation, to QAPI, Faith Community Partnerships, and QI in Veteran’s Homes, ahcancalED is driven by the information that is critical to you.

Register today.

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The N.C. Infection Control Assessment and Response (ICAR) Nurse Consultants and the Statewide Program for Infection Control & Epidemiology (SPICE) will sponsor a 1-hour Webinar, “Practical Advice for Implementing an Antibiotic Stewardship Program in Long Term Care” on Wednesday, May 17, 12:00 Noon. This Webinar will feature Dr. Lisa Davidson, Medical Director of Carolinas HealthCare System Antimicrobial Support Network. Webinar access information will be forthcoming closer to the date. For answers to your questions about infection control at any time, access “Ask SPICE” at http://spice.unc.edu/ask-spice.

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Below you will find access to tools for not only this occasion but also for use every day.

1. Watch and share the new Clean Hands Count video
“Sometimes we don’t clean our hands as often as we should. It takes dedication, mindfulness, and time. Our clean hands count now more than ever.”

YouTube link: https://youtu.be/MzkNSzqmUSY
Alternate link: https://www.cdc.gov/handhygiene/video/CHC-Final-SD-360.mp4
2. Order free Clean Hands Count print materials
“New this year are Clean Hands Count stickers for windows, doors, or mirrors. There are also plenty of brochures, fact sheets, and posters for patients and healthcare providers. Order copies by visiting: http://wwwn.cdc.gov/pubs/CDCInfoOnDemand.aspx?ProgramID=31.”
3. Spread the word
“Start a conversation about why #CleanHandsCount for safe health care. Tell your coworkers, patients, family, and friends why clean hands count to prevent infections. We are all in this together.”

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NCHCFA Districts have scheduled 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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It’s here and it’s hot! This year’s AHCA/NCAL Convention & Expo Preliminary Program is now available on-line! You can even read it on your mobile devices. Take a look at what Las Vegas has in store for you October 15th-18th, 2017 in this easy-to-access, easy-to-read flip book.

This year’s Convention & Expo offers national keynote speakers, valuable education, professional networking and exciting exhibits staffed with experts ready to help your company excel. The Gala Dinner & Show (separate ticketed event) is going to be a fantastic night of music, food, and fun that you will remember long after the Las Vegas night ends with Huey Lewis and the News headlining!

Register early and save! Early bird registration and savings continue through July 21st.

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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.

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This book offers CNAs the support of trained and experienced mentors to guide their way as they develop into quality health care professionals. Implementing this program can help you reduce your facility’s CNA turnover rate, save money and build a more competent staff. You’ll have happier residents and a higher quality facility as a result!

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

Product #6706
AHCA MEMBERS $59.95

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If you were unable to attend one of our sessions on Updated Regulations with Cindy DePorter, the notebook used in the training is now available for purchase. 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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Five Changes Great Leaders Make to Develop an Improvement Culture

http://catalyst.nejm.org/five-changes-great-leaders-improvement-culture

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The Vatican Bank is the world’s only bank that allows ATM users to perform transactions in Latin.

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