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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Mark your calendar today for the North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association’s “Full Day Workforce Summit.” Tired of the revolving door of employee turnover? Wish your staff had more professionalism? If so, join us for our Workforce Summit, where we’ll tackle your staffing challenges head on!

Come learn insights about the shifting demographics of the workforce, employees’ evolving expectations, and strategies for improving staffing stability and reducing unnecessary employee turnover. We will also dive into the mindset of your Millennial workers, those under 37, to explain exactly why they think and work so differently than previous generations.

By the time you leave this workshop, you will discover the true cost of employee turnover, know how to assess your brand as an employer and walk away with realistic plans for improving your workforce woes.

Dates Offered:
June 27th – Charlotte, NC
June 28th – Raleigh, NC

This session will be presented by the very popular Cara Silletto, MBA, President of Crescendo Strategies. Click here to watch a short video from Cara!

Brochures will be mailed this week!

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Make plans today to attend the sixth annual NCHCFA Summer Symposium August 9-11, 2017, at the Embassy Suites Resort at Kingston Plantation, Myrtle Beach, SC. Mark Gogal is an enthusiastic, energetic, and passionate leader and presenter who truly enjoys developing others to reach their fullest potential both professionally and personally. Mark has facilitated two Empowerment Leadership workshops for NCHCFA that have both sold-out!

Mark is a Human Resources Leader with over 25 years of progressive, global, and diverse human resources experience, practical business partnering expertise, strong organizational and analytical skills, and proven strategic management experience. He has a multi-faceted background in developing and implementing core HR policies/practices to meet the changing business, legal and labor compliance environment. Mark has worked in a variety of industries in the public and private sectors including healthcare. Don’t miss the opportunity to hear this informative program on Friday, August 11th at 9:00 AM.

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Due to extenuating circumstances, the reporting deadline for the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Fiscal Year 2018 payment determination has been extended from May 15, 2017 to June 1, 2017. The MDS assessment data for October-December (Q4) of calendar year 2016 are due with this submission deadline.

For a list of measures required for this deadline visit the SNF Quality Reporting Program Data Submission Deadlines Webpage.

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Last year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published the final emergency preparedness rule. This rule placed new requirements on many types of health care providers, including nursing facilities. Overall, the rule requires adherence to the below listed standards by November 15, 2017:

• Perform an all-hazards risk assessment and establish an emergency plan for the facility;
• Develop and implement policies and procedures to execute the emergency plan;
• Develop and maintain a communications plan to support continuity of operations and on-going patient care;
• Train staff in emergency preparedness policies and procedures; and conduct drills and exercises to test emergency plans.

In order to assist providers in meeting these requirements, several resources are available. The North Carolina Office of Emergency Medical Services has gathered information for licensed care facilities, including a final rule crosswalk, templates, checklists, planning documents, toolkits, presentations and more. The Webpage containing these resources can be found at http://nchpp.com/tools-info/continuing-care-resources. The American Health Care Association (AHCA) Emergency Preparedness Final Rule Webinar Series can be found here. In addition, the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has a summary and links to the resources available through their healthcare emergency preparedness information gateway.

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On May 12, 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued S&C: 17-27-NH clarifying New Definition for SQC: A new regulatory definition was published in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 2016 Final Long-term Care Rule and became effective on November 28, 2016; Implementing SQC: The new regulatory definition will affect which F-tags and regulatory groupings are considered to be SQC in both Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Final Rule implementation process; Notice Before Transfer or Discharge Requirements: CMS is also providing clarification in advance of formal interpretive guidance of 42 CFR §483.15(c)(3)(i) which requires facilities to send a copy of the notice of transfer or discharge to the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman.

The memo may be found here.

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Each year, the American Health Care Association releases an annual report summarizing items of significance from the previous year. The 2017 report, featuring a video message from AHCA President and CEO Mark Parkinson, can be accessed by clicking here.

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NCHCFA Districts have scheduled their spring meetings. The agenda will include the following topics/presentations:

Alliant Quality (QIN-QIO) – Alliant Quality will present an update on NC’s facilities’ quality measures including pressure ulcers, restraints, etc. They will also discuss the facility composite score.

Healthcare Preparedness Coalition – The Coalition will provide a brief presentation covering the CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule, to be implemented by November 2017, basic information regarding key considerations that challenge providers, and differences between urban and rural provider issues will also be discussed.

NC Culture Change Coalition – The Coalition is involved in several activities, including a grant program with the North Carolina Division of Health Service Regulation (DHSR). Information will be presented concerning how to apply for grants, the application process, eligible projects, and more.

NC Works – NC Works will present information on how NC Works may assist facilities in filling positions and keeping employees and how facilities can become more involved with NC Works.

District I
Silver Bluff Village
100 Silver Bluff Drive
Canton, NC 28716
June 8, 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

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. There is no cost to participate.

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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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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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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For more than two decades, this book has been used as a teaching and reference text to guide organizations that documented their continuous improvement efforts using Baldrige Award-type management systems. The goal for this book is that readers will understand more fully what each area of the system means for organizations and find the synergy within the six major process-oriented parts of the system-leadership, strategy, customers, measurement, analysis, and knowledge management, workforce, and operations that lead to excellent performance results. The book provides a valuable, step-by-step approach to help identify and put in place properly focused continuous improvement systems. Seven types of information are provided in this book for each of the Items in Categories 1 through 7 of the 2017-2018 Baldrige Framework and Performance Excellence Criteria:

1. The actual language of each item, including notes
2. A plain-English explanation of the requirements of each item with suggestions about the rationale for the item and ways to meet key requirements
3. A table showing the similar requirements of the Criteria presented only once at the scoring level where the requirement first appears
4. A summary of the requirements of each item in flowchart form
5. The key linkages between each item and other items
6. An explanation of some potential adverse consequences that an organization might face if it fails to implement processes required by each item
7. Examples of effective practices that some organizations have developed and followed consistent with requirements of the item

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

Product #8452
AHCA MEMBERS $92.00

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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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Caregiver Shortage Reaches Critical Stage – Stronger economy and shifting demographics put providers in bind in search for workers.

http://www.providermagazine.com/archives/2017_Archives/Pages/0517/Caregiver-Shortage-Reaches-Critical-Stage.aspx

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The official fruit of the State of North Carolina is the Scuppernong grape. The official red berry of the State is the strawberry. The official blue berry of the State is the blueberry.

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