UPDATE Weekly

Register today to attend the sixth annual NCHCFA Summer Symposium August 9-11, 2017 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 and click on Sixth 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. 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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On Monday of this week, the American Health Care Association (AHCA) hosted a Webinar, AHCA Briefing Call with Mark Parkinson on Medicaid Changes in Senate Repeal and Replace Legislation. If you were unable to join, a recording of the Webinar is available here on ahcancalED. You can learn more about the proposed legislation and what you can do now to help protect Medicaid.

The proposed cuts come in two areas:

1. Provider assessments are reduced from a maximum of 6 percent to 5 percent by 2025. In the 28 states that are impacted, this means an average cut of $100,000 per building per year when the reduction is fully implemented.
2. The switch in the Medicaid growth rate from Consumer Price Index (CPI) Medical plus one to CPI-Urban is devastating for every state in the country. It is much harder to know the exact cut due to the change in the per capita growth rate. It will depend on how each state’s governor and legislature decides to handle the changes. But when this is fully implemented, if we achieve an equal cut to all other providers, our average nationwide loss will be $600,000 per building in 2016 dollars.

We need you to act now. As a reminder, AHCA has developed resources to make your outreach effective and easy.

• Call Republican Senator and House members and ask them to vote NO.
• State-specific talking points provide key data that will make an impact as you are calling Senate and House Republicans. We must ensure they understand that the residents and patients in your facility have no other option for care if your center closes its doors. It is important to be honest about the facts: centers will close if these cuts are in place.
• A table listing the state-by-state impact of the proposed reduction in provider taxes and growth rate can be found here.
• Make your voice heard by registering for AHCA’s grassroots Care Advocacy program. You also can encourage friends and family to register and reach out to elected officials about this important issue.

We appreciate everything you have done and continue to do to protect Medicaid and the quality care we provide to millions. We can win, but the only way to do this is to make sure we are heard on Capitol Hill.

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has started a pilot testing program to audit Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) data. Granite Dolphin and Myers and Stauffer auditors will examine payroll records and other auditable data along with PBJ submission data to identify if staffing is being reported accurately based on hours staff are paid to work. Information requested may include information from payroll, timekeeping systems, invoices, or contracts for contracted staff, and interviews with staff responsible for PBJ data entry and submission.

The audits may take place on or off site. The auditors will provide the facility with the audit type, the submission time period covered by the audit, a list of requested information and a due date for submitting the requested information. On-site audit dates will be announced to facilities prior to the audit team’s arrival, so the facility can plan for the on-site work.

This pilot testing program’s purpose is to improve the PBJ audit process. Per CMS, any findings from these audits will not result in sanctions for negative actions against the facility. Upon completion of the audit, the auditors will meet with facility management to discuss the findings.

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The North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association would like to thank our 2017 Summer Symposium Corporate Sponsor QMX Mobile Health for supporting the upcoming sixth annual Summer Symposium in Myrtle Beach, SC. We appreciate your support!

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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.

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 Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) 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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Please plan to join your friends and colleagues in beautiful Southern Pines, North Carolina, on September 14 and 15 for the NCHCFA 6th Annual Autumn Classic. The event will be held at the world famous Pine Needles Lodge and Resort. Built in 1928, the Donald Ross course at Pine Needles has been host to three U.S. Women’s Open tournaments in 1996, 2001 and again in 2007.

You do not have to play golf to participate. In addition to the “Cabana Club” Package, we are pleased to announce we are offering a new “Recharge Club” Package at this year’s event. Come enjoy lunch and spend the afternoon relaxing at The Spa at Pinehurst. This 31,000 square foot facility is a Forbes Four-Star Spa that offers a wide variety of treatments and services. This package includes access to all areas at the spa, which features a heated, three lane saline lap pool, eucalyptus steam rooms, a spacious fitness center, and much more. Transportation will be provided to and from the Village at Pinehurst.

The Autumn Classic is hosted by the NCHCFA to benefit our political action committee (PAC). Click here to review the information about the scheduled events and to register. We hope you will join us in Southern Pines in September.

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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 for LTC workshops for NCHCFA that have both sold-out! Additional comments from attendees are below:

“Look forward to implementing small changes in my organization to grow to where I hope we as a team need to be. Thank you for this”
“Very practical topic and well presented”
“Awesome speaker”
“Best conference I have been to in ages”
“This topic is very relatable to everyday duties; I will take all that I learned back to my facility”
“This guy ROCKS!”
“Excellent workshop; learned a lot and have plans to put into action”

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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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 15-18, 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 21.

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The leadership workshop NCHCFA held in January and April was so well received, that we have decided to offer the session again on July 20, 2017, in Wilmington, NC. Empowerment Leadership for LTC is an interactive dynamic developmental session that focuses on what it truly means to serve others as a leader. Discuss what employees, customers, and others truly need from leaders. Learn how to operate most effectively in a leadership role using the core principles of servant leadership.

Servant leadership is a set of behaviors and practices that turn the traditional “power leadership” model upside down; instead of the people working to serve the leader, the leader exists to serve the people. The goal of this workshop is to provide attendees with information and tools that are relevant, transformative, memorable, and actionable.

When leaders shift their mindset and serve first, they unlock purpose and ingenuity in those around them, resulting in higher performance and engaged, fulfilled employees. As servant leaders, your purpose is to inspire and equip those you influence.

Through this workshop, you will learn and practice execution of the most critical skills needed for leading by serving first. You will come out of this course feeling energized and have a number of tools and skills you can start to apply immediately to empower your teams.

What You’ll Learn

• Why Lead This Way?
• Top Skills of Servant Leaders
• Practical Tips for Shifting to Servant Leadership
• Creating a Shared Vision and Getting Engagement
• Leading Through Change

This seminar will be facilitated by Mark Gogal, 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. He has worked in a variety of industries in the public and private sectors including healthcare.

Mark is an enthusiastic, energetic, and passionate leader and presenter who truly enjoys developing others to reach their fullest potential both professionally and personally.

For the complete brochure and registration information, click here.

SAVE THE DATE!

We will also be offering this workshop in Asheville, NC on October 17, 2017, for our members in the western part of the state.

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Thank you to all NCHCFA members that participated this past March in the comprehensive survey regarding NCHCFA’s future Annual Convention & Expo, Summer Symposium, and educational programs. Our goal is to present informative and enjoyable programs and we take feedback from our members very seriously as we plan for future events. The NCHCFA Education and Programs Committee used your session suggestions to finalize the content and agenda for the upcoming Summer Symposium.

To view, please click the survey results and comments. Again, we appreciate your feedback and look forward to providing you the highest quality educational programs in the future.

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Bernie Dana draws on his 28 years of experience as an executive and consultant, his academic training and research in quality management, and his involvement in the AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award program in developing this practical guide to creating a quality management system in your organization. He begins with the crucial role of leadership and the basics of quality that will enable leaders and supervisors to shift from the inspection-oriented and crisis management thinking that is often embedded in long term care. He then provides practical guidelines for developing six essential elements of a quality management system that will be the foundation for continuous performance improvement. This new edition provides a step-by-step process for developing a long-range plan and creating and using a balanced scorecard of key measures to assess organizational performance. This is a companion book to Continuous Quality Improvement.

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

Product # 6816
AHCA Members (on-line price) $34.95

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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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The key to keeping employees around? Kindness

http://www.mcknights.com/daily-editors-notes/the-key-to-keeping-employees-around-kindness/article/671255/

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A flea can jump up to 200 times its own height. That is the equivalent of a human jumping the Empire State Building.

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