UPDATE Weekly

Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR), issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking input from the public on how the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Rules, especially the HIPAA Privacy Rule, could be modified to further the HHS Secretary’s goal of promoting coordinated, value-based healthcare. This RFI is a part of the Regulatory Sprint to Coordinated Care, an initiative led by Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan.

In addition to requesting broad input on the HIPAA Rules, the RFI also seeks comments on specific areas of the HIPAA Privacy Rule, including:

• Encouraging information-sharing for treatment and care coordination
• Facilitating parental involvement in care
• Addressing the opioid crisis and serious mental illness
• Accounting for disclosures of PHI for treatment, payment, and health care operations as required by the HITECH Act
• Changing the current requirement for certain providers to make a good faith effort to obtain an acknowledgment of receipt of the Notice of Privacy Practices

Public comments on the RFI will be due by February 11, 2019. The RFI may be downloaded from the Federal Register at https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection.

To read additional information in the HHS Press Release, click here.

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UPDATE will not be published on December 26th, 2018, but will resume its normal schedule on January 2nd, 2019 with our 2000th issue. Don’t miss this special edition of UPDATE for exciting announcements for the upcoming year. The staff of the North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association wishes you Happy Holidays!

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A list of providers scheduled for re-verification between January and June 2019 is available on the NCTracks Provider Re-credentialing and Re-verification page under Quick Links. Providers can use this resource to determine their re-verification due date and which month to begin the re-verification process. Organizations and systems with multiple providers may download this list, which includes National Provider Identifier (NPI) numbers and provider names, to compare with their provider list.

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It’s hard to believe it has been six months since NCHCFA launched the new Website. We continue to work to improve our site to be a useful tool for our members, as well as to provide valuable information and positive stories to the general public and consumers on the quality long term care services our members provide. During online searches, we want to ensure our information reaches these individuals first and need your help.

We hope you will join us in celebrating our six-month anniversary by helping us improve our Google search optimization. The more visits we get through the Google search engine, the better our ranking. It is very easy, and will take less than a minute!

Please click here and you will be sent directly to the Google.com search engine for NCHCFA. Once on the page, click the first link “North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association | North Carolina” to visit our Website. That is all you have to do!

If you have a Google account and would like to leave a review, we would greatly appreciate that as well.

Thank you so much for your assistance. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Association office at (919) 782-3827.

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As part of CMS’s focus on raising awareness of nursing home safety and to support safer nursing home care across the nation, CMS and the Quality Innovation Network National Coordinating Center released a new resource: a Change Package to prevent all cause harm in nursing homes. The Change Package is a compendium of successful practices of high-performing nursing homes, illustrating how they prevent harm while honoring each resident’s rights and preferences.

Please join Alliant Quality to learn more about the development of the Change Package and how you can use it to improve the quality of life and quality of care for those living in nursing homes and other long-term care settings.

Date: Thursday, January 24, 2019
Time: 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm (ET)
Location: WebEx
Register for the Event

Get the Change Package

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Make plans today to attend the NCHCFA Annual Convention and Expo February 24 – 27, 2019. The meeting will be held at the Sheraton Greensboro Hotel at Four Seasons/Joseph S. Koury Convention Center, Greensboro, NC. Don’t miss the opportunity to hear Steve Gilliland’s program Making a Difference™ on Monday, February 25th at 12:30 pm.

Focusing on the conscious choices we make every day that impact the lives of others, Making a Difference™ is an eye-opening and heartfelt keynote detailing how to positively influence people in every imaginable way, regardless of position or status. Each of us has the potential to transform the culture of an organization through our actions and attitude.

The Speaker, a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame, Steve Gilliland is one of the most in-demand and top-rated speakers in the world. Recognized as a master storyteller and brilliant comedian, he can be heard daily on SiriusXM Radio’s Laugh USA and Blue Collar Radio. Steve speaks to more than 250,000 people a year and influences the lives of millions through his keynote speeches, books, CDs and DVDs.

To view the full Convention Schedule of Events click here. Brochures will be available soon! Please call the Association at (919) 782-3827 if you need additional details.

Make your overnight reservation today. Call the Sheraton at (800) 242-6556 and identify that you are with “NC Health Care Facilities Association 2019 Convention” to receive the group discounted rate.

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The new Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) begins October 1, 2019. Developed and presented by the American Health Care Association (AHCA), the PDPM Academy is a 10-month training effort to help centers prepare for this massive change. It is both in-person training and continuing updates and support. Provider members of AHCA and NCHCFA who register for the PDPM Academy will have access to a PDPM 101 workshop Webinar, a full day in-person training, monthly workshop Webinars on key topics and emerging PDPM issues, “how to” Webinars on implementing additional tools developed by AHCA.

North Carolina’s in-person training will be March 26, 2019 in Greensboro, NC! Click here to view more information on the PDPM Academy. Brochures and registration will be made available in January.

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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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Keep Gratitude Meaningful

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Men are 6 times more likely to be struck by lightning than women.

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