SHS News
Volume 24, June 2016                                                                                                               
In This Issue
KEY DATES
7/1/16 
April - June 2016 (AJ16) Quarterly Cost Report Opens

7/29/16 
AJ16 Quarterly Cost Report District Certification Due

7/7/16 
Quarterly Cost Report Refresher Training

8/1/16 
Annual Cost Report Opens

10/1/16 
Annual Cost Report District Certification Due

Links
School Health Services  
Public Consulting Group- Claiming System  
Welcome to the June 2016 edition of the School Health Services Newsletter!

The SHS newsletter is a Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (the Department) publication which provides information on the School Health Services (SHS) Program. The Colorado SHS Program is administered by the Department in collaboration with the Colorado Department of Education. Providers participating in the program may receive federal matching funds for amounts spent in providing health services through the public schools to students who are receiving Medicaid benefits.

We have adopted a new web-based email format. We welcome your feedback on the new format and other aspects of SHS News.

Please feel free to share SHS News with your colleagues .   

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Thank you for your interest!
Save The Date 
School Health Services Annual Trainings
Annual trainings are around the corner. Save the date if you haven't already! Get  ready to meet, converse, and learn from the Department , the Colorado Department of Education (CDE),  Public Consulting Group (PCG), and your fellow program participants. 

Topics to  be covered will include updated information about the Random Moment Time  Study (RMTS), cost reports, Medicaid Administrative Claiming (MAC), financial s ystem training, interim payments and state updates. We highly recommend that  all personnel involved in the administration and reporting of the SHS Program from  every district attend one of these trainings. Every training session is scheduled for  9:00 am to 5:00 pm with registration starting at 8:30 am. For more information  and to register for training visit the School Health Service Training website.
Pueblo
August 1, 2016
Pueblo Convention Center
320 Central Main Street
Pueblo, CO 81003
 
Denver North
August 2, 2016
Hilton Double Tree
83 East 120th Ave
Thornton, CO 80233
 
Denver South
August 4, 2016
Marriott Denver South
10345 Park Meadows Drive
Littleton, CO 80124

Grand Junction 
August 9, 2016
Avalon Theatre
Encore Hall
645 Main Street
Grand Junction, CO 81501
 
Durango
August 11, 2016
Strater Hotel
699 Main Avenue
Durango, CO 81301

2016-2017 Stakeholder Meeting Dates
Save The Date!
The dates for the 2016/2017 stakeholder meetings have been set and are listed below. 

These meetings are held to allow stakeholders a chance to review and make recommendations to improve the SHS Program processes and provider relations. Each meeting has work groups focusing on specific topics to meet his purpose.

2016/2017 Stakeholder Meetings are 9 a.m.- 12:00 p.m. (locations
to be determined)

October 20, 2016
January 19, 2017
April 20, 2017
Stakeholder Feedback
Program Manual Discussion
Stakeholders met in April to discuss the SHS program manual. The SHS program manual includes information on many of the different aspects and components of the SHS program. This resource is available to all school districts and can be accessed via both the PCG Claiming System  as well as the Department website . For this discussion, Section 3: Random Moment Time Study and Section 4: Fee for Service Claims and Reimbursement were examined. The Department, PCG and the stakeholders will continue to review the program manual in future stakeholder sessions. The Department and PCG will work to provide further clarity, specificity and context to improve this resource. 

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PCG Claiming System Update
School districts started using some aspects of the PCG Claiming System during the 2015-2016 school year. This has included staff pool lists, calendars, quarterly cost reports and the random moment time study. Beginning on August 1st, districts will use the PCG Claiming System to complete the 2015-2016 annual cost report. As a reminder, districts must complete the annual cost report by October 1, 2016. PCG will walk districts through the annual cost report at the upcoming 2016 annual trainings. PCG will also provide additional trainings on new functionalities to ensure a smooth transition from MCRCS to the PCG Claiming System. 

What's to come:
    • Transportation Questions
      • Districts will be required to answer questions on documentation and how costs will be reported prior to gaining access to the applicable transportation pages on the annual cost report
    •  Job Span
      • The time periods a participant is on the staff pool list will be more clearly defined for districts. This will help improve districts reporting and completion of both the salaried and contracted staff payroll information
    • User Friendly Data Entry Tools
      • Tool tips will provide helpful tips by displaying definitions and/or explanations for various fields on the cost report
Annual Medicaid Revenue
The FY2014-15 cost settlements were released and paid to school districts at the end of March 2016. The graphic below displays the annual Medicaid revenue by school year.

 
 

Medicaid Administrative Claiming (MAC)
The January -September 2015 and October - December 2015 certified public expenditure 
forms were sent to districts in May. The graph below displays the statewide Medicaid reimbursement by quarter. The increased statewide reimbursement climbed 119 percent in less than three years. 

 
 

Interim Rate Setting
The Department and PCG recently calculated each district's monthly interim payments. School districts recently received notifications providing more information on their FY2016-17 interim payments. As a reminder, SHS providers receive monthly payments based off of their total costs identified in the approved cost report from the prior two years (FY 2013-14 and 2014-15) as well as estimated costs for the current year (FY 2015-16). 
 
In February 2017, PCG will conduct a mid-year review of the interim payment to see how current payments are aligning with estimated Certified Public Expenditures (CPE) for FY2016-17. At that time, if the 2016-2017 CPE forecast is less than what was initially estimated during the rate setting process, the Department may reach out to your district to discuss lowering the remaining interim payments. 

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Getting To Know - Kymberly Reynolds
Kymberly Reynolds is a member of the PCG Colorado SHS team in the Austin, Texas office. Kymberly is responsible for the day-to-day management and oversight of the annual cost reporting team. She is involved in all aspects of the annual cost report process and really enjoys working with school districts during annual and mid-year trainings to help them improve their understanding of the program.
 
Kymberly is a native Texan and enjoys Gulf Coast seafood and Tex-Mex cuisine. She also enjoys traveling, cooking and live music. Kymberly earned an undergraduate degree from University of Houston and a graduate degree from Texas A&M University. 

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Colorado Department Of Education News
The annual reports to CDE have been submitted and the numbers have been totaled for the 2014-2015 school year. The total amount spent on enhanced health services to all students is $19,843,213 and administrative costs totaled $3,079,592. The total spent on the program in 2014-2015 is $22,922,805. Congratulations to you all for a great year and for making a difference for the students in your district. 

The spreadsheet showing all expenses is posted on the CDE webpage. 

Some highlights by CDE categories are:
  • Heath Tech/clinic aide $1,732,553 
  • Nursing Services $5,814,677 (102 FTE)
  • Materials/equipment/supplies $1,115,106
  • Mental Health $2,762,289 
  • Family and Parent support $322,296
  • Screenings and Assessments $460,682
  • Training/Professional Development $785,016.

A copy of the report spreadsheet is on the CDE Medicaid web page. Open the spreadsheet and click on the enlarge buttons on the top left side. This will make the 2 page spreadsheet larger.

 
Districts with Local Services Plans due June 10, 2016 are Denver Public Schools, Durango, Lake County and Montezuma-Cortez. Most of the districts have submitted the completed LSP. The LSPs are good for five years from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2021.

The Office of Health and Wellness will be offering School Nurse Orientation (SNO) July 18-21, 2016 for all new and near-new school nurses. The location is Cherry Creek School District, District Instruction Support Facility, 5416 S Rivera Way, Aurora 80015. The Medicaid School Health Services Program will present to the group on July 18 to briefly explain the program. Registration is still open, so please share this information with your district RNs. Please visit  Healthy Schools Colorado to register for the orientation.

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Nondiscrimination Policy
Colorado Dept. of Health Care Policy & Financing  
(303) 866-2993 | 1570 Grant Street, Denver, CO 80203