Promoting Quality Patient Care & Performance Improvement Through Leadership & Education
August 2019  Issue  Part II
Luxenberg photo
Jay Luxenberg, MD CALTCM Wave Editor-in-Chief, Chief Medical Officer On Lok Lifeways
End of Summer WAVE

Think you know the SNF five-star program? Well Askhan Javaheri, MD reviews the changes that were implemented in April 2019. Up date on CA End of Life Option Act - In this WAVE Timothy Gieseke MD, CMD provides us with the state-wide experience since inception in 2016. We also warn you about scam artists posing as U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents. There are always new topics to inform your professional life as well as information about events, meetings and courses that help you achieve the high level of knowledge and skills to provide the best in care.
FEATURED ARTICLES
New Changes in the CMS Nursing Home Compare Five-Star Quality Rating System
by Askhan Javaheri, MD

Five-Star Quality Rating System (QRS) has been developed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to assist consumers compare nursing homes more easily based on their performance on health inspection(s), staffing and quality measures (QM) domains. Over the years, CMS has updated and enhanced the five-star QRS methodology numerous times to improve the accuracy of the rating system. The nursing facilities and medical directors need to stay up-to-date with all the changes in the 5-star QRS.

In April 2019, several changes were made to the Nursing Home Compare website and the Five-Star QRS. The following is a brief summary of the recent changes in all three domains.
CA End of Life Option Act 2018 Data Report
by Timothy Gieseke MD, CMD

As an internist who has entered my 41st year in private practice, I have followed our state's experience with this act hoping like many of my colleagues that those accessing this option would only do so after much thought, council, and access to good palliative care.  By statute, our state CDPH just reported our statewide experience for 2018 which included our cumulative experience since its inception in June 2016.

In 2018, of the 337 individuals who died from ingestion of aid-in-dying drugs, the rate was 12.6/10,000 deaths in CA. 88.5% of these received hospice and/or palliative care. 75.9% were 60-89 years of age. 88.4% were white and 80.1% had some college education. The most common categories of terminal diagnosis were malignant neoplasm (68.8%), Neurologic diseases like ALS and Parkinson's (13.1%), Cardio-vascular diseases (7.7%), and Respiratory diseases (5.3%). 
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
Fake DEA Agents Extortion Scam
The Medical Board of California (Board) has learned that scam artists posing as U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents or Board staff are calling California physicians as part of an extortion scheme. The scammers identify themselves as DEA agents or Board staff calling about ongoing investigations regarding their license issued by the Medical Board of California (Board). The scammers tell victims their license may be suspended for illegal drug trafficking and the suspension means they will not be able to practice. The scammers may provide an "Agreement for the Bond and Protocols" that includes statements that licensees are not to share or disclose the investigation to any third party and agree to a bond fee payment of $25,000.00. The scammers' phone number may show up as the Board's toll-free number (800) 633-2322.

No DEA agent or Board staff will ever contact physicians by telephone to demand money or any other form of payment. If you receive a call such as the one described, refuse the demand for payment, and if the caller is stating they are from the DEA, immediately report the threat using the DEA's Extortion Scam Online Reporting form. If the individual identifies themselves as a Board employee, please contact the Board at 1-800-633-2322 or send an email to webmaster@mbc.ca.gov. If the phone number of the caller appears to be the Board's toll-free number, it is recommended that you also submit an online complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) using the FCC's Consumer Complaint form or contact the Board so it can provide this information to the FCC.

UPCOMING EVENTS
Webinar
Date: Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Time: 7:00pm - 8:30pm ET
2019 Fall Summit
CALTCM is pleased to announce our Fall Summit, this event  has been designed to engage and benefit direct care practitioners - all members of the interdisciplinary team and administrative leadership. This event will help you stay current on best practices to be the driver of quality, patient safety and person-centered care, featuring hot topics in PALTC and two "In The Trenches" sessions, giving you the opportunity to individualize your experience, choose from a variety of sessions to fit your education needs. Earn up to 4.5 hours of CME/CEU's.   We hope to see you and your leadership team.
CALTCM EXCLUSIVE FAMILY PERKS
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We hope you enjoyed this edition of The CALTCM WAVE.  We are constantly looking for newsworthy articles, upcoming events, resources, and tools.  If you have something that may be of interest to the PALTC community, please feel to contact us at info@caltcm.org.

CALTCM Members:  Are you interested in becoming more involved in CALTCM?  Join one of our committees, click here for details.

California Association of Long Term Care Medicine (CALTCM)
Phone (888) 332-3299
Email: info@caltcm.org