Issue #2014 - April 17, 2019
PREDICTED FIVE-STAR CHANGES
Last week, AHCA hosted a Webinar summarizing the new Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Five-Star Rating System changes that will be updated on Nursing Home Compare later this month. For those who were unable to participate, the recording of the webinar is now available for viewing here.

The AHCA research team has produced a detailed report breaking out the changes to the Five-Star Rating system, a state vs national comparison of projected ratings changes available here, and a breakout of each NC facility and how AHCA projects their star ratings to change.

In addition to this report, the Your Top-Line reports also went live last week.

As you prepare for these changes, you are encouraged to access the member toolkit that includes talking points, a letter to families and a letter to payors is available to download on ahcancalED here.

As a reminder, you can view the CMS announcement on the changes here and the updated Technical Users' Guide here.

If you have additional questions on the upcoming changes to your ratings, please email research@ahca.org. AHCA will continue to keep you informed.
CMS SEEKING PROVIDERS FOR HIPAA PROGRAM TO REDUCE ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is searching for healthcare providers to participate in a new pilot program aimed at simplifying HIPAA compliance. Agency officials sent out a notice Wednesday afternoon, announcing the new effort to review compliance with its HIPAA Administrative Simplification rules. The announcement follows completion of a similar pilot for health plans that wrapped up last year. Any healthcare institutions that conduct electronic healthcare transactions are eligible to volunteer. By the end of April, Health and Human Services plans to pick three individual providers or organizations from the pool of volunteers to participate, according to the announcement. Those chosen will work one-on-one with HHS to pinpoint and address any compliance issues. Transaction submission would take about 10 hours, total, with the pilot expected to last four to six months. After completing the program, participants will receive a certificate and exemption from random compliance reviews for one year.

Interested providers can email the agency at AdministrativeSimplification@cms.hhs.gov by April 24. For further reading, CMS also released an informational bulletin and Provider Pilot Program Q&A.
REGISTER TODAY FOR FINAL PHASE 3 REQUIREMENTS OF PARTICIPATION SEMINAR
Long term care facilities must be compliant with Phase 3 Requirements of Participation by November 28, 2019. This phase introduces several items that have never been surveyed before, including the full implementation of a compliance and ethics and QAPI program, presence of a qualified infection preventionist, and certain staff training requirements. Cindy Deporter, MSSW, State Survey Agency Director, Division of Health Service Regulation, will be teaching a full day session (three locations) on an overview of Phase 3 Requirements of Participation with extra emphasis on those that have not been phased in (in part). The review will include:

  • Abuse & Neglect Coordination with QAPI Program
  • Care Planning & Providing Culturally Competent & Trauma-Informed Care
  • Standards of Practice, Systems, & Staff Competency Related to Trauma-Informed Care
  • QAPI Program
  • Infection Preventionist
  • Compliance & Ethics Program
  • Bedside Resident Call System
  • Training Requirements

In addition, there will be a segment devoted to the revised State Operations Manual, Appendix Q – Core Guidelines for Determining Immediate Jeopardy.

  • May 2, 2019 – The Ballast Hotel, Wilmington, NC

Click here to register online. Click here to download the brochure with registration form.
REGISTER FOR YOUR NCHCFA SPRING DISTRICT MEETING
NCHCFA has scheduled the Spring district meetings. Each space will be limited to 50 individuals. There will be a small registration fee of $50.00. Lunch will be provided.

This program will offer 3.0 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. 

Please note – If you are unable to attend the meeting in your district, you may attend a meeting in another district. Click here to download and print the brochure and registration form.

  • April 23rd - District I
  • April 25th - District II
  • April 30th - District III
  • May 7th - District IV
  • May 8th - District V

Agenda
10:00 AM – 10:30 AM
Alliant Quality (QIN-QIO)
Alliant Quality will present an update on NC’s facilities’ quality measures.

10:30 AM – 1:30 PM
Drug Diversion in LTC: Safe Practices, Handling, and Disposal Methods
In this session, attendees will learn of narcotic diversion principles within long term care and how handling, storage, and safeguards play a role daily in your facility. Implementation of Facility action plans will be discussed along with best strategies to prevent diversion within your facility. Proper narcotic disposal methods of medication waste will be defined along with new federal regulations.
Thank you District I Meeting Sponsor:
Thank you District III Meeting Sponsor:
REGISTER FOR NCBENHA 2019 PRECEPTOR TRAINING
The NC State Board of Examiners for Nursing Home Administrators (NCBENHA) will offer the 2019 Preceptor Seminars on April 29-30, 2019 and April 30-May 1, 2019 at the Kingston Plantation, Myrtle Beach, SC.  You will need to choose the first seminar dates for Renewal Preceptor Certification and the second seminar dates for Initial Preceptor Certification and Continuing Education Only. The seminars will be open to all nursing home administrators seeking continuing education credits and/or preceptor certification.  This is the only preceptor seminar being planned for 2019 by the NC State Board of Examiners for Nursing Home Administrators. The deadline to register is April 19th! Click here to download more information along with the registration form.
SOUTHERN PARTNERS ACTION COLLABORATIVE FOR EXCELLENCE (SPACE) WEBINAR April 18, 2019
Antimicrobial Stewardship-Practical Approaches for the Long Term Setting Monthly Webinar

Event Time: 1:00 - 2:00 PM (ET)
Prior to the Event Date, please  Register Here
Please join the event 15 minutes prior to the start time to ensure the automatic system set-up has been properly established.
Instructions:
  • Click "Join" (located to the right of the event title)
  • Enter your registration ID as prompted
  • If the text boxes and "Join Now" button are inactive, refresh your web browser
  • Enter the password: SPACE

The automatic system set-up should start at this point. If a dialogue box appears, click run. Please note, the automatic system set-up does take a few minutes to complete.

Dial in to the teleconference:
Teleconference Number: (800) 747-5150
Access Code: 2323667#

If you have any questions or problems accessing the web portion of this meeting, please call the Ventech Solutions WebEx Helpline at (571) 598-1988.
REGISTER FOR THE NEXT LUNCH AND LEARN WEBINAR
The next Lunch and Learn Webinar is scheduled for Thursday, April 18, 2019 at 12:00 PM. Sam Clark, VP of Finance, NCHCFA, will be presenting an overview of PDPM, Medicaid Managed Care and other upcoming changes. Click here to register today.
MOBILITY AND SAFE MOVEMENT DVD
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, email your request to Donna Snyder at donnas@nchcfa.org. The price is $35.00 (tax and shipping included).
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