Exemplary Award Winner

Congratulations to Jon Covault and the team at Golden Heights Living Center, in Garnett, for it's recent exemplary letter from the Secretary on Aging.  They were identified as having implemented quality care programs resulting in exemplary positive resident care and quality of life outcomes. Their exemplary program achievements include:

1. The development and implementation of a care management program resulting in the highest degree of skin integrity for residents;

2. The development and implementation of creative and innovative activity/social programs which meet the needs of residents with varying abilities, interests and levels of functioning;

3. The development of a mutually beneficial relationship between the community and the residents of the facility; and

4) For developing and maintaining the physical environment of the facility in a manner to assure the residents of the highest practical degree of function, autonomy, sanitation, cleanliness and aesthetic appeal.

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  Important Message--MDS Broadband Requirement
Your response is important.

CMS is preparing to require all facilities to transmit MDS data by broadband/high speed connection as early as September 1, 2008.  Dial-up connections will cease to be available.

In preparation for this change in MDS reporting procedure, AHCA seeks to assess readiness of providers to report MDS data to CMS via broadband by fielding this 3-minute survey to facilities.  We are asking that you forward this information to your membership at the earliest possible opportunity to allow their response so that we can determine member readiness as best as possible.

The survey link is:  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=6A7YUXSKgVD4tvF9CDLWjQ_3d_3d

The survey response deadline is July 31st, 2008.

Additionally, information and software downloads are available from CMS’s Medicare Data Communication Network (MDCN) at: www.qtso.com.  The information on this site will be of great value to your membership.

If you have any questions, contact Cindy Luxem, cluxem@khca.org  

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  Rate Setting Tables

Please go to the member’s only section of the KHCA website to access the FY 09 rate setting tables. This information combined with the final methodology should guide providers through any rate setting questions they may have.  The final methodology is available on the KDOA website at http://www.agingkansas.org/ProviderInfo/ProviderInfo_index.html

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  IDR Panelists Needed

If you would like to nominate someone from your facility to sit on an IDR panel please send the names to Nancy at npierce@khca.org or to Greg Reser at LCE at greg.reser@aging.ks.gov.

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  National Association of Health Care Assistants

KHCA and NAHCA (National Association of Health Care Assistants) have been partners for some time now, and we are pleased to offer you their newest membership model!  The investment of $499 per year for 50 CNA’s includes many personal and professional benefits as highlighted in the enclosed brochure.  By sponsoring these memberships your facilities can take credit for allowing your caregivers to be a part of the only national association that elevates their professional standing in their chosen field.  Help join KHCA and NAHCA’s grassroots efforts in developing a stronger, more educated and professional  caregiver workforce while enhancing public policy and relations in the state of Kansas. 

Contact Scott Smith ssmith@nahcacares.org for more information. 

Click here for a membership brochure. 

Convention information for National Association of Health Care Assistants in September.  Register today for the 14th annual NAHCA Convention, which will be held in Kansas City.

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  AHCA Reports

Senate Passes Medicare Bill!

Contains 18 month extension of Therapy Exceptions Process

Late yesterday, July 8, the Senate passed the Medicare Improvements for Patients & Providers Act (H.R. 6331) by a veto proof vote of 69-20. AHCA is pleased that it contains an 18-month extension of the Medicare Part B outpatient therapy exceptions process retroactive to July 1, 2008, prevents a 10 percent reduction in payments to physicians, permits SNFs to serve as originating sites for Medicare teleheatlh services, and delays the competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment for two years. No cuts to SNFs are included.
Since the House had overwhelmingly passed H.R. 6331 on June 24, by a vote of 355 to 59, the next step is for Congress to send the bill to the White House. The White House has indicated its strong opposition to the bill and the President is expected to veto it. However, Congress is expected to vote to override by a two-thirds majority. It is not clear how quickly the bill will be sent to the President or whether he will veto the legislation.

In the meantime, as we have previously reported, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has indicated that there will be a 10-business day hold on claims. Therefore, we continue to encourage providers to delay filing claims for Part B therapy services until July 15. For those who choose to file prior to July 15, please remember to no longer use the modifiers when billing for therapy services. For more information, please refer to the notice CMS sent to providers or the clarification letter CMS provided to Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA). AHCA will continue to provide updates. For more information, please contact Francesca Fierro O'Reilly.

Stakeholders Explore Strategies For Helping "Poor Performers"

Last summer, AARP convened a group of stakeholders, including AHCA, to discuss strategies to more effectively respond to poor performing nursing homes. The three areas identified by the group that will be explored include:

* Financial and quality indicators that may signal facilities that are or could be experiencing quality problems;

* Use of Medicare Civil Money Penalties (CMPs) to address urgent needs of nursing home residents in facilities with serious quality of care issues; and

* Removing barriers and/or creating incentives for qualified owners/administrators to take over poor performing nursing homes.

We will keep you informed as these discussions continue. If you have additional questions, please contact Lyn Bentley.

NCAL/MIV Webinar on Satisfaction Surveys - Register Today!

My InnerView, through its partnership with NCAL, offers surveys for assisted living communities to measure customer and employee satisfaction levels. To understand how to use survey results, My InnerView is holding a Webinar on Thursday, July 24, 2008, at 2 pm EDT. The Webinar will explain how to use results of customer and employee satisfaction surveys, as well as Quality Profile™ data. This Webinar will teach participants how to target specific functions and practices and measure effectiveness across the community. To register for the Webinar, click here. For more information, please contact My InnerView or call (715) 848-2713.

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  CMS To Rate Nursing Home Quality New Five-Star System To Be Added To Nursing Home Compare Site

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced it will soon launch a ground-breaking ranking system of America’s nursing homes, giving each a “star” rating.  CMS is requesting comments on the system designed to provide patients and their families an easy to understand assessment of nursing home quality, making meaningful distinctions between high performing and low performing homes.  

The ratings will be posted on the agency’s Nursing Home Compare Web site by the end of this year. A sample screen shot of the proposed star ratings is available at www.cms.hhs.gov/PressContacts/10_PR_fivestar.asp. Medicare Compare can be found at www.medicare.gov.

“More than three million Americans rely on services provided by a nursing home at some point during the year.  The new ‘five-star’ rating system will provide a composite view of the quality and safety information currently on Nursing Home Compare to help beneficiaries, their families, and caregivers compare nursing homes more easily,” said Kerry Weems, CMS acting administrator.

Through its consumer information Websites, CMS has begun to offer more and better information on the quality, patient satisfaction, and cost of care.  This announcement, for example, closely follows the agency’s first nationwide identification of chronically underperforming nursing homes.  Facilities enrolled in the Special Focus Facility (SFF) initiative are placed under special scrutiny and undergo twice as many inspections as other homes.  The “SFF” designation was recently added to the Nursing Home Compare Web site at www.medicare.gov/NHCompare.

Last year, CMS also initiated a star rating system for health and prescription drug plans that are available to Medicare beneficiaries.

This will be the first time that CMS will offer such a rating system for the fee-for-service, or traditional Medicare program.  Currently, through the Compare Web site, CMS assists beneficiaries and their families in making nursing home choices by providing information on individual measures of quality of care, staffing, and survey inspection information.  

“Nursing Home Compare’s new rating system will also provide an incentive for nursing homes to strive toward earning a five-star rating by providing an environment of better quality care,” Weems said.  This new rating system is rooted in the tradition of the OBRA’87 nursing home reform law and quality improvement campaigns such as the Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes, a collaborative coalition of consumers, health care providers, labor, and nursing home professionals.  CMS plans to work with other health care providers and consumers to make similar rating systems available for hospitals, home health agencies, and end-stage renal disease facilities in the future.

The agency is also considering adding new information to that already available on Nursing Home Compare such as whether a nursing home specializes in caring for patients with dementia, on ventilators, or in need of specialized rehabilitation services.  Information on patient and family satisfaction with services at a facility may also be added to Nursing Home Compare.  A “Guide to Choosing a Nursing Home,” a publication that includes information about the types of long-term care, local nursing home comparisons, and how to pay for nursing home care, can also be found on the site.

The five-star rating system will begin to be published in December 2008.  During June and July 2008 the agency is soliciting ideas, comments, and suggestions from the public, consumer groups, nursing homes, and many others.  Comments may be sent to BetterCare@cms.hhs.gov.  
Descriptive information about the quality rating system and its progress may be obtained on the CMS “Hot Topics” web page at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/SurveyCertificationGenInfo/02_HotTopics.asp.  This web page also provided details about a national conference call (called an “open door forum”) that the agency had about the proposed five-star system on June 24, 2008.

“While Nursing Home Compare is very informative, it is important to note that this should be just one of the tools that family members and caregivers use in the selection of a nursing home,” Weems said.  “There is no substitute for visiting a nursing home in person and meeting with staff, residents, and other families.”
 
 
 

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  NCAL/My Innerview Webinar on Satisfaction Surveys--Register Today

My InnerView, through its partnership with NCAL, offers surveys for assisted living communities to measure customer and employee satisfaction levels. To understand how to use survey results, My InnerView is holding a Webinar on Thursday, July 24, 2008, at 2 pm EDT. The Webinar will explain how to use results of customer and employee satisfaction surveys, as well as Quality Profile™ data. This Webinar will teach participants how to target specific functions and practices and measure effectiveness across the community. To register for the Webinar, click here. For more information, please contact My InnerView or call (715) 848-2713.

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  Resident Satisfaction

Advancing Excellence is a new coalition based, two-year campaign that launched in September 2006. The campaign is reinvigorating efforts to improve the quality of care and quality of life for those living or recuperating in America's nursing homes.
http://www.nhqualitycampaign.org/.

My InnerView’s  Quality ProfileTM tool assists leaders in monitoring pressure ulcers and physical restraints within their nursing homes as well as sets organizational targets for clinical quality improvement. Our Satisfaction Surveys allow facilities to measure resident, family and staff satisfaction.
http://www.myinnerview.com/

Kansas Culture Change Coalition is a group that provides support to long-term care organizations striving to develop systems that value the dignity of each individual who lives and works within their setting.  It is an organization of diverse interest groups that combine their talents to effect change that is hard to do as individuals.  The Kansas Culture Change Coalition maintains the vision of the Pioneer Network that supports a culture of aging that is life affirming, satisfying, humane, and meaningful.  Culture Change can transform a "facility" into a "home, a "patient/resident" into a "person", and a "schedule" into a "choice".
http://www.kansasculturechangecoalition.org/.

KFMC’s work with KS nursing homes assists nursing home staff with improving care processes on the clinical quality measures. Nursing homes who have committed to working with KFMC over the past five years have made significant progress in reducing quality measure rates.
http://www.kfmc.org/.

QIS Updates- click on tab 9 to access the Critical Element Pathways at
http://www.aging.state.ks.us/Manuals/QIS/TabIndex.html.  Click here for the Resident Interview and Resident Observation forms. http://www.aging.state.ks.us/Manuals/QIS/Tab05/CMS-20050_Resident_Interview_and_Observation.pdf. 

Click here for Provider Manual Updates from the KMAP website

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