Community Transition Opportunities (MDS 3.0, Section Q)

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has required states to develop a process for the new MDS 3.0 Section Q that requires any Nursing Facility (NF) resident indicating an interest in returning to the community to be given an opportunity for a face-to-face visit with a Local Contact Agency (LCA).

Kansas Stakeholders have been meeting for several months to put this process in place. The Local Contact Agencies (LCAs) will be the Area Agencies on Aging (65 and older) and the Centers for Independent Living (64 years 11 months and younger). The NFs will have assigned LCAs for their facilities to which they will refer these residents. The LCA will have 7 working days to follow up on referrals.

The stakeholders have agreed to name the new MDS Local Contact Agency (LCA) process Community Transition Opportunities (CTO). The referral process has been automated within KDOA  allowing the LCA and NF to interface with each other.

By using an automated system, the NFs will be able to track the referral activity of the LCAs and monitor outcomes for that resident. The LCAs will be able to use this system as a tracking and billing tool for their agencies. The new process has been developed to be user friendly, creating a minimal learning curve for the user.

KDOA will be presenting webinars and attending NF conferences to highlight this new program. The stakeholders continue to work on the operational standards of the LCAs, the quality assurance requirements and developing training for the field. Statewide training on the roles of the LCAs will be available in late October and November. The state will be broken up into quadrants to help reduce travel. Nursing Facilities will also be invited to attend the LCA training.

Click here for the instruction manual for the CTO website. Click here for a copy of the Webinar presentation made by KDOA on September 21, 2010 for KHCA..

[ Return to top]

 
  KHCA Website - Moving Forward to Meet Your Needs

KHCA recently updated the association website to accommodate online registration to provide better access by our members to resources.  If you have not used the Member’s Only section of www.khca.org recently, you will need to reset your password. Follow these simple instructions to reset your password and you will have full access to Member’s Only information and pricing for education.

Go to www.khca.org
1. At the bottom of the Member Log In box (located on the right side of the page), click Forgot Password.
2. At the Recover Password page, type your user name (which is the same as your email address) into the box labeled Enter Your User Name.
3. Click Email My Password.
4. Check your email inbox for an email containing a temporary password.
5. Go to www.khca.org and enter your User Name (your email address) and password (the temporary password that you received in the email) into the Member Log In box.
6. Click the Log In button.
7. Once you are logged in, click Change Password.  This option is located on the left side of the page, under Member Navigation.
8. At the Change Your Password page, enter your current password (the temporary password you received in the email) into the box labeled Current Password.
9. Next, enter a new password (a password of your choosing), into the New Password box and enter it again into the Confirm New Password box.
10. Click Change Password. Your password has now been changed.

If you forget your password in the future, simply follow these instructions to regain access to your user account.

If you are a member who does not currently have a user account on our website and would like one, or you simply need assistance in accessing the website, please contact Andrew at KHCA (aschafer@khca.org).  Thank you!

[Return to top]

 
  Hotel Cutoff Date Extended from September 20 to September 26, 2010

The KHCA KCAL room block at the Hyatt in Wichita has only a few days left before the price goes up. Plenty of rooms are still available but you must book your room before Sunday, September 26, 2010 in order to access the special convention rate. Click here to book online directly into the KHCA KCAL room block.

[Return to top]

 
  Silent Auction Added to Convention Line Up

The Kansas Health Care Association/Kansas Center for Assisted Living Political Action Committee will be sponsoring a silent auction at the 60th Annual Convention and Trade Show. We need items with a minimum value of $25. We have already received a commitment of a television; kindle book reader, iphone and who knows what else…

The silent auction will be available during the trade show days for your perusal. 2010 is a big election year and we have many people who helped us with our Legislative agenda this year. Come out and support the PAC, get some fun items to take home and help support your favorite legislator in the process.

As you know the viability of our PAC is critical to continued success in our legislative and regulatory agendas. This is even truer during our current election cycle. We appreciate and count on your continued support.

For more information or to donate to the auction, please contact

Lee Eaton at leaton@midwest-health.com or 785-272-1535

or

Cindy Luxem at cluxem@khca.org or 785-267-6003.                                   .

[Return to top]

 
  Transition from MDS 2.0 to 3.0

The October 1 transition to MDS 3.0 is only one week away. CMS has issued a transition document to help facilities successfully move from one tool to the other. CMS has also released a tool in Excel to assist with transition planning. Click here for a link to this tool. Please note that this document has five worksheet tabs to address 5 day, 14 day, 30 day, 60 day and 90 day options.

The transition document is a user friendly (i.e., non-programmer’s) description of the transition from completing the MDS 2.0 assessment to the MDS 3.0 assessment. The information provides a reference for the clinician in terms of transitioning and completing the MDS 3.0 assessment for the first time. The transition document especially facilitates completing the MDS 3.0 assessment in instances (item or section related) where there has been a change on the MDS 3.0 assessment (compared to the MDS 2.0 assessment) and in understanding look back periods/dates. The transition document is presented by section and by item with a brief process description specific to that section and item. Click here for a link to this important transition tool.

[Return to top]

 
  AHCA Convention Register: Now and Save!!

Don’t miss four days of information-packed education sessions, stimulating speakers, interactive exhibits and much more. Register today and save $100! Advanced registration ends October 1, 2010. There are many new features offered this year, such as:

• MDS Mega Session: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About MDS 3.0 and RUG IV.
• Gourmet food lunch stations Monday and Tuesday in the Expo Hall.
• Caring for the Caregiver, which features sessions giving insights on stress  management balance.
• Morning fitness walks to be held on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Join us each morning at 6:00am to start your convention day off right.

In addition, attendees will rock the night away with an evening of unforgettable music from  the legendary Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons. Get your tickets now.
Online registration has never been easier. To register, view education sessions, purchase gala tickets, and more, log on to www.ahcaconvention.org  or  www.ncalconvention.org.

[Return to top]

 
  Are you ready for AHCA's 7-5-5 challenge?

Are you ready to take on AHCA's "7-5-5" challenge? Not sure of your answer or what "7-5-5" means? Here are the details.

"7-5-5" refers to the 7 principles, 5 measures and 5 quality tools at the core of AHCA's Quality First, Keeping the Promise initiative introduced in 2009. This initiative offers facility leaders a template for motivating employees and informing key, external audiences. Starting with a contemporary, practical definition of quality that appeals to everyone, facility leaders will find motivational components and an out-of-the-box set of operational tools that can help when dealing with a variety of systemic issues.

Step one in our "7-5-5" challenge is adopting the 7 principles below, which present a powerful ethos for your facility and staff.

1. Continuous Quality Improvement
2. Public Disclosure & Accountability
3. Patient/Resident & Family Rights
4. Workforce Excellence
5. Public Input & Community Involvement
6. Ethical Practices
7. Financial Stewardship

Operationally, this initiative continues AHCA's drive for every facility leader to view quality as a continuous pursuit – a pursuit that necessitates benchmarking, persistent measurement, analysis and continuous improvement. Facility leaders should choose which measures will be monitored, benchmarked and analyzed. Quality First, Keeping the Promise offers guidance on this topic, and recommends monitoring the following five measures. So, step two in the "7-5-5" challenge involves monitoring the 5 measures below – think of this step as an opportunity to take your facility’s 5 “vital signs.”

1. CMS Quality Measures
2. Federal Survey Results
3. Customer/Family Satisfaction
4. Staff Satisfaction
5. Retaining Staff/Reducing Turnover

With step three in our "7-5-5" challenge, you choose the quality tools that best serve your needs. AHCA selected these 5 tools because each offers a ready-to-go framework for measuring, analyzing and pursuing your facility’s quality goals. The 5 quality tools include:

1. LTC Trend Tracker™
2. Advancing Excellence
3. My InnerView (MIV) Customer Satisfaction Surveys
4. MIV Staff Satisfaction Surveys
5. AHCA/NCAL National Quality Awards Program (All Levels) 

Now you have the details regarding AHCA's "7-5-5" challenge. So, are you ready to adopt and promote the 7 principles; monitor your facility's 5 "vital signs" of quality; and address any dip in those vital signs using any or all of the 5 quality tools? We think you are. To learn more, please visit www.ahcancal.org or go to AHCA’s Quality First page by clicking here.
 

[Return to top]

 
  Health Care Reform Update: HCBS Provisions

PPACA contains several provisions that encourage states to provide home-and community-based long term care services as follows:

PPACA §2406, Sense of the Senate on Long Term Care, highlights the current legislative thinking that there needs to be greater emphasis on HCBS in long term care. 

PPACA §2401,Community First Choice Option, allows states to provide HCBS attendant services and supports through their state plans and to receive a 6%  increase in their federal match rates for such services.

PPACA §2402, Barrier Removal for HCBS, removes some existing obstacles for the provision of HCBS.

PPACA §2403, Money Follows the Person (MFP) Rebalancing Demonstration, extends this demonstration for an additional five years and reduces the institutional residency period required for individual participation to 90 consecutive days. Under MFP, participating states are eligible for an enhanced FMAP for these individuals equal to the state’s existing FMAP plus one-half of its non-federal share percentage not to exceed 90%. 

PPACA §2404, Protections for Recipients of HCBS Against Spousal Impoverishment, extends the spousal impoverishments protections afforded to spouses of nursing home residents to spouses of HCBS beneficiaries for a five-year period beginning January 1, 2014.

PPACA §10202, State Balancing Incentive Payments Program, incentivizes certain states to rebalance their Medicaid long term services and supports expenditures by offering enhanced FMAP rates  of 5% or 2% for HCBS services.
 

[Return to top]

 
  CMS released Transmittal R18P235 updating Complex Cost Report

CMS released Transmittal R18P235 on September 8, 2010 updating Chapter 35, Skilled Nursing Facility Complex Cost Report, and Form CMS 2540-96.  The transmittal included changes to cost reporting as follows:  

·         A full cost report is required.  Simplified method cost reports are no longer allowable for cost reports beginning on or after July 1, 1998.

·         Modification of Worksheet S-7, Part IV to reflect the addition of 23 additional RUG categories

·         Elimination of Worksheet B, Part III, Cost Allocation – General Service Costs with Less Than 1500 Program Days, and Worksheet B-1, Part II, Cost Allocation – Statistical Basis with Less Than 1500 Program Days 

Click here for a full copy of the report. Questions? Contact:
William W. Hartung, CPA  
Vice President, Research
American Health Care Association
1201 L Street NW
Washington, DC  20005
(202) 898-2841 (office)

[Return to top]