In a news conference early today in Wichita, KS, Governor-elect Sam Brownback names nursing home administrator Shawn Sullivan as the new Secretary of the Kansas Department on Aging (KDOA). Mr. Sullivan comes into the position with 18 years experience  in long term care. He is currently the executive director of the Kansas Masonic Home in Wichita. Mr. Sullivan has been at the helm of three different long term care communities when they won the PEAK (promoting excellent alternatives in Kansas nursing homes) award.

KHCA/kcal congratulates Mr. Sullivan on his appointment and we look forward to working with him at KDOA.

The KHCA/kcal Nursing Advisory Committee is seeking applications from members who have a staff member ready to go to school and become a nurse. For more than 20 years, the Nursing Advisory Committee has raised funds to help KHCA/kcal member employees reach their goal of becoming a nurse or advancing their nursing career to a higher level. Because there are so many ways to train to become a nurse and the program start dates vary so widely, the Nursing Advisory Committee will be accepting applications on an on-going basis.

The committee meets monthly on the third Friday. Under the leadership of NAC president Francy Keearns, they will review and award scholarships to deserving individual who have submitted complete application forms prior to their meeting.

To review the complete application, please click here. For more information, contact khca@khca.org.

KHCA/kcal’s Winter Conference
January 25 & 26, 2011 - Topeka
Ramada Inn Downtown

This year’s conference features:
PPACA (Patient Protections and Affordability Care Act)
Provider Assessment update
Meet Your New State Leaders
Assisted Living Programming
Fall Prevention
Staff Injury Prevention
Accessing Long Term Care Insurance
And so much more...

Back by popular demand:
Legislative Reception and Facility Showcase
Statehouse visits
Vendor Showcase - Click HERE for sponsorship information

Room reservations can be made by calling 1-800-432-2424.

Click HERE to download the brochure.

You can also register online by clicking HERE. Remember to log in for KHCA/kcal member prices.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will host a national provider teleconference on “Preparing for ICD-10 Implementation in 2011”. Subject matter experts will review basic information on the transition to ICD-10 and discuss implementation planning and preparation strategies for this year. A question and answer session will follow the presentations.
When: Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Time: 12:00 noon – 2:00 p.m. CT

Target Audience: Medical coders, physician office staff, provider billing staff, health records staff, vendors, educators, system maintainers and all Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) providers.

The following topics will be discussed:
· Planning for transition to ICD-10 –A call to action
· ICD-10 implementation for services provided on and after October 1, 2013—No grace periods or delays
· Date of service implementation requirements
· Tools for converting codes – 2011 General Equivalence Mappings (GEMs)
· Partial freeze of ICD-9-CM and ICD-10 code updates, except for new technologies and diseases
· Use of unspecified codes in both ICD-9-CM and ICD-10
· Updating payment and coverage policies for ICD-10
· Differences between ICD-9-CM and ICD-10
· Internal planning groups and organizational strategies
· Awareness, educational strategies and assessing training needs
· Implementation plan development and impact assessment
· Determining vendor readiness
· Coding gap analysis—What needs to be done for your coding staff
· Assessing quality of medical record documentation
· Developing an ICD-10 budget
· Consequences of poor preparation

For more information and to register for this informative session, please click here to go to the CMS website. Registration will close at 12:00 noon CT on January 11, 2011, or when available space has been filled. No exceptions will be made. Please register early.