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Join us for a FREE three-part webinar series to learn how to use MDS 3.0 to improve organizationsl performance. Click here for more information.

Greg Reser has resigned from KDOA and his last day with KDOA was Friday, May 13th, 2011.  He has accepted a position with KDHE as the Director of Medical Facilities and Survey Support.
 
If you have any questions or concerns with any facility issues,please call LCE Commisioner, Joe Ewert, joe.ewert@aging.ks.gov  at 785.296.8366 or Michelle Hickling michelle.hickling@aging.ks.gov at 785.296.3695.

Overwhelmed at the prospect of offering health insurance for every employee, several nursing home operators are asking the Obama administration for exemption from certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

Starting in 2014, the Affordable Care Act requires businesses with more than 50 employees to offer affordable health insurance or risk paying a $200,000 penalty. Nursing home operators, who derive much of their revenue from Medicare and Medicaid, say that they don't earn enough in federal reimbursements to provide employees with health insurance benefits, The New York Times reported on the front page Monday. Currently, one in three nursing home employees who provide direct patient care are uninsured. These operators argue that offering employees health insurance would require them to pass along price increases to their residents, many of whom are sick and disabled.

American Health Care Association President Mark Parkinson says that even in facilities that do offer employees health insurance, the plans often are limited in their coverage. Additionally, premiums for these plans are higher than many lower-wage employees can afford. AHCA is pursuing several legislative options, including giving nursing homes more time to comply with the required coverage, or allowing nursing homes to take tax deductions for the penalties.

But critics say nursing homes should pay for employee health insurance, based on principle and pragmatism.

“It's scandalous to have nursing home employees taking care of people when they themselves lack coverage and go without care,” Charlene A. Harrington, a professor at the School of Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco, and a frequent critic of nursing home staffing levels, said in The New York Times article. “If employees have health insurance, they are more likely to be treated for illnesses, less likely to pass on infections to nursing home residents and more likely to get early treatment for occupational injuries.”

Sourced from McKnight's

You’re invited to four value-packed days of learning, networking, and fun at the Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Hotel and Convention Center. You won’t want to miss this year’s premier event for long term and post acute care professionals. Learn from information-packed educational forums, stimulating speakers, interactive exhibits, and much more.

Learn and network with your most distinguished colleagues — Administrators, CEOs, CPOs, COOs, Directors of Nursing, those who provide residential services to individuals with developmental disabilities, Assisted Living staff, and leaders from a wide range of other specialties within our profession.

Click here to find out more about registration.

It has come to the attention of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that several new Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) billing codes created for January 2011 should have been excluded from the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) consolidated billing bundled payment and allowed to be paid separately.  Effective Tuesday, July 5, 2011, for dates of service on or after Saturday, January 1, 2011, claims processing edits for institutional claims for the codes for Computerized Axial Tomography (CT) Scans (HCPCS 74176, 74177, and 74178) will be revised to allow separate payment for these codes outside of the SNF consolidated billing bundled payment.  These codes were already included in the annual update for physician and practitioner claims and claims have processed correctly.

Institutional providers that submitted claims with dates of service on or after Saturday, January 1, 2011 would have had claims denied for these services.  These providers should contact their Medicare Fiscal Intermediary or Medicare Administrative Contractor to have the claims reopened and reprocessed.

In addition, a policy decision has been made by CMS that Dacogen (HCPCS code J0894) meets the clinical parameters for exclusion from SNF consolidated billing as a high-intensity chemotherapy drug.  Therefore, effective Monday, October 3, 2011, for claims with dates of service on or after Saturday, January 1, 2011 claims processing edits will be revised to allow for the separate payment of HCPCS code J0894 outside of the SNF consolidated billing bundled payment.

Institutional providers, physicians, and practitioners that submitted claims with dates of service on or after Saturday, January 1, 2011 would have had claims denied for these services.  These providers should contact their Medicare Carrier, Fiscal Intermediary, or Medicare Administrative Contractor to have the claims reopened and reprocessed.

If you have any additional questions please contact your Medicare Carrier, Fiscal Intermediary, or Medicare Administrative Contractor.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Kansas City Regional Office, invites you to the 2011 National Medicare Training Program (NMTP) Workshop.  This year’s workshop is being held from August 9-11, 2011, in Kansas City, MO.

This year, the NMTP is celebrating its 12th year of excellence in providing consistent, accurate, and reliable information about the Medicare program.  The program is designed for professionals and volunteers who work with seniors and people with disabilities.  In addition to learning about Medicare, the information and resources provided during the workshop can be used by you to train others who then can provide the information, assistance, and education to people with Medicare.

Click here for a flier with information about the workshop.  Please feel free to share the information with any of your colleagues or partners you feel may benefit from attending the workshop.
 
Please watch your e-mail for the official registration to arrive from CMS in June.  This e-mail will include hotel information and conference details.  In the past registration for this training has filled up quickly, so if you are interested in attending, we ask that you register as early as possible. 

In the meantime, if you have any questions or need additional information, please contact Lorelei Schieferdecker at 816-426-6453 or e-mail at lorelei.schieferdecker@cms.hhs.gov

Thank you in advance for your participation and we look forward to seeing you this summer in Kansas City!

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Kansas City Regional Office
601 E. 12th Street
Kansas City, MO 64106
Ph: 816.426.5233
Kansas_City_CMS@cms.hhs.gov

**Updated May 16, 2011- The next Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF)/Long Term Care (LTC) Open Door Forum is scheduled for Thursday, June 16, 2011 from 2pm-3pmET. If you wish to participate, dial 1-800-837-1935 Conference ID 59677634. This call will be Conference Call Only.

** Updated - MDS 3.0 Training Materials Update: The following videos have been posted to YouTube and are also available for download below: Section M: Skin conditions; Evening Experts Panel Discussion; Dr. Deb Saliba's Introduction. Additional postings to be added as they are completed. You can also visit the "CMS YouTube Channel" at www.youtube.com/cmshhsgov.

Skilled Nursing Facilities/Long Term Care Open Door Forum (ODF) Overview:

The Skilled Nursing Facilities / Long-Term Care Open Door Forum (ODF) addresses the concerns and issues of both the Medicare SNF, the Medicaid NF, and the nursing home industry generally. The types of issues that come up during this forum are often related to the Minimum Data Set, SNF Consolidated Billing, the roles and responsibilities of different SNF, NF or LTC professional staff under CMS regulations, clarifications of issues that are covered during a survey and certification process, and the many rules and requirements under which different related services can be payable. Timely announcements and clarifications regarding important rulemaking, quality program initiatives, and other related areas are also included in the forums.

The Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) recently released its  2011 issue of Needle Tips, for all healthcare professionals who give vaccines. Also available is Vaccinate Adults, an abbreviated version of Needle Tips (with the pediatric content removed) for those who work only with adult patients. Both are now available for online reading and/or printing.

These publications contain ready-to-print educational materials for healthcare professionals and their patients, updated immunization schedules, vaccine news highlights, and IAC’s popular “Ask the Experts” question-and-answer column with answers by CDC experts William Atkinson, MD, MPH, and Andrew Kroger, MD, MPH.

Needle Tips and Vaccinate Adults are available exclusively online. Current and past issues of Needle Tips are available at www.immunize.org/nt and Vaccinate Adults at www.immunize.org/va.

To receive direct notification when new issues are published, subscribe at www.immunize.org/subscribe. On this page, you can also subscribe to IAC’s free weekly email news service, IAC Express, which keeps you up to date on immunization news between issues of IAC’s periodicals.

Click here for an invitation to the Pain Management Tailored to the NH Resident Teleconference, hosted by Kansas Foundation for Medical Care, Inc. and the Great 8 Group.  We are extremely excited to have Dr. Cari Levy share her knowledge and experience! 

Please register by faxing the completed registration to 785-273-5130 to the attention of Tami Sterling.  If you have any questions, please call Tami at KFMC at 785-273-2552 x358.