Preparing contingency plans:

Rising rivers already forced evacuations and closed city parks near Leavenworth, KS. The Missouri river is expected to crest at 33 feet within weeks.

Whether you are in the path of this flood or not, now is the perfect time to review your emergency preparedness plans. Early this year, all adult care homes in Kansas were provided with an emergency preparedness binder and CD from Mathers Lifeway - brought to you by a grant from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment in cooperation with KHCA, KAHSA and KACE. For more information about how to prepare your home click here.

On Friday, June 10, the Kansas Health Care Association delivered supplies to the National HealthCare Corporation in Joplin, MO, which also has facilities in Kansas.

“Three of Joplin’s nursing homes were destroyed by the tornado, and countless nursing home staff and their families are displaced. While they are picking up the pieces of their lives, they remain committed to caring for their residents. We just want to show our support and do what we can to help them,” said Cindy Luxem, KHCA President/CEO.

KHCA coordinated this effort with the Kansas Association of Homes and Services for the Aging and numerous private individuals from across Kansas. Breathe Oxygen and Medical Supply will be donating the truck to transport the thousands of care packages to Joplin.

“We are so grateful to all of the people who donated their time and money to provide care packages to the remaining nursing homes, staff, and families affected by the devastating tornado,” said Cindy. “The outpouring of support has been overwhelming."

Front the Desk of Sectrtary Shawn Sullivan

I am happy to announce the appointment of our new Director of Survey and Certification, Audrey Sunderraj.  Audrey currently serves as the Regional Manager for the Northeast District Office (Topeka and Lawrence consolidated survey region) in the Survey and Certification Commission.

Audrey brings with her over 25 years experience in the survey and certification field and quality improvement.  Since 2005 Audrey has served as the lead trainer for implementing the Quality Indicator Survey (QIS) process in Kansas.

We are looking forward to having Audrey’s expertise in her new position. Recruitment and selection for Audrey's current Regional Manager position will begin soon.

Shawn Sullivan
Secretary
Kansas Department on Aging
503 S. Kansas
Topeka, KS 66603
mailto:Shawn.Sullivan@aging.ks.gov
(785) 296-5222
FAX  (785) 296-0256
Please visit KDOA on the world wide web at www.agingkansas.org

KDOA will no longer require Adult Care Homes to submit Semiannual Statistical Reports.  Notification will be sent at a later date regarding revision to the annual report.

 KHCA/kcal , in cooperation with KAHSA, is conducting a 2011 Wage & Salary survey for all long-term care providers in the state of Kansas. The scope of this survey includes nursing homes, CCRCs, Assisted Living, and HUD housing. A free, electronic copy of the results will be provided to each participant. Data from the attached questionnaire will be the basis for the LTC Provider 2011 Wage and Salary Survey Report. We hope this cooperative effort will yield a product that is very useful and informative and we are looking forward to your participation.

The questionnaire requests wage, salary, and benefits information only. All information provided by completion of this form will be kept confidential. No information will be released which will identify the source of the information by person or organization.

Click HERE to download the survey.

Thank you, in advance, for your assistance. The attached questionnaire should be completed and returned to Brad Frederick at KAHSA (bfrederick@kahsas.org). Please feel free to contact us with any suggestions or comments regarding the presentation of the survey results.

From the Desk of Jeff Colyer, M.D. Lt. Governor of Kansas

Dear Fellow Kansan,

In his State of the State address to the Kansas Legislature in January, Governor Brownback charged me to lead a working group of cabinet secretaries, including the Secretaries of Social & Rehabilitation Services, Health & Environment, and Aging, to remake the state’s Medicaid program and improve healthcare in Kansas.

To build on these efforts, the State of Kansas will host three public forums focused on Medicaid reform in Topeka, Wichita, and Dodge City. 

Kansas, like most other states, faces an enormous shortfall in state Medicaid funding.  It is essential to Governor Brownback and me that we receive guidance from Kansans while we work to reform our state’s Medicaid system.

These forums will provide Kansans from across the state the opportunity to give their input about healthcare in their communities.  We look forward to working collaboratively with our fellow Kansans to find Kansas solutions for Kansas healthcare needs.

Details of the forums are as follows:

• Topeka:  Wednesday, June 22; 1:30 p.m. to 4:30p.m. 
                      Kansas Expocentre, Maner Conference Center

• Wichita:  Thursday, July 7; 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
                        Location TBD

• Dodge City:    Friday, July 8, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
                              United Wireless Arena, Magouirk Conference Center

For those Kansans unable to attend the forums, we will launch a web-based tool for submitting comments and ideas online.  We will conclude the public input process with a conference in August to be held in the 3rd Congressional District.

Because of limited seating space at meeting facilities, please RSVP by clicking one of the following links:

Topeka
Wichita          
Dodge City

You may also RVSP by contacting Alisha Kirby in the Office of the Lt. Governor at (785) 296-2213 or by emailing rsvp@ks.gov. Please indicate which meeting you would like to attend by including the name of the city in the subject line.

Sincerely,
 

Jeff Colyer, M.D.
Lt. Governor of Kansas

Did you know that in 2010 out of 345 homes, there were only 18 deficiency free surveys? Did you know that one of those KHCA deficiency free homes has had FOUR YEARS OF DEFICIENCY FREE SURVEYS IN A ROW? In our next newsletter, we will highlight that home and hear from them about the secret to their success.

AHCA has developed a Medicare rate calculator for rates effective October 1, 2009, October 1, 2010, and October 1, 2011 for use by AHCA members.  The calculator is a tool that will allow member facilities to estimate the impact of the implementation of RUG-IV effective October 1, 2010, and the proposed payment changes effective October 1, 2011.
 
There are two options present under the Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System rule.  The first option is the application of a parity adjustment that would be implemented through a change in nursing case mix indices.  The estimated rate change for this parity adjustment is a reduction of 12.8%.  A market basket update of 2.7%, a negative productivity adjustment of 1.2%, and the parity adjustment of negative 12.8%, results in an overall rate reduction of 11.3%.  CMS has indicated that the amount of this adjustment may be modified in the final rule.  A second option includes the market update of 2.7%, and a negative productivity adjustment of 1.2%, for a net increase of 1.5%.  This calculator is set up to calculate the impact under the first option.
 
The calculator will allow you to enter your Medicare patient days by RUG category for the period of October 1, 2009 through September 30, 2010 (RUG-53/RUG-III); and October 1, 2010 through a recent period (RUG-66/RUG-IV), such as April 30, 2011.  You will also be asked to identify the geographic area in which you are located.  Using these Medicare patient days and the resulting wage index, Medicare rates can be estimated for October 1, 2009, October 1, 2010, and October 1, 2011.
 
The difference between the average Medicare rate for fiscal year 2012, effective October 1, 2011, the average Medicare rate for fiscal year 2011, effective October 1, 2010, and the average Medicare rate for fiscal year 2010, effective October 1, 2009, will be expressed in dollar and percentage amounts.  You will be able to estimate the change in the average Medicare rate upon the implementation of the RUG-IV payment system for your facility(ies) effective October 1, 2010, and the proposed payment changes effective October 1, 2011.
 
Please note that the rates provided in this calculator are the same as those published in the Federal Register.  It has been determined that slight discrepancies exist between the rates in this calculator and the SNF PPS PC Pricer.  Once the SNF PPS PC Pricer is provided by CMS for fiscal year 2012, the rates for each geographic area will be provided on the AHCA website.
 
This calculator may be accessed on the AHCA website at: http://www.ahcancal.org/research_data/funding/Pages/MedicareRateCalculator.aspx.
 
For assistance or questions, please contact Bill Hartung at AHCA at (202) 898-2841, or whartung@ahca.org.

In August 2010, AHCA participated in a CMS-convened stakeholder meeting to address several areas of health care reform for which the CMS Survey and Certification Group has implementation responsibility.  The bulk of the meeting was discussion about changes to the Nursing Home Compare website and included discussion about substantiated complaints and enforcement actions.
 
CMS has advised that facility enforcement actions and substantiated complaints will be added to the Nursing Home Compare website in July 2011.
 
•Enforcement Actions: The number of civil money penalties (CMPs) and the number of Denials of Payment for New Admissions (DPNAs) for the past three years will be posted along with the dates, types of enforcement action (CMP or DPNA), and total penalty amounts if a CMP.
 
•Substantiated Complaints:  The number of substantiated complaints against the nursing home and the number of self-reported incidents for the past three years will be posted.
 
Attached for your review are two examples of the modifications to the website.  One example shows the complaint and enforcement information in summary format.  The second example shows more detailed information for a particular nursing home.
 
Provider Preview: Provider-specific information will be available to nursing homes starting with the June 2011 CMS Five Star Rating System Provider Preview Reports.
 
CMS is continuing to seek feedback on these modifications and will convene a conference call with stakeholders sometime this summer.
 
AHCA appreciates that CMS agreed to post only substantiated complaint information and to separate self-reported incidents from substantiated complaints.  However, we do have some concerns about the presentation of this information on the attached examples.  We will provide CMS with our comments/concerns early next week.
 
For questions or suggestions about the attached examples, please contact:
 
 
Lyn Bentley, MSW . Director of Regulatory Services
American Health Care Association . 1201 L St., NW . Washington, DC  20005
ph: 202-898-6304

Please notify your MDS Coordinator that the RAI MDS 3.0 Manual has been revised and also CMS has released a memo regarding the completion of interviews for unexpected discharge assessments.  The link to the information is http://www.cms.gov/NursingHomeQualityInits/45_NHQIMDS30TrainingMaterials.asp
Go to "Downloads  or
http://www.aging.ks.gov/AdultCareHomes/Education_Info/Education_index.html
MDS Resource Information - Click on 1st Bullet - then go to Downloads.

CMS is posting the revised Long-Term Care Facility Resident Assessment Instrument User's Manual Version 3.0 for the public on or close to June 2.  The download will be accessible at:
http://www.cms.gov/NursingHomeQualityInits/45_NHQIMDS30TrainingMaterials.asp#TopOfPage.

 
Please be advised of minor changes that have been made to the manual:

June 2, 2011 MDS 3.0 Training Materials Update:
MDS 3.0 RAI Manual V1.05 (June 2, 2011)
MDS 3.0 RAI Manual May 25, 2011 (a zip file contains 58 files)
•         
This zip file is the complete manual and contains all manual chapters / sections / appendices / title page / Table of Contents / forms (58 files). This includes change table files for the revised V1.05 files only.
Files containing revisions in this V1.05 release include: Title Page, Table of Contents, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3 (Introduction,
Sections: A, B, D, F, G, I, J, K, M, N, O, and Q), Chapter 5, Chapter 6 and Appendices (A, B, C, E, and H).
Note that files from earlier versions (e.g., V1.04 September 2010) are contained in the manual but do not have an associated change table file.
Please note that the month/year located at the bottom left on the manual pages reflects when that file was last updated (e.g., May 2011 for V1.05).
Archived Change Tables May 25, 2011 (a zip file contains 8 files) RAI MDS Coordinators May, 2011

We are pleased to share with you that the Campaign Pressure Ulcer tool that contained data entry space only through July 2011 has been updated.  The new version of the tool features formatting to make it look like the other 6 tools and data entry space capacity to allow nursing homes to use this tool from August 2011 through July 2012.

Advancing Excellence Team will record a new Pressure Ulcer Tool WebEx training module in the next few weeks to better support use of the new tool.

The updated tool can be accessed under the resources/goal/Pressure Ulcer section of the website. Please make your nursing homes aware of this update.  Please director your questions about the tool to:

Tammy Rolfe, RN, LNHA, MS HPM | Field Operations Manager | Advancing Excellence | P 207.242.5386 trolfe@leadingage.org

June is Men’s Health Month and Monday, June 13th marks the beginning of this year’s National Men’s Health Week, which culminates appropriately on Father’s Day, Sunday June 19th.  The theme for this year is “Awareness, Prevention, Education, and Family.” 

The purpose of Men’s Health Month and Week is to heighten public awareness of preventable health problems and encourage the early detection and treatment of diseases among men and boys.  While Medicare now provides coverage for a wider array of preventive services and screenings, many men covered by Medicare are not fully using these services that can make a difference in the quality of their health.  We need your help.  Please join CMS in helping men with Medicare learn how they can live longer, healthier lives through disease prevention, early detection, and lifestyle modifications that support a healthier life.

Medicare provides coverage of many preventive services and screenings that are especially meaningful to men, including but not limited to:
Colorectal and Prostate Cancer Screenings
Cardiovascular Disease Screenings
Diabetes Screening, Diabetes Self-Management Training, and Medical Nutrition Therapy
HIV Screening
Immunizations, including:
Hepatitis B
Influenza
Pneumococcal
Smoking Cessation Counseling
Annual Wellness Exam (new for 2011)

Note that while coverage by Medicare is subject to certain eligibility criteria, many preventive services and screenings can now be received with no out-of-pocket costs to the beneficiary.

What Can You Do?  As a healthcare professional who provides care to men covered by Medicare you can help protect the health of your Medicare patients who may be at risk for certain health issues by educating them about their risk factors and encouraging them to take advantage of the preventive services and screenings that are appropriate for them.  (Many preventive services and screenings covered by Medicare require a referral.)