You're receiving this email because of your relationship with the Office of Inspector General, Division of Health Care. Thank you for your continued commitment to serving the citizens of our Commonwealth!
Cabinet for Health & Family Services
Office of Inspector General
Division of Health Care
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Home Health Agency Newsletter
November 2019
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Reminder - Register for an iQIES Account - Action Required
The Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (QIES), which providers and vendors use to submit assessment data, is being upgraded to make the system more reliable, scalable, secure, and accessible. The enhancements will occur in phases (by provider type) and began with Long- Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs) in March 2019, followed by Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs) in October 2019 and Home Health Agencies (HHAs) in January 2020. The enhanced system is referred to as the Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES).
The rollout of iQIES will not require providers or vendors to change current processes related to submission of data. However, iQIES will require a new user management system because virtual private network (VPN) and CMSNet are no longer needed to access this system. All users will have to create an account and establish credentials in the Healthcare Quality Information System (HCQIS) Access, Roles and Profile system (HARP). HARP is a secure identity management portal that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provides.
Through HARP, the level of access for iQIES will be similar to the roles that exist in QIES but with the addition of a Provider Security Official (PSO). The individual designated as the PSO will be responsible for approving or rejecting iQIES user access requests for their respective organizations, including vendors. For your organization to receive access to iQIES, you must first identify a PSO. For instructions on obtaining access to iQIES, descriptions of the iQIES roles applicable to HHAs and important iQIES information, please refer to the following link:
https://qtso.cms.gov/news-and-updates/register-iqies-account-action-required-1
.
Please note that at this time, only certified Home Health Agencies will be onboarded to iQIES. For questions, please contact our service desk at:
help@qtso.com or by phone: 800-339-9313.
***Although onboarding for HHAs is in progress, iQIES assessment submission functionality for HHAs will not be available until January 1, 2020. Although this functionality will not be available immediately, we encourage HHA security officials to request access to iQIES as soon as possible. CMS advises that HHAs register two security officials, if possible, as doing so will allow for a smoother transition prior to the January go live date. Upon receiving access, security officials will have access to ‘My Profile’ and ‘Help’ in iQIES.
Please note that failure to obtain access to iQIES prior to December 23, 2019 will impact your ability to submit assessment data needed for payment purposes, as the system will have a scheduled downtime so that the data migration can occur in preparation for the January 1, 2020 release. Claims that cannot be matched to assessments will be returned to the HHA, preventing Medicare payment.
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Special offer for 2020! Purchase all four 2020 OASIS Update Quarterly Teleconferences and you'll receive a
FREE 2020 INSTANT OASIS Answers book for OASIS-D1
. Assure that you and/or your entire in-house staff are up to date on the latest OASIS data collection rules. Offer expires 1/22/2020. Free INSTANT OASIS Answers book is estimated to ship in December 2019.
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Quarterly OASIS Q&As
October 2019 OASIS Q&A’s are available in the OASIS Quarterly Q&As section of the CMS
QTSO
webpage.
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jHAVEN v1.4.1
jHAVEN (Home Assessment Validation and Entry System) v1.4.1, currently available under the related links section at the bottom of the
jHAVEN
webpage It is strongly recommended that you use Chrome to download the jHAVEN application. If using Internet Explorer, you may receive a pop-up message warning that the application you are about to install is “…an unrecognized app” and Windows has prevented the app from starting or that the signature is invalid. If you do receive a warning message like this, you can still complete the installation by either right-clicking on the jHAVENSetup…exe, or selecting “More info”, where you will have the option to “Run anyway”. Once you select to run, the install process will complete as usual.
jHAVEN v1.4.1 includes the following enhancements:
- v8219 of the Home Health PPS Grouper (effective 10/01/2019)
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OASIS Answers Home Health Training Webinars
The OASIS Answers, Inc. (OAI) "Just in Time" monthly home health training webinars are designed to provide the most innovative training to your clinicians, clinical leaders, quality improvement teams and auditors. These sessions will ensure that you are aware of and know how to apply the most recent, most relevant, and most accurate CMS home health information. Monthly topics are based on the issues that are most pertinent to agencies for the month and will be driven by CMS updates or changes that are critical to agency success.
Upcoming sessions are available in either a Live or Recorded format. Previously aired webinars are offered as a recording only. Take a peek and see how the OASIS Answers' webinar series can supplement your organization's training!
Click
HERE
for to reserve your spot!
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Interested in Serving on an IDR Panel?
Kentucky requires one member of the IDR panel to be "a person currently engaged in the provision of Home Health Agency services who has no affiliation with the provider disputing a deficiency." Typically, a Home Health Agency Director is on each IDR panel. There is no payment or travel reimbursement for a Director serving on a panel. Directors will be rotated. If a
Home Health Agency Director
is interested in serving on a panel, a confidentiality statement must be signed prior to the participation in the first IDR panel.
Chrystal Daugherty, IDR/IIDR Coordinator
Office of Inspector General
116 Commerce Ave.
London, KY 40744
Fax: (606) 330-2054
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Home Health Agency Questions and Answers
Home Health Agency (HHA) Providers can access the Home Health and OASIS Q&As and other reference manuals on the
HHA Providers Reference site
.
These Questions and their responses have been developed over many years of experience training OASIS coordinators and are currently used as part of the Home Health Agency Surveyor Training program. They can and should be used by home health agency providers in training new staff on the basics of OASIS and also as a refresher for existing staff.
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OASIS Answers, Inc.
is a team of experienced nursing and therapy professionals who concentrate their skills, experience and passion to meet the needs of clients at the state association, federal government, quality improvement organization, private industry, and individual provider levels.
Click here
for the latest information on their webinars.
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OASIS CONTACT INFORMATION
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Chrystal Daugherty
Assessment/Coding Questions
Rhonda Littleton-Roe
Transmission or Technical Questions
Sam Crossfield
HHA Licensing or Regulation Questions
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Please note:
Do not send any identifiable patient information through e-mail. This includes patient names, SSNs, dates of birth or any other data items considered identifiers or Protected Health Information (PHI) under HIPAA. Please redact any PHI prior to sending.
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OASIS Data Specifications
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KARES
To enroll in KARES voluntarily, please click the icon above and follow the self-directed enrollment process.
For additional information about the program, please contact the help desk at (502)564-2159 or
via email
.
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Click here
to visit the website or
click here
for guidance on how to verify and update home health demographic data.
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Reporting Complaints
Email addresses have been established for use by patients and the general public to report possible violations of regulatory requirements.
Click Here
for the email addresses and additional contact information based on the facility's location.
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Which Branch
is Serving You?
To provide the highest level of service, the Division of Health Care operates through four regional offices. Knowing the appropriate Branch to contact with questions and concerns will ensure you receive maximum service in minimum time. Review links below for detailed information.
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CMS Survey and Certification memoranda, guidance, clarifications and instructions to State Survey Agencies and CMS Regional Offices.
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Medicare Learning Network
Let the Medicare Learning Network (MLN) be your home for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) education, information, and resources.
Visit the
Medicare Learning Network
for free educational materials for health care professionals on CMS programs, policies, and initiatives.
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ISTW: Integrated Surveyor Training Website
This CMS website provides training information to include the preceptor manual, the State Operations Manual and other documents. As always, the survey and certification process is a collaborative effort between CMS and providers. This website will allow providers the opportunity to take the same courses as surveyors.
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Want to Know the Top 10 Citations for Home Health Agencies?
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Sign Up for This Newsletter
If you have received a copy of this newsletter from a friend or co-worker, you can click on the Sign Up button to enter your information and join our mailing list.
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Employment Opportunities
To search and apply for positions within the Office of Inspector General, please visit the Kentucky Personnel Cabinet's web page by clicking the sign above.
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DHC Leadership Team:
Inspector General
V
acant
Deputy Inspector General
Director
Assistant Director
Assistant Director
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Commonwealth of Kentucky | Office of Inspector General | 275 East Main St., Frankfort, KY 40621
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The Office of Inspector General is the regulatory and licensing agency for all health care, day care and long-term care facilities and child adoption/child-placing agencies in the commonwealth.
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