 |
|
Dear Benchmarks' Members,
We have one more update for this evening for you. Reminder, please be sure to visit your LME/MCO websites (listed in our site above) for the latest updates posted for their catchment areas. See below for important information that has been released late this afternoon.
Take care of each other and stay safe and healthy!
The Benchmarks' Team
|
TRAINING: COVID-19: Best Practices for Congregate Living Settings
Thursday, April 9, 2020
Due to the rapidly evolving nature of the COVID-19 crisis, the Department will periodically coordinate time-sensitive trainings for urgent and emerging identified training needs. We are working with our provider communities and other stakeholders to facilitate our mutual commitment to supporting the clinical needs of vulnerable populations during the COVID-19 Pandemic as responsively as possible. We appreciate the strong collaboration and assistance in ensuring effective communication.
These trainings are also being published through DHSR directly and through applicable provider associations. You may receive this invitation from multiple sources.
Target Audience: Staff responsible for communicating and training direct care workers and direct care workers, as available.
This training will provide practical, factual information about COVID-19 to:
- Help decrease the spread of the virus;
- To increase staff confidence in their ability to safely provide care (both safety for themselves and for the residents) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- residents) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
|
Time
|
Target Settings
|
Registration Link
|
|
1:00-2:00p
|
Nursing Facilities
Intermediate Care Facilities
Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities
State Operated Health Facilities
|
|
|
2:00-3:00p
|
Assisted Living/Adult Care Homes
|
If registration is full, please join, please join the 3:30 session.
|
|
3:30-4:30p
|
Smaller residential congregate care settings (Family care homes, MH and IDD Group Homes)
|
|
|
Email from Dave Richard, Deputy Sec. NC Medicaid, DHHS
Good afternoon, Medicaid Partners:
We have heard from our Medicaid providers, health care associations and other stakeholders of the challenges being faced managing delivery of care and services to patients, including Medicaid beneficiaries during the COVID-19 public health emergency. I'd like to share two resources recently launched to reduce some of the burden:
New Patient Helpline
COVID-19 Triage Plus Patient and Information Support Line
1-877-490-6642
7 a.m. - 11 p.m., 7 days/week
Open to all individuals, with or without insurance
CCNC and DHHS partnered together to establish a new helpline to provide people, with or without insurance coverage, with COVID-19 information and address care management needs. Health care providers can recommend patients call COVID-19 Triage Plus for help with:
- Accessing necessary health care
- Connecting people who use Medicaid or Health Choice with their doctor
- Helping people who do not have insurance find health care resources
- Providing instruction on resources like telehealth or accessing a doctor by telephone or video call
- Understanding how to prevent COVID-19, based on an individual's living situation
- Understanding what someone should do if they have symptoms
- Managing other medical conditions during this time, like diabetes or high blood pressure
COVID-19 Triage Plus is staffed by North Carolina licensed Registered Nurses experienced in care management, who will triage patients using the latest guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and DHHS.
For more on COVID-19 in North Carolina, go to
www.ncdhhs.gov/coronavirus. To learn more about CCNC, visit
www.communitycarenc.org.
Telehealth Billing Code Resources
As part of our response to COVID-19, NC Medicaid has modified its
Telemedicine and Telepsychiatry Clinical Coverage Policy to help providers deliver care remotely to Medicaid beneficiaries. As telehealth and virtual patient communications continue to be important ways for health care professionals to care for their patients as safely as possible, NC Medicaid is developing ways to help practices and beneficiaries adjust to using telehealth services.
One tool is the
NC Medicaid Telehealth Billing Code Summary that contains all Medicaid telehealth billing codes in one document. In addition, details for telehealth services and billing codes can be found in three Special Medicaid Bulletins:
These Special Bulletins also clarify the billing guidance for "place of service," addressing claims issues some providers recently experienced.
NC Medicaid will continue working with our federal, state and local partners to help providers continue to deliver Medicaid services without interruption during the COVID-19 public health emergency, and will announce additional resources as they are developed.
All of us in Medicaid greatly appreciate your efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic to continue caring for some of the most vulnerable people in North Carolina. Please continue to share your comments, ideas and needs to
Medicaid.COVID19@dhhs.nc.gov.
Thank you.
- Dave
|
Take Action and View New Webinars from the Alliance
As we gear up for the next financial relief package to be deliberated in Congress, it is important that we start advocating for our priorities now. On March 27, Reps. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) introduced the Save Organizations that Serve (SOS) America Act, which would build upon the provisions we secured for nonprofit financial relief in the CARES Act and expand relief provisions.
The bill proposes providing nonprofits on the front lines of this pandemic with $60 billion in financial support, eliminating the 500-employee cap on Small Business Administration loans and loan forgiveness for nonprofits, and improving the above-the-line universal charitable deduction by eliminating the cap and allowing taxpayers to claim deductions for 2019, 2020, and future taxes.
This bill aims to provide all community based human services organizations - regardless of size or funding level - with the resources they need to continue paying staff and delivering vital services in the community. The bill already has eight cosponsors.
The Alliance and our network advocated relentlessly to ensure nonprofits were included in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), authorized by the CARES Act in recent weeks. We know that many organizations have already submitted applications with banks and some have even gotten approval. However, the rushed implementation of this program has caused a number of frustrations for organizations working to apply.
The Alliance continues to investigate those concerns and lift them up in our advocacy work. With that being said, we learned yesterday that the Department of Treasury is planning to ask Congress for an additional $200-$250 billion (on top of the $350 billion already appropriated) for this program.
Learn more
COVID-19 Online Discussion
Newly Added Webinars
Though it feels unstable, the current environment offers opportunities to build infrastructure and systems for the future. This webinar will share low-cost options for learning more about donors, such as adding wealth and giving data to donor records, and tips for putting that information to use such as segmenting donors by giving interest and likelihood of increased giving.
Join us each Friday for a fast but effective dose of self-care. You'll get practical ideas and concrete practices for keeping yourself in top condition for meeting the unprecedented demands of the times.
These sessions will feature tools, grounded in brain science research, for managing your emotions, maintaining your clarity of mind, boosting your energy, and keeping you feeling both productive and fulfilled. Presenter Frank Kros is a brain science expert and his Alliance webinars and workshops are always highly rated by participants.
|
|
|
|
|
|
