Dr. Monica Gandhi will be our guest on the 3:30 Eastern Time LeadingAge Coronavirus Update Call on Monday, August 24. Dr. Gandhi is an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco and has been widely cited for her work on aerosol vs. droplet transmission. Sign up for this and other calls here.
LeadingAge Coronavirus Spotlights is a podcast featuring presentations by LeadingAge members and subject-matter experts who have been guests on our live online updates.
HUD releases August NSPIRE Newsletter – On Friday, August 24, HUD released their “Get NSPIREd August 2020” newsletter, which covers updates for the physical inspection demonstration program. The newsletter is available here, and more information about LeadingAge’s recent call with NSPIRE Program Manager Dan Williams is available here.
What’s Your Vision for Our Future? On Thursday, August 27, join futurist Chris Cowart for this half-day Visioning Workshop, Leveraging COVID Learnings to Shape Our Future. He’ll use design thinking methodology to help LeadingAge members consider the potential opportunities and impact of the pandemic on the future of aging services. Register today.
2020 Collaborative Care & HIT Summit, September 15-17. Register before August 28 using discount code TSAP2020 to receive $75 off your registration. The challenges of COVID-19 highlight the need for technologies in aging services, including telehealth and Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR). Register today to attend the premier health IT conference.
Home Health Proposed Rule Comments. LeadingAge submitted comments responding to the CY 2021 home health proposed rule. We did this in conjunction with our partners ElevatingHOME and the Visiting Nurse Associations of America (VNAA). While CMS did not offer many changes beyond the statutory requirement to update the payment rate, which is 2.7% for CY 2020, we did offer feedback on a number of items. We recommend:
- CMS not use data from CY 2019 to base changes to the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) as COVID-19 has caused such profound changes to utilization patterns and spending.
- CMS consider ways to determine reimbursement for telehealth services by home health agencies despite the statutory obstacles that we continue to advocate with Congress to fix.
- CMS limit the potential penalty related to the deadline of RAP submissions from every 30-day episode to only the start for care in 2021 to mimic the policy in 2022 and forward when the RAP is replaced by a Notice of Admission.
- CMS adopt administrative policy changes that reduce the burden for home health agencies to utilize disposable negative pressure wound therapy treatment.
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LeadingAge Announces Power-Packed Annual Meeting Keynote Lineup |
National leadership has developed a dynamic series of keynote sessions offered on an abbreviated schedule that won’t pull you away from the important work you’re doing. Join national leaders for the LeadingAge Annual Meeting Virtual Experience, and hear from some of the brightest minds of our time, while making the most of your time:
- Finding Courage and Hope: Dr. Brene Brown, researcher and best-selling author
- Moving Diversity and Inclusion Forward: Verna Myers, inclusion strategist, Netflix
- A Road Map to COVID-19 Recovery: Scott Gottlieb, former FDA commissioner
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NHSN LTC, Public Health Investigator – Melissa Meador
Long term care facilities are required to report COVID-19 information to the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). For assistance and support LTC facilities can now contact Melissa Meador, NHSN LTC, Public Health Investigator. Melissa’s duties include helping facilities navigate the COVID-19 module, providing guidance for data entered into NHSN, assisting with facility enrollment and on-boarding, and offering NHSN support. Contact Information: Melissa Meador - mmeador1@isdh.in.gov or 317-439-8772.
QSOG-20-03 NH/HHA/CLIA – Notice of Final Rule Adjusting Civil Monetary Penalties (CMPs) for Inflation. The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 requires federal agencies to publish annual penalty inflation adjustments. The January 17, 2020, final rule provides for an adjustment of CMPs that may be imposed for noncompliance by SNF/NFs, HHAs, and Clinical laboratories. The final rule only affects specific CMP amounts and not any other related provisions, such as the factors reviewed for assessing CMPs. For 2020, CMPs have been increased by a multiplier of 1.01764. The annual adjustments are based on the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the month of October of a current year in which the amount of each CMP was most recently established or modified.
QSO-20-35-ALL – Enforcement Cases Held during the Prioritization Period and Revised Survey Prioritization
CMS is committed to taking critical steps to ensure America’s health care facilities continue to be prepared in response to the threat of the 2019 Coronavirus (COVID-19).
CMS is expanding long-term care guidance in the following areas:
- Expansion of Survey Activities
- Enforcement Guidance
- Expanded Desk Review Policy
- Enforcement Cycle started BEFORE March 23, 2020
- Enforcement Cycle started ON March 23, 2020 THROUGH May 31, 2020
- Enforcement Cycle started ON OR AFTER June 1, 2020
- CMP Collections
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Total positive cases: 87,592
Total deaths: 3,008
Total tested: 1,002,038
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REGISTRATION DEADLINE EXTENDED TO 8/28
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Forward This Update to Co-Workers |
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