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Clinical Update from KHCA Consultant Linda Farrar
Do you have the CMS Skilled Nursing Facilities, LTC Open Door forum on April 13 on your calendar? The agenda that CMS released has some pretty significant subjects on the agenda. This is a significant time of change for LTC facilities based on multiple changes from CMS and the end of the Public Health Emergency on May 11, 2023. You may want to send this to your MDS Coordinator since CMS will be discussing MDS changes and updates including the transition to iQIES.
Per the AHCA Communication, here are the key points: Click here to continue reading.
Open Door Participation Instructions:
This call will be Conference Call Only.
To participate by phone:
Dial: 1-888-455-1397 & Conference Passcode: 4325849
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CMS Releases New MDS RAI Manual Version with ‘Substantial Revisions’
The latest version of the MDS Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) manual released early Monday contains “substantial revisions,” according to a statement issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). READ MORE
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iQIES Planned System Outage April 14 8:00 p.m. ET thru April 17 8:00 a.m. ET
Due to scheduled maintenance, the Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES) won’t be available from: Friday, April 14, 2023 8 p.m. ET until Monday, April 17, 2023 8 a.m. ET.
iQIES Service Center - For questions about this information, please contact QIES/iQIES Service Center by phone at (800) 339-9313 or send an email. Please note that call volume may be higher than normal during this time.
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HHS Updates 2024 Medicare Advantage Program and Part D Payment Policies
Updated Medicare Advantage and Part D policies ensure the overall Medicare program remains strong and stable for the 65 million beneficiaries today and future generations to come, payments to private insurance companies are accurate, and taxpayer dollars are well spent
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), released the Calendar Year (CY) 2024 Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D Rate Announcement that finalized payment policies for these programs. The final policies in the Rate Announcement improve payment accuracy and ensure taxpayer dollars are well spent. CMS will phase-in certain updates, and on average, CMS anticipates a payment increase for MA plans of 3.32% from 2023 to 2024, which is approximately a $13.8 billion increase in MA payments for next year. READ MORE
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Attention SNF Providers!
CMP Funds approved for CMS Certified Communities to receive a FREE Violett Air Disinfection Unit
KHCA has partnered with Violett to provide certified facilities with a FREE portable indoor air cleaner with high-efficiency particulate air filters (HEPS) to improve air quality.
This technology was designed in Washington State and tested in collaboration with long term care facilities utilizing Violett’s portable UVL air disinfection technology which has proven to kill >99.8888% of COVID-19 surrogate virus MS2 in 30 minutes.
Now is your chance to benefit from this partnership. As a service to our members, KHCA will handle the paperwork, so you can focus on creating healthier shared indoor living spaces. READ MORE
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TOMORROW! FREE Webinar: CMS’s new schizophrenia audits: What you need to know NOW
Apr 4, 2023 12:00 PM
New CMS schizophrenia and antipsychotic audits are coming. How can you protect your star rating?
If CMS identifies inaccuracies in MDS coding, the nursing home’s Five-Star rating will be downgraded by one star for six months, creating a significant negative ripple impacting your admissions, your community partnerships, and your facility's reputation among external stakeholders.
Join us for this important webinar to hear industry experts explain the CMS audit plan, its consequences, and how your facility can evaluate and mitigate your risk.
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QSO-23-10-NH
CMS Issues Enhanced Enforcement for Infection Control Deficiencies and Quality Improvement Activities in Nursing Homes
CMS rescinds previous QSO-20-31-ALL, from 2020, and issues updated guidance for Enhanced Enforcement for Infection Control Deficiencies
Yesterday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Center for Clinical Standards and Quality/Quality Safety Oversight Group released QSO Memo QSO-23-10-NH , which updates the enhanced enforcement policy that was implemented early in the pandemic. This update is related to changes that have occurred throughout the pandemic, including an interim final rule that established long term care facility vaccine immunization requirements, CMS noted the need to continue to evaluate guidance.
The biggest change, in enforcement, is that a CMP (Civil Money Penalty) would no longer apply for all infection control citations. Instead, a CMP would only apply if the scope and severity was cited at a G or higher. Furthermore, enhanced enforcement (Directed POC (point of care) and DDPNA), would only be enforced at Level 2 (D, E, & F) when BOTH F880-Infection Prevention & Control- and F887-COVID-19 Immunizations were cited. However, CMS did reduce the times to achieve substantial compliance. READ MORE
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AHCA/NCAL Awards Program Nominations Opening April 7
Nominations for the 2023 AHCA/NCAL Awards Program will open on April 7 and run through June 9, 2023. All nominations will be available via Award Force. Members are encouraged to check back on each of AHCA and NCAL's award pages for more information, including rules and guidelines. READ MORE
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Upcoming Education: MDS - RAI Changes Workshop
6/12/2023 9:00AM - 4:00PM
This workshop has been specifically created to review the changes to the RAI manual starting October 1. Line by line coding instructions for new and revised sections. Click here for more details.
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Assisted Living Lunch and Learn: A Deeper Look at FCS/NSA and HSP
4/28/2023 10:00AM - 2:00PM
The Functional Capacity Screen (FCS). Who knew such a simple looking document could be so complicated? During this lunch and learn you’ll learn how to accurately complete a Functional Capacity Screen (FCS). Together you’ll collaborate and work through common ‘gray areas’ and how to document them. Once you’ve tackled the Functional Capacity Screen (FCS), the Negotiated Service Agreement (NSA) and Health Services Plan (HSP) are next! A completed FCS will be provided to all participants and Joan Hudson, RN-BC, LNHA will walk you through how to take the data from the FCS, add your resident ‘wants’ to the assessment and produce a Negotiated Service Agreement (NSA) to capture all the billable services for your resident.
Learning Objectives:
- Review the regulations for FCS/NSA/HSP and how to stay in compliance with each.
- Complete an FCS/NSA/HSP for a sample resident
- Review scenarios and how to handle situations that indicate the need for a Risk Agreement.
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Webinar: Deep Dive Into Federal Regulations in a Year: §483.20 Resident Assessment & §483.21 Comprehensive Person-Centered Care Plan Requirements
4/11/2023 1:30PM-3:00PM
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FREE in person or ZOOM: We Need to Talk: The Transformative Power of Life and Death Conversations
4/12/2023 2:00PM-3:15PM
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Assisted Living Conference
Lawrence, KS
4/14/2023 8:00AM-4:00PM
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Webinar: Mission Possible: SNF Department Head Briefing - Thriving Therapy Departments
4/25/2023 1:30PM-2:30PM
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Assisted Living Lunch and Learn: A Deeper Look at FCS/NSA and HSP
4/28/2023 10:00AM - 2:00PM
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Nurse Leadership Conference
6/13/2023 11:00AM - 6/14/2023 4:00PM
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Administrator in Training (AIT) Program
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Looking for options for required Staff In-Service?
KHCA’s online learning platform is BACK! We’ve loaded the in-services for SNF and for AL first. The SNF in-service on Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation has been updated to reflect Phase 3 information.
Questions about education can be directed to Polly Berkley VP of Operations and Education.
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Attention Assisted Living and Home Plus Providers: FCS Refresher
We have frequent requests for FCS refreshers and people who want to attend the FCS section only of the Operators course. We now have it available on demand in a 75 minute webinar. It’s worth 1.5 CE’s on demand.
$20 Member Discount Code: KHCA018
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Kansas Health Care Association and the Kansas Center for Assisted Living
1100 SW Gage Blvd. | PO Box 4770 | Topeka, KS 66604
PH: 785-267-6003 FAX: 785-267-0833
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