Living the Mission: A Day for Not for Profit (NFP) Providers

The third annual day for NFP providers will be held during AHCA/NCAL's 66th Annual Convention & Expo in San Antonio, Texas on Tuesday, October 6. This constituency education program for NFP providers is packed with motivational and educational speakers, including CMS and HUD.

Lee Ellis, President and founder of Leadership Freedom® LLC, is our keynote speaker and is a popular media personality and high-profile human performance expert. Lee focuses on organizational integrity, operational effectiveness and personal accountability for enterprise, government and NFP leaders. A prolific writer, blogger and thought leader, Lee's latest award-winning book, Leading with Honor: Leadership Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton, shares his POW experience and the 14 leadership principles that helped him and his compatriots resist, survive, and return with honor. Attendees will also have the opportunity to attend the NFP reception, which will cap the day off.

For a complete list of education sessions included in this program go to our Education Session Full Schedule.  If you have any questions about this exciting event, please contact AHCA's Senior Director for NFP & Constituent Services, Dana Halvorson, at dhalvorson@ahca.org.

Recognize Your Champion of Quality Care

AHCA/NCAL is now accepting applications for the 2015 Mary K. Ousley Champion of Quality Award! This award recognizes an individual who has made significant national contributions to advancing quality performance in long term and/or post-acute care, including either skilled nursing or assisted living settings. Previous recipients have demonstrated exemplary achievements in long term and post-acute care, including, but not limited to: 

•  leadership in education and advocacy for quality improvements; 
• dedication to performance improvement;
• significant additions to long term and post-acute care research or interventions, and;
•  initiative in innovation for quality care.   

Recipients of the award are not required to be AHCA/NCAL members, but the nomination must be submitted by an individual with an organization that is an AHCA/NCAL member of good standing. In addition, the nomination must demonstrate how the nominee has made a significant impact on a national scale. The recipient will be honored at the 2015 AHCA/NCAL Annual Convention & Expo’s Closing General Session in San Antonio, Texas, on October 7.

Nomination forms can be found on the Champion of Quality Award page, and must be submitted via email to Courtney Bishnoi by June 11, 2015.  Please contact Courtney Bishnoi for questions, or visit the Champion of Quality award page for more information.

NFP Grassroots Advocacy

Steven Chies, AHCA’s NFP Council Chair, encourages AHCA’s NFP providers to participate in our grassroots advocacy efforts in 2015.  AHCA would like to help you get facility tours and in-district meetings set up over future recess days.  Please provide your name, facility address, and email address and we will craft the invite and send it to you to send to the Congressional office.  The four brief steps for a successful facility tour visit can be found here.  Please feel free to contact Matthew Smyth and Dana Halvorson who can help you with all of the logistics.

AHCA’s NFP Council member, Van Moore (pictured to the right), meets with Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR-2, pictured on the left) at the Oregon Veterans’ Home in The Dalles.  Van discussed with the Congressman issues impacting AHCA/NCAL members, including the observation stays issue.

NFPs Engaging in the Political Process

For more information on how NFPs can engage in the political process, please review this webinar and handout from Wiley Rein, LLP.  Both documents will give members of 501(c) 3 tax exempt organizations an overview of what they can and cannot do in regards to lobbying and political activity.  For issue briefs, talking points and more, visit AHCA’s advocacy page.

U.S. Congressional Calendars

As you are planning your visits with members of Congress and their staff in Washington, D.C., or in your district, the Congressional calendars will be of assistance to you. The U.S. House of Representatives calendar for the 114^th Congress, first session, can be found here. The U.S. Senate schedule for the new Congress can be found here. The dates in black reference the times the U.S. Senate is in session.  The red dates represent when the U.S. Senate is in recess.  

AHCA/NCAL Advocacy App

If you haven’t already heard about it, then we wanted to alert you to a great app that allows you to keep abreast of AHCA advocacy efforts.  Among other things, it provides important talking points, issue briefs and features that allow you to take action.  It will be useful not only to you, but serves as a great way for providers to weigh in.  You can get the app by clicking on the appropriate black box below.

 

Download our advocacy app!

   

AHCA’s State of the States Clearinghouse

AHCA members now have access to key Medicaid and Medicare information through the new State of the States Clearinghouse.  The AHCA State of the States Clearinghouse is a one stop shop for key Medicaid and Medicare information impacting the long term care profession.   

This new resource provides valuable data, including:

• Overview of the demographic landscape;
• State-specific nursing center occupancy and ownership breakouts; 
• Certificate of Need requirements for nursing centers and state licensure requirements; 
• State data on the cost of care for long term services and supports;  
• State data on the total number of Medicare enrollees; 
• Data on state Medicare Advantage plan enrollees and comparisons to the national average; 
• State and national Medicaid expenditure data;
• State Medicaid rates, costs and shortfalls;
• And other significant state-specific data related to payment structure, managed long term services and home and community based services coverage.

AHCA will continue to provide the most up-to-date information through the Clearinghouse and share new data/resources as they become available.  Also be sure to visit the AHCA Medicaid Page to learn more about the program and to access additional AHCA members-only Medicaid resources.

We’ve Got You Covered! New AHCA/NCAL Insurance Solutions Website

The American Health Care Association (AHCA) and National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) now offers a variety of comprehensive insurance programs to meet your business needs. Backed by the strength of our membership, AHCA/NCAL Insurance Solutions programs are designed with exclusive member savings and discounts for both the fully-insured or self-insured members.

The program offers health insurance options, group and voluntary benefit packages, an aggressive Stop-Loss insurance program as well as cloud based HR platforms that will help members achieve savings and greater efficiencies on HR services within your company, while also tracking and reporting on key Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirements.  For more information, please visit the new AHCA/NCAL Insurance Solutions website. 

 

Articles and Resources of Interest

• Observation Stays Issue Under the Microscope – ahcancal.org
• Association Applauds Senate for Introducing NOTICE Act – ahcancal.org
• National Center for Assisted Living Names Scott Tittle as New Executive Director – ahcancal.org
• Some States Pay Doctors More to Treat Medicaid Patients – disabilityscoop.com

Legislative and Agency Corner

• Obama administration seeks public comment on proposed rules to implement the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act – dol.gov
• Funding Opportunity Announcement for the Community Interoperability and Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program – healthit.gov
• Long-Term Services and Supports Policy Brief – whitehouseconferenceonaging.gov
• Top 10 Tips to Know if You Get a Letter from the IRS – irs.gov
• Understanding Memory Loss: What To Do When You Have Trouble Remembering – nia.nih.gov
• Exercise and Physical Activity: Alzheimer's Caregiving Tips – nia.nih.gov

Webinars of Interest

Stay informed and tune in to AHCA/NCAL-hosted pre-recorded and live webinars on a number of topics impacting the long term care profession. 

Is Customer Service Really Just Common Sense?

According to Dr. Bryan K. Williams, “At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what you know, it’s what you do that counts.  I can have all the common sense in the world, but if I don’t use it, then it’s meaningless.  Both line employees and leaders must understand their roles in turning common sense into common action.”  Dr. Williams goes on to note at the end of the blog that, “In my mind, the only thing ‘common’ about customer service is that everyone appreciates being valued.  Help. Serve. Assist. Escort. Greet. Follow-Up. Exceed. Recognize. Honor.  Hardwire these words into your subconscious so that service excellence is not just common sense, but is commonly done.”  The full blog version of the “Is Customer Service Really Just Common Sense?” article can be found here. 

Dr. Williams is a consultant, trainer, and author, who focuses on the areas of service excellence and organizational effectiveness.  He has spoken at numerous AHCA/NCAL events, and his passion is to serve others so they may better serve the world.  Here is a link where you can see some of Dr. Williams’ book recommendations on service, leadership and personal development.

National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities

The National Association of Sates United for Aging and Disabilities (NASUAD) holds monthly calls concerning topics of interest to those who work in the field of aging and disability the first Thursday of every month at 3pm EST.  One of the past calls focused on resources for people with Alzheimer’s and related dementias and their caregivers.  Information about future calls, and audio recording of previous ones, can be found here.

Upcoming 2015 Events

• AHCA/NCAL’s 2015 Congressional Briefing – June 15-16, 2015
• AHCA/NCAL’s Annual Convention & Expo in San Antonio, TX – October 4 - 7, 2015
• AHCA/NCAL’s NFP Day at Convention – October 6, 2015

2015 Health Care Observances

The 2015 AHCA/NCAL Health Care Observances Calendar can be found here.  June marks, among other observances, Cataract Awareness Month and National Safety Month.