Emergency Preparedness CMS Final Rule Summaries Available and Upcoming Webinar

The California Association of Health Facilities and the American Health Care Association have put together a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) and Intermediate Care Facility for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (ICF/IID) Emergency Preparedness CMS Final Rule summaries that can be found here.  The rule was released on Friday, September 16, 2016, and can be found here.  Providers will need to be in compliance by November 2017.  Members impacted by the rule include SNFs, Nursing Facilities and ICF/IIDs.  This final rule is not applicable to Assisted Living Providers.

In addition, on Thursday, February 9^th, from 1 – 2PM EST, AHCA, with guest speaker Jocelyn Montgomery, RN, and Director of Clinical Affairs at the California Association Health Facilities, will hold a webinar on the emergency preparedness final rule.  The webinar will include, among other things, an overview of the key new requirements, a list of tools to assess if you are prepared for the rule, steps to take now to prepare, and time for your pressing questions to be answered.  You may register for the webinar here.  This will be the first in a 4-part webinar series AHCA will hold this year on the rule. 

CMS Issues New FAQs Regarding Medicaid Beneficiaries in Home and Community-Based Settings who Exhibit Unsafe Wandering or Exist-Seeking Behavior

Last month, CMS issued new guidance with information on how to adhere to the individualized nature of home and community-based services (HCBS) for individuals with dementia or other conditions in which unsafe wandering or exit-seeking behavior is exhibited.  CMS emphasized that person-centered planning, staff training and care delivery are core components of provider operations to meet HCBS requirements for these individuals.  In particular, CMS noted that controlled egress can comply with the HCBS settings rule in certain circumstances; the setting should assess the individual and document his or her choice and need for safety measures in his or her person-centered care plan.  Similarly, while individual rooms in HCBS settings should generally have a lockable door, doors that are not lockable can be used when they are part of the resident’s person-centered plan and after less intrusive methods have been tried and did not work, as provided in the rule.

AHCA/NCAL Independent Owners Conference and Quality Summit Right Around the Corner!

The 2017 AHCA/NCAL Independent Owners Conference will be held March 8 – 10 at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.  Join your senior level colleagues to meet and discuss the latest issues that matter to you.  This year’s conference focuses on Surviving and Thriving as an Independent Owner.  You’ll learn innovative strategies and ideas to help you with the challenges of managing staff and patients, and explore different approaches for dealing with new laws and regulation. Discover the best practices in change management and get inspired to raise the quality of care you provide.

 The AHCA/NCAL Quality Summit will be held before at the same hotel March 6-8.  The early registration deadline is February 3, 2017.  Register early and save money off of the standard member rate.  Discount tickets to the Walt Disney World resorts are also available.  Be sure to register today for these important events!  

Mark Your Calendars – AHCA’s 2017 ID/DD Hill Fly-In Event will be held in March

AHCA’s Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (ID/DD) Residential Services Providers annual Hill Fly-In event will occur on Wednesday, March 22, 2017, at the AHCA offices in DC. This important event is free to attend.  Breakfast and a boxed lunch will be provided to registrants. Congressional speakers are being invited, a legislative update will be provided, and Hill visits will follow in the afternoon.  AHCA will provide one-pagers and talking points for registrants to take to the Hill.

If you would like to attend, please contact AHCA’s Senior Director of Not for Profit & Constituent Services, Dana Halvorson.  If you have any questions whatsoever, please don’t hesitate to let Dana know.  AHCA hopes to see you at this important event!

NFP Grassroots Advocacy – Facility Visits over Recess

Gary Kelso, AHCA’s NFP Council Chair, encourages AHCA’s NFP providers to participate in our grassroots advocacy efforts in 2017.  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. 

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 115^th Congress, first session, can be found here.  The tentative U.S. Senate schedule for 2017 can be found here.

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 have access to key Medicaid and Medicare information through the 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 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! 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 contact AHCA’s Dave Kyllo at dkyllo@AHCA.org and visit the AHCA/NCAL Insurance Solutions website.  

Articles and Resources of Interest

• NQF Endorses the Only Standardized Measures in the Nation to Assess Long Term and Post-Acute Care Satisfaction – ahcancal.org
• Test Predicting Alzheimer's Would Be Welcome, Survey Finds – healthfinder.gov
• Does Living Near Major Roads Boost Dementia Risk? – healthfinder.gov
• U.S. Cancer Death Rates Continue to Fall: Report – healthfinder.gov
• Making New Year's Resolutions That Last – healthfinder.gov
• Is It a Cold or the Flu? Here's How to Tell – healthfinder.gov
• Debbie Reynold's Death Puts Spotlight on 'Broken Heart Syndrome' – healthfinder.gov
• Flu Shots Are Worth It – healthfinder.gov
• Diabetes Takes Biggest Bite Out of U.S. Health Care Spending – healthfinder.gov
• Make a Healthy Lifestyle Your New Year's Resolution – healthfinder.gov
• Sleep May Help People Process Traumatic Events – healthfinder.gov
• Medicaid Pocket Primer – kff.org
• Survival Story – dailyprogress.com

Legislative and Agency Corner

• Flu Symptoms – cdc.gov
• Flu Activity on the Rise; CDC recommends vaccination and appropriate use of antivirals – cdc.gov
• Countdown to Quitting – cdc.gov
• Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report – cdc.gov
• New Flu Activity Forecasts Available for 2016-17 Season – cdc.gov
• Changes in Communications Skills: Alzheimer's Caregiving Tips – nia.nih.gov
• Home Safety: Alzheimer's Caregiving Tips – nia.nih.gov
• Exercise and Physical Activity: Alzheimer's Caregiving Tips – nia.nih.gov
• Helping Kids Understand Alzheimer's Disease: Alzheimer's Caregiving Tips – nia.nih.gov
• Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center – dvbic.dcoe.mil 
• Federal regulations keep nursing homes from contracting with VA to provide long-term care – stripes.com

AHCA/NCAL Learning Management Website

AHCA/NCAL has a comprehensive online Learning Management System to support the training needs of its members. The website, known as ahcancalED, contains a wealth of information including educational programs, webinars, instructional videos, training courses, and other tools. It is available free to AHCA/NCAL members.

"We created ahcancalED for our members who do not have the time or budget to develop the newest in-service training," said Dr. David Gifford, AHCA/NCAL Senior Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Affairs. "Our objective also was to provide the best and latest educational tools, especially as CMS increases its regulatory requirements about staff training and competency in a number of areas. ahcancalED is designed to help individuals in our profession do a better job of caring for patients and residents and advance in their careers."

The information on ahcancalED is structured to make the online learning experience engaging, meaningful, and interactive for users. The fresh graphics and clearly defined sections within the site make it easy for users to navigate and find the information they need. The site also allows users to track their own learning progress.

Teams of experts from around the country working with AHCA/NCAL staff helped to create the content. "We will constantly be adding new programs and materials so that we can keep the site fresh and dynamic," said Gifford. "We'll continue to look for new ways the site can grow and serve our members. It's a great value-added benefit and a tangible example of our commitment to enhancing quality."

ahcancalED can be accessed at https://educate.ahcancal.org/. Suggestions for content or other site enhancements can be submitted to the ahcancalED team at educate@ahca.org. AHCA/NCAL welcomes ideas that will help improve quality and strengthen the knowledge, skills and attitudes of staff in the long term and post-acute care community.

From the Blog of Josh Linkner

Noted on the Josh Linkner blog, “To Josh Linkner, creativity and innovation are the lifeblood of all human progress. As such, he’s spent his career harnessing the power of creative disruption.  His journey has been non-traditional at every step. As the founder and CEO of four tech companies, Josh built his businesses from a blank page into a combined value of over $200 million. As a hyper-growth CEO of over 20 years, he’s used innovative approaches to topple competitors, fight through adversity, and achieve at the highest levels.”  The bio section of Linkner’s blog goes on to include that, “Josh is an internationally-recognized thought leader and top-rated keynote speaker on innovation, creativity, reinvention, and hyper-growth leadership. His keynotes are focused on not only inspiring audiences, but also sharing actionable strategies to drive meaningful outcomes.”  Read some of Linkner’s blogs below.  In addition, you can view some of his keynote speaking addresses here.

• The Red Zone
• The Wonkavator
• Innovation out of Thin Air
• A Cunningly Creative Cannonball
• How a 5-Minute Ritual Can Fuel Your Success

Two Kings

Dr. Bryan K. Williams notes on his blog that, “True hospitality.  True service excellence demands that each person we are privileged to serve is worthy of the best service we have to offer.  The assumption is that everyone we serve is a VIP.  Specifically, we are not trying to treat VIPs like everyone else.  Instead we are treating everyone like they are VIPs.  This assertion is a paradigm shift that may make some people uncomfortable, because it assumes that everyone is worthy of being served with excellence.”  The full blog version of the “Two Kings” 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 States United for Aging and Disabilities (NASUAD) holds a monthly call or webinar concerning topics of interest to those who work in the field of aging and disability.  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 2017 Events

• AHCA/NCAL 2017 Quality Summit – March 6 – 8, 2017
• AHCA/NCAL 2017 Independent Owner Leadership Conference – March 8 – 10, 2017
• AHCA ID/DD Committee In-Person Meeting and Hill Fly-In Event – March 21 and 22, 2017 

2017 Health Care Observances

February 2017 marks, among other observances, American Heart Month, National Cancer Prevention Month, and AMD/Low Vision Awareness Month.  The full 2017 health care related observances calendar can be found here.