E-News Update Articles

In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, House Speaker Ronald Mariano (D-Quincy) and State Representative Tackey Chan (D-Quincy) visited South Cove Manor at Quincy Point. Li Chen, Administrator, Bill Graves, CEO and Helen Chin Schlichte, Past Chair of South Cove Manor at Quincy Point (photographed) discussed the incredible dedication of their nursing facility staff and caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic and their efforts to provide vaccines to their residents and dedicated staff.

Mass Senior Care Association continues to work with our member long term care facilities to increase COVID-19 vaccination rates among residents and staff. Achieving a high rate of resident and staff vaccinations is critical to our fight against COVID-19 and ensuring the safety of our residents and the entire caregiving team. In addition, vaccination rates will be key drivers in rebuilding census and increasing consumer confidence in long term care services.

The final two education webinars of the spring are quickly approaching, register now! Please click on the links below to register or email lnguyen@maseniorcare.org if you have any questions.

Members are updated on the MassHealth follow up PPA guidance for COVID period and House bill to address (1) DUA solvency assessments and (2) COVID-19 emergency paid sick leave program.

The Baker administration released plans to lift COVID restrictions on May 29 and end the state of emergency on June 15, 2021. In line with updated CDC face covering guidance, the Administration will rescind the current face covering order and issue a new face covering advisory effective May 29. The next weekly DPH call with providers is scheduled for Wednesday, May 19 at 11:00 a.m

Memorandum To: Mass Senior Care Members From: Tara M. Gregorio, President Re: COVID-19 Update: Clarification on DPH Comprehensive PPE Guidance Date: May 17, 2021 Clarification on DPH Comprehensive PPE Guidance After hearing from members, Mass Senior Care reached out to DPH for clarification on the most recent Updated Comprehensive Personal Protective Equipment released on May 13, 2021. Per DPH, this guidance is for ALL healthcare facilities, not just long-term care facilities. Long-term care facilities are encouraged to follow long-term care

Mass Senior Care celebrates our nursing home residents and their dedicated caregivers during National Skilled Nursing Care Week. This year's theme is Together Through the Seasons to honor the collaborative commitment of skilled nursing facilities and their staff in providing compassionate care to their residents during these unprecedented times. “During National Skilled Nursing Care Week, we thank our incredible community of long term care heroes who have shown strength and resilience over this past year in protecting our vulnerable residents against one of the deadliest diseases in recent history,” said Tara M. Gregorio, President of Mass Senior Care Association.

Mass Senior Care is offering several webinars on important COVID-19 related topics, including life safety code, employment leaves and rebuilding census. Please click on the links below to register or email lnguyen@maseniorcare.org if you have any questions. Are You Ready for Your Annual Survey? Tuesday, May 18, 2021 1:00pm – 2:30 pm Presented by HealthPRO Heritage Mass Senior Care's 2021 Quality Leader Sponsor Webinar Description: For some nursing facilities it has been close to two years since their last annual

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering web-based training that provides an overview of the general and key clinical considerations important for conducting standardized cognitive and mood assessments. This four-course series is designed for providers in the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) setting.

The Senate Ways and Means (SWM) Committee on Tuesday released its FY 2022 budget recommendation and Mass Senior Care is pleased to report that the Committee has recommended appropriating additional funding to set Medicaid nursing facility rates using calendar year 2019 costs and to provide an additional rate add of up to 5% for facilities with a disproportionate share of Medicaid residents totaling over 75%. Moving the base year forward to calendar year 2019 will better recognize current costs of care delivery. These two proposals build on the current Medicaid rate modernization initiative which created an integrated base rate that begins to better recognize current resident care costs more accurately.

Hamel-Lydon Chapel & Cremation Service of Massachusetts (Hamel-Lydon), a Mass Senior Care Association Associate Member, is offering ten (10) $500 awards to candidates who are home health aides, hospice care aides or certified nursing assistants. Qualifying candidates are invited to apply for the award.

Today the DPH is rescinding the memorandum entitled "Long-Term Care Facility Staff and Resident Roster Reporting to the Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA)" effective today, May 13, 2021, also the DPH revised the Comprehensive Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Guidance. The revisions reflect a greater availability of PPE and the return to conventional uses of PPE, including N95 respirators, in alignment with CDC guidance.

Mass Senior Care Association continues to work with our member long term care facilities to increase COVID-19 vaccination rates among residents and staff. Achieving a high rate of resident and staff vaccinations is critical to our fight against COVID-19 and ensuring the safety of our residents and the entire caregiving team. There are several strategies that have proven successful in increasing vaccination rates and addressing hesitancy in long term care facilities.

This memorandum discusses the Interim Final Rule on COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements for LTCF and ICFs-IID, all BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag cards currently have a twelve-month expiry date and the weekly DPH call.

Based on the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic, increased availability of vaccines, and feedback from long-term care (LTC) facilities and National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) users, the CDC is updating and simplifying the NHSN modules on weekly reporting of COVID-19 vaccination data for LTC facility residents and health care personnel. NHSN will host one live training webinar and four re-broadcasts of the webinar.

Post-training materials are now available for the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP): Achieving a Full Annual Payment Update (APU) webinar that was presented on Tuesday, March 30, 2021.

The Massachusetts Advisory Council is charged with advising the Executive Office of Health and Human Services and the Massachusetts state legislature on policies around Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. The Council is currently chaired by the Secretary of the Executive Office of Elder Affairs and is composed of a diverse panel of caregivers, clinicians, dementia advocates, health care providers, legislators, public health professionals, and researchers. The Advisory Council identified and discussed issues faced by Massachusetts residents living with dementia and their caregivers, as well as listened to the voices of individuals impacted by dementia and shared their own expertise, knowledge, and ideas.

May 6th marks the beginning of National Nurses Week and we are honored to celebrate the compassionate, dedicated nurses who care for our most vulnerable residents. Thank you for giving your heart and soul to the long term care profession!

Mass Senior Care is offering several webinars on important COVID-19 related topics, including life safety code, employment leaves and rebuilding census. Please click on the links below to register or email lnguyen@maseniorcare.org if you have any questions.

Mass Senior Care is pleased to welcome new members to our Association. Our Associate Members have demonstrated their commitment to the senior care provider community by joining Mass Senior Care and participating as exhibitors and sponsors for events and educational conferences.

The Executive Office of Health and Human Services has issued the proposed 2021 Temporary Nursing Services (TNS) regulation, which establishes the maximum price a TNS agency can charge nursing homes and hospitals for RN, LPN and CNA services.

Based on the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic, increased availability of vaccines, and feedback from long-term care (LTC) facilities and National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) users, the CDC is updating and simplifying the NHSN modules on weekly reporting of COVID-19 vaccination data for LTC facility residents and health care personnel.

Meet Dianne Ferraro who is one of the 45,000 dedicated caregivers working on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic to protect and care for the Commonwealth’s nursing home residents. Dianne is a Nurse Unit Manager at Alliance Health at Rosewood in Peabody.

At today’s virtual Spring Conference, Mass Senior Care President Tara Gregorio and Board Chair Tom Lavallee shared the Association’s successes and challenges as we begin to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. “For the past 14 months, our members have courageously battled to protect their residents against this insidious virus with great skill, compassion and fortitude,” said Gregorio. “Thanks to your extraordinary work, encouraging data show significant declines in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths among Massachusetts nursing home residents and staff and this is something we can all be proud of.” As the long term care provider community moves forward with its rebuilding and recovery plans, Gregorio noted that addressing the extreme workforce challenges facing members is one of the Association’s top priorities and outlined strategies currently being implemented to help members attract and retain qualified workers.

Massachusetts Senior Care Association is excited to participate in the upcoming observance of National Skilled Nursing Care Week (NSNCW), which will be held May 9-15, 2021.

Vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers continues to loom as a concern for the general public and a recent Boston Globe editorial, It’s time for employers to impose vaccine mandates, underscores the need for long term care providers to redouble their efforts to educate staff about the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Members are notified that DPH has updated the guidance on Long-Term Care Surveillance Testing, MassHealth has scheduled a webinar on Monday, May 10th, 2021, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST in regard to providing guidance to providers on how to make adjustments to the PPA for period of April 2020 through November 2020, as per MassHealth Bulletin 155 on HPPD staffing reporting, CHIA is required to send to individual nursing facilities a summary of the HPPD information submitted by the facility for the previous quarter, and in coordination with partner organizations including Mass Senior Care, the MHA Post-Acute Transitions of Care & Emergency Preparedness (PATCEP) Workgroup has developed guidance and recommendations to hospitals regarding COVID-19 testing prior to discharging patients to post-acute care settings.

It is Mass Senior Care’s understanding that state regulators are receiving an increased number of complaints from families who are expressing concerns about visitation policies. Mass Senior Care would like to remind members of the need to continue to comply with the DPH Visitation Guidance.

MassHealth has scheduled a webinar on Monday, May 10, 2021, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST in regard to providing guidance to providers on how to make adjustments to the PPA for period of April 2020 through November 2020.

Please join us for Mass Senior Care Association’s 2021 virtual Spring Conference on Thursday, May 6, 2021. As we begin to slowly emerge from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is critical that we begin to take steps to move forward. Our dynamic conference speakers, Steven Littlehale, MS, CGNS-BC, Chief Innovation Officer at Zimmet Healthcare Service Group and Martha Hayward, founding member of the Conversation Project and Lead Faculty for Patient Centered Care with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) will offer their respective perspectives on how the CMS Five Star System and our approaches to End of Life Conversations have been impacted by COVID-19 and will offer strategies we can implement to help our staff and our organizations adjust to the new operating environment.

MassHealth requires that nursing facilities and chronic disease and rehabilitation inpatient hospitals account for the balances of personal needs allowance (PNA) account funds. MassHealth has issued its annual LTC Bulletin for the accounting of balances of personal needs allowances (PNA) for residents in LTC facilities.

In accordance with MassHealth Nursing Facility Bulletin 163, CHIA will be deploying an updated CHIA Submissions portal used to submit staffing hours data on Monday, May 3rd. Also, county positivity rates released by DPH on April 28, 2021 indicates Barnstable County has remained 5% at 6.61%.

Join Mass Senior Care in advocating for quality nursing facility care in the state FY2022 budget. The budget is now being considered by the Massachusetts Senate. Please ask your State Senator to make nursing facility funding a priority in the state budget!

Meet Dianne Ferraro who is one of the 45,000 dedicated caregivers working on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic to protect and care for the Commonwealth’s nursing home residents. Dianne is a Nurse Unit Manager at Alliance Health at Rosewood in Peabody.

Massachusetts Senior Care Association is excited to participate in the upcoming observance of National Skilled Nursing Care Week (NSNCW), which will be held May 9-15, 2021. This year's theme, "Together Through the Seasons," will honor the collaborative commitment of skilled nursing care facilities and their staff in providing compassionate care to their residents during this unprecedented time.

Mass Senior Care is offering several webinars on important COVID-19 related topics, including life safety code, employment leaves and rebuilding census. Please click on the links below to register or email lnguyen@maseniorcare.org if you have any questions.

DPH lifts Determination of Need (DoN) moratorium on LTC Beds for projects that meet certain criteria and the recently revised DPH Standards for Long-Term Care Facilities (105 CMR 150) requires nursing homes to convert resident bedrooms with three and four beds per room to two bedded bedrooms by April 30, 2022.

Members are notified MassHealth issued nursing facilities notice on Patient Paid Adjustments (PPA), EOHHS issued a Request for Information (RFI) to solicit feedback from a broad spectrum of interested parties and individuals regarding the use of enhanced home and community-based services (HCBS) funding available to states through Section 9817 of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and AHRQ would like to learn more about participating nursing homes’ experience in the National Nursing Home COVID-19 Safety Program led by Mass Senior Care and Hebrew SeniorLife’s Long-Term Care Command Center (MSCA/HSL) through Project ECHO.

A memo that the CDC has issued a study showing vaccination of nursing facility residents and staff are essential to reduce the risk for symptomatic COVID-19, as is continued focus on infection prevention and control practices, and there is an ongoing effort to ensure full compliance with the state’s surveillance testing program, CHIA has asked Mass Senior Care to work with members to help clarify two questions on the reporting survey.

Information is presented on the public health emergency extention and the most recent county positivity rates released by DPH on April 21, 2021.

Please join us for Mass Senior Care Association’s 2021 virtual Spring Conference on Thursday, May 6, 2021. As we begin to slowly emerge from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is critical that we begin to take steps to move forward. Our dynamic conference speakers, Steven Littlehale, MS, CGNS-BC, Chief Innovation Officer at Zimmet Healthcare Service Group and Martha Hayward, founding member of the Conversation Project and Lead Faculty for Patient Centered Care with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) will offer their respective perspectives on how the CMS Five Star System and our approaches to End of Life Conversations have been impacted by COVID-19 and will offer strategies we can implement to help our staff and our organizations adjust to the new operating environment.

On Friday, April 16, 2021, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Board of Registration of Nursing Home Administrators voted unanimously to reduce the required CEUS from 40 to 20 for the period of July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2022.

Last week, the House Ways and Means Committee released its FY 2022 budget recommendation. Nursing Home SUD Amendment #604, filed by State Representative James O’Day (D-West Boylston) would establish a Medicaid rate add-on for nursing facilities who provide specialized care for residents with substance use disorder.

Please join us for Mass Senior Care Association’s 2021 virtual Spring Conference on Thursday, May 6, 2021. As we begin to slowly emerge from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is critical that we begin to take steps to move forward. Our dynamic conference speakers, Steven Littlehale, MS, CGNS-BC, Chief Innovation Officer at Zimmet Healthcare Service Group and Martha Hayward, founding member of the Conversation Project and Lead Faculty for Patient Centered Care with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) will offer their respective perspectives on how the CMS Five Star System and our approaches to End of Life Conversations have been impacted by COVID-19 and will offer strategies we can implement to help our staff and our organizations adjust to the new operating environment.

The demand for professionals with expertise in long term care is growing rapidly. The U.S. will need between 5.7 million and 6.5 million nurses, nurse aides, home health, and personal care workers to care for the 27 million Americans who will require long term care by 2050.​ Careers in Aging Week is dedicated to bringing greater awareness and visibility to the wide-ranging career opportunities in long term care and aging services, and to celebrate current employees in the profession.

Join Mass Senior Care in advocating for quality nursing facility care in the state FY2022 budget. The budget is now being considered by the Massachusetts Senate. Please ask your State Senator to make nursing facility funding a priority in the state budget! Send an email in less than two minutes in our Action Alert Center: https://p2a.co/8v1ouoy

Mass Senior Care is offering several webinars on important COVID-19 related topics, including life safety code, employment leaves and rebuilding census. Please click on the links below to register or email lnguyen@maseniorcare.org if you have any questions.

Members are informed Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act suspended the sequestration payment adjustment percentage of 2% applied to all Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) claims from May 1 through December 31, 2020, DPH provided LTCF the Vaccination Options for Residents and Staff & Visitation FAQs to share with residents’ families regarding how the COVID-19 vaccination impacts families’ visitation with loved ones and interactions with staff, CEU requirements for nursing home administrators and the DPH weekly call.

This week, the DPH released updated guidance on Vaccination Options for Long Term Care Residents and Staff following the Federal Pharmacy Partnership Program. The updated guidance now permits long-term care staff to receive a first or second dose of COVID-19 vaccine at the long-term care facility.

Memo discusses DPH updated weekly report to remove any long term care deaths attributed to residents who had recovered from COVID, in alignment with the CDC’s NHSN requirements for long term care facilities; the most recent County Positivity Rates released by DPH on April 14, 2021 indicates Barnstable County remains above 5% at 5.14% and Dukes and Nantucket Counties above 5% at 8.31%; CMS and the CDC will hold a National Nursing Home Stakeholder Call on Wednesday April 21, 2021; Governor Baker Delays First-Quarter 2021 Unemployment Insurance Payments.