E-News Update Articles

The House of Representatives is currently working on its FY 2020 state budget and your local state representative has an opportunity to make budget decisions that will prioritize nursing home care. Please urge your State Representative to Answer the Call to Care by making nursing home funding top priority in their request to the Committee on House Ways and Means. The Committee’s budget recommendation is expected to be released on April 10th. Your advocacy will be critical to help reinforce

Legislators from across the state visited Mass Senior Care facility members on the need to invest in quality resident care and staff for the FY 2020 budget. Mass Senior Care continues to encourage members to host legislative events which will allow elected officials to see firsthand the valuable services your facility provides. The Answering The Call To Care Campaign Toolkit provides a step-by-step guide on how your facility can host a successful event. State Representative William Crocker visited The Pavilion

Honoring Choices Massachusetts is a consumer oriented non-profit organization focused on the rights of every adult to direct their health care choices and make a plan to receive the best possible care that honors their values & choices, all through their lives. In celebration of National Healthcare Decisions Day (April 16, 2019), visit the Honoring Choices website for tools and resources.

The new Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Provider Threshold Report (PTR) is now available. This PTR is a user-requested, on demand report which enables users to obtain the status of their data submission completeness related to the compliance threshold required for the SNF Quality Reporting Program (QRP). This report is available in the ‘SNF Quality Reporting Program’ category in the CASPER Reporting application. Please refer to Section 13-SNF Quality Reporting Program in the CASPER Reporting MDS Provider User’s Guide for additional

On March 1, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued S&C Ref: QSO-19-07-NH memorandum, " Enhanced Oversight and Enforcement of Non-Improving Late Adopters." This memo details additional enforcement measures for approximately 235 nursing centers that have been cited for noncompliance with federal regulations related to the use of unnecessary or psychotropic medications two or more times and have not shown improvement in their long-stay antipsychotic medication rates. CMS refers to these providers as "late adopters." The memo

The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), in collaboration with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), just launched a new Nursing Home Infection Preventionist Training course. This specialized nursing home training is designed for individuals responsible for infection prevention and control (IPC) programs in nursing homes. The course introduces and describes how to use IPC program implementation resources including policy and procedure templates, audit tools, and outbreak investigation tools. The course is made up of 23 modules

On March 5, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released S&C: QSO-19-09-ALL memorandum entitled " Revisions to Appendix Q, Guidance on Immediate Jeopardy”, which includes revisions to the guidance on citing immediate jeopardy (IJ) in Appendix Q of the State Operations Manual (SOM). These revisions to Appendix Q apply to all provider and supplier types and go into effect immediately. CMS intends for this guidance to increase clarity and consistency in identifying and citing IJ. The revised

The US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG) has released its updated list which reflects all OIG exclusions and reinstatement actions up to, and including, those taken in February 2019. This new file is meant to replace the updated List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE) database file available for download last month. Individuals and entities that have been reinstated to the federal health care programs are not included in this file. The updated files are posted

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Forsyth Institute and the New England Healthcentric Advisors QIN/QIO is proud to promote best practice antimicrobial guidelines for providers in the settings of long term acute care, dialysis, ambulatory surgical centers, outpatient clinics and dentistry. Continuing education credits are available for physicians, pharmacists, nurses, nurse practitioners and dentists. This program will be held on April 5, 2019 at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference

Mass Senior Care facility and associate members continue to urge lawmakers protect quality resident care by updating funding using 2017 labor and resident care costs.

MassHealth has provided the registration link for the upcoming MMQ Audit Quality Forums in March. For any issues with registration or if you are experiencing any technical difficulties with the registration process please contact support@masshealthltss.com or call (844) 368-5184. Please see below for the information provided previously on these Forums. MassHeallth, through its contractor Optum, has scheduled upcoming Quality Forums (trainings) on MMQ audits. The forums are scheduled for March 27th, 28th and 29th, and are designed to help educate

On March 5, 2019 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released S&C QSO-19-08-NH April 2019 Improvements to Nursing Home Compare and the Five Star Rating System . In April 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will end the freeze on the health inspection domain of the Five Star Quality Rating System and resume the traditional method of calculating health inspection scores by using three cycles of inspections. Inspections occurring on or after November 28, 2017

Mass Senior Care invites staff at member facilities to participate in various committees designed to share information on the topics of clinical quality, regulatory, human resources and finance and reimbursement. This information and feedback will assist MSCA staff with developing policy positions and prioritizing strategic initiatives. Committee meetings are held in Mass Senior Care’s office in Waltham. Facility members are invited to participate. If you are interested in attending one of the upcoming committee meetings, please contact Jennifer Chen. Upcoming

This week, CommonWealth Magazine published a podcast and article “Nursing home industry sounds alarm” highlighting the financial and workforce crisis impacting Massachusetts nursing homes.

CMS will host a call on Wednesday, March 20 from 1:30 to 3:00 pm on SNF Value-Based Purchasing Program: Phase One Review and Corrections. During this call, participants learn about the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program Review and Corrections process and get answers to frequently asked questions about Phase One of the process. During the Review and Corrections period, SNFs have an opportunity to review and submit correction requests to quality measure information. Deadline for correction submission

Phase III Requirements of Participation (ROP) take effect November 28, 2019 and mandate that every nursing facility have a designated and specially trained Infection Preventionist who is running a comprehensive infection prevention and control program. AHCA’s Infection Preventionist Specialized Training (IPCO) program is specifically designed to prepare individuals to effectively implement and manage an Infection Prevention & Control program in nursing facilities. AHCA’s course is an online, self-study program with 23 hours of training that meets the educational requirements outlined

Legislators from across the state heard from Mass Senior Care members on the need to invest in quality resident care and staff for the FY 2020 budget.

The MassMAP Annual Education Sessions will be held at various venues in Massachusetts in May. The focus for these workshops is to bring each region together in their respective areas to improve each facility’s overall capability to prepare for, respond to and recover from a disaster. This year’s education sessions will be full-day and include a table top exercise. Please click here for details and to sign up today. This program is for MassMAP members only and all members must

The Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA), Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association, and Collaborative Healthcare Strategies have partnered to offer a webinar about CHIA's Hospital-Specific Readmissions Profiles . The profile series provides key insights into all-payer all-cause unplanned readmissions for each of the 58 acute care hospitals in Massachusetts through the most recent state fiscal year for which data is available (SFY17). All-payer all-cause readmission analyses may be of interest to hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, accountable care organizations, community

Join your colleagues from across the state at our 2019 Spring Conference & Trade Show on Wednesday, April 10th at the Boxboro Regency Hotel & Conference Center in Boxborough. This year's theme, “PDPM: the Journey Continues”, features experts in the clinical, legal and compliance aspects of the Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) who will share their knowledge and provide best practices to prepare you for a successful implementation of PDPM in your facility this October. Program speakers include Jennifer Gross

Mass Senior Care invites staff at member facilities to participate in various committees designed to share information on the topics of clinical quality, regulatory, human resources and finance and reimbursement. This information and feedback will assist MSCA staff with developing policy positions and prioritizing strategic initiatives. Committee meetings are held in Mass Senior Care’s office in Waltham. Facility members are invited to participate. If you are interested in attending one of the upcoming committee meetings, please contact Jennifer Chen. Upcoming

THE MASSACHUSETTS NURSING HOME INDUSTRY says inadequate state funding caused 20 facilities to close last year and is putting another 39 at risk of going out of business this year. Tara Gregorio, the president of the Massachusetts Senior Care Association, and Naomi Prendergast, president and CEO of D’Youville Life and Wellness Community in Lowell, sounded the alarm on the Codcast, saying rates provided by MassHealth are way too low because they are based on cost benchmarks from 2007. There are

On February 22nd, Mass Senior Care Board Member Bill Graves, President/CEO of South Cove Manor at Quincy Point invited local elected officials including State Representative Tackey Chan and State Representative Daniel Hunt to visit the facility to discuss the importance of funding quality nursing home care. Mass Senior Care encourages members to host a legislative event in their own community which will allow elected officials to see firsthand the valuable services you provide to residents. The Answering The Call To

On February 20, 2019, The Department of Public Health Complaint Unit presented a webinar for Mass Senior Care members on “Best Practices when Reporting through the Health Care Facility Reporting System”. This webinar provided guidance to member facilities on information that should be included on an initial and follow up incident report submitted through the HCFRS. To access the recording and hand-outs from this presentation, click here .

On October 1, 2019, the new Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) is replacing Resource Utilization Group, Version IV for the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Prospective Payment System (PPS). Based on stakeholder feedback, CMS has revised resources on the PDPM webpage to help you prepare for implementation, including: FAQs, Fact sheets , Presentation and a Classification walkthrough .

MassHeallth, through its contractor Optum, has scheduled upcoming Quality Forums (trainings) on MMQ audits. The forums are scheduled for March 27th, 28th and 29th, and are designed to help educate and inform nursing facility administrators and MMQ nurses regarding Management Minute Questionnaire (MMQ) and Audit processes. Key subjects to be discussed at each forum include: Preparing for your MMQ Audit and what to expect Quality Improvement MMQ Audits Results and Trends Corrective Action Plans and Reconsiderations See below for dates

Please make your voice heard by joining Mass Senior Care and thousands of other residents, their family members and staff by answering the call to care by visiting www.MACallToCare.org and sending your legislators an email asking them to support quality resident care and staff by closing the Medicaid funding gap.

On February 20, 2019, The Department of Public Health Complaint Unit presented a webinar for Mass Senior Care members on “Best Practices when Reporting through the Health Care Facility Reporting System”. This webinar provided guidance to member facilities on information that should be included on an initial and follow up incident report submitted through the HCFRS. You can find a copy of the slides here and to access the recording, please click here.

Mass Senior Care has issued a statement and anticipate that family members and staff may have questions related to the news report. Please find our statement and talking points which may be helpful in assisting you in these discussions.

Advocacy Bootcamp: Engage Your Community in Answering the Call to Care Wednesday, March 6, 2019 1:00 pm -3:00 pm Mass Senior Care Office, Waltham COMPLIMENTARY WORKSHOP Top Three Reasons You Should Attend: 1.Be a leader in advocating for your residents and staff 2.Expand your skills to effectively communicate with policymakers 3.Network with your peers and share successful advocacy strategies Workshop Description: Mass Senior Care recently launched the “Answering the Call to Care” campaign to protect quality resident care and fund

Nursing Homes and Rest Homes are required by regulation to report healthcare personnel (HCP) influenza data to the Department of Public Health by April 15, 2019. The Department of Public Health has provided guidance for facilities to fulfill the requirement. The Department of Public Health has also provided a Facility Health Care Personnel Flu Tracking Tool to assist facilities in documenting, monitoring, and tracking HCP influenza data throughout the flu season as well as Health Care Personnel Influenza Vaccination References

Phase III Requirements of Participation (ROP) take effect November 28, 2019 and mandate that every nursing facility have a designated and specially trained Infection Preventionist who is running a comprehensive infection prevention and control program. AHCA’s Infection Preventionist Specialized Training (IPCO) program is specifically designed to prepare individuals to effectively implement and manage an Infection Prevention & Control program in nursing facilities. AHCA’s course is an online, self-study program with 23 hours of training that meets the educational requirements outlined

Join your colleagues from across the state at our 2019 Spring Conference & Trade Show on Wednesday, April 10th at the Boxboro Regency Hotel & Conference Center in Boxborough. This year's theme, “PDPM: the Journey Continues”, features experts in the clinical, legal and compliance aspects of the Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) who will share their knowledge and provide best practices to prepare you for a successful implementation of PDPM in your facility this October. Program speakers include Jennifer Gross

The Gerontological Society of America is celebrating its Careers in Aging Week (CIAW) which will take place March 3-9. The goal of CIAW is to bring awareness to the numerous career opportunities in aging. Please click here to find ways you can celebrate Careers in Aging Week in your community.

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. Mass Senior Care members are encouraged to contact Associate Members when they are in need of long term care products and services. You can find all of our Associate Members listed on our website, www.maseniorcare.org/preferred-vendors . Facility Member: Franklin

At the recent February 7th Associate Member meeting, Tara Gregorio, Mass Senior Care’s President, provided an update on the financial and workforce challenges threatening the continued viability of the nursing facility sector. To address this unprecedented crisis, she urged the nursing facility community including staff, residents, family members and vendors to participate in the Answering the Call to Care campaign to educate elected officials and the public on the urgent need to invest in quality nursing home care. Mass Senior

National Partnership to Improve Dementia Care and Quality Assurance Performance Improvement (QAPI) will host a call on Tuesday, March 12th, 2019 from 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm on the Dementia Care & Psychotropic Medications Tracking Tool. During this call, gain insight on the Dementia Care & Psychotropic Medications Tracking Tool , a free, publicly available electronic tool that facilitates a structured approach to tracking preference-based care and psychotropic medication use among residents living with dementia. Also, learn about a recently

In December, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health hosted two town hall presentations for long term care stakeholders to learn more about the Supportive Planning and Operations Team (SPOT) Initiative. During each town hall, the SPOT team shared information about 2018 activities and presented the overall findings from all three years of the Initiative. Both presentations also featured SPOT nursing home partner teams who shared their experiences in identifying and implementing a significant quality improvement activity or performance improvement project

EOHHS will hold a webinar on Tuesday, March 5, 2019, from noon to 1pm, on Connecting to Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Services and Recovery. This webinar will explore the continuum of MassHealth substance use disorder (SUD) services in One Care, including newly added residential services, support navigators, and recovery coaches, available to improve health and increase rates of long-term recovery among individuals with SUD. Presenters from the MassHealth Office of Behavioral Health, Behavioral Health directors from the One Care plans

On February 11, 2019, the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) released the Request for Responses (RFR) for One Care Plans. EOHHS also released an updated timeline under which plans selected through this RFR for contract negotiations would accept enrollments effective for January 1, 2021 under Duals Demonstration 2.0 and the new One Care Contract. The RFR is published on COMMBUYS under COMMBUYS Bid Number BD-18-1039-EHS01-EHS02-20518. The procurement timeline is: released this week is as follows: 1. RFR

The Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) has notified facilities that the 2019 Direct Care Staff Payment Interim Compliance Webform is live on EOHHS's web portal. You may access the form here: https://www.uenter.org/nf/. This form is mandatory for all facilities receiving more than $30,000 in direct care payments in Fiscal Year 2019. Facilities who received $30,000 or less in funding are not required to submit the interim compliance form. The due date for filing the electronic form is

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently sent a memo to state survey agency directors regarding an update to Appendix Z of the State Operations Manual (SOM) to add emerging infectious diseases to the definition of all-hazards approach. In the memo, CMS also responds to questions about alternate source power and emergency standby systems under the Emergency Preparedness Rule. CMS has added guidance under Tag E0015- Alternate Source Power as well as clarifications under Tag E0042- Emergency Standby

Massachusetts Senior Care Association is pleased to offer Associate Members sponsorship opportunities and exhibitor booths for the upcoming 2019 Spring Conference & Trade Show on Wednesday, April 10th at the Boxboro Regency and Conference Center. Don't miss this opportunity – these sponsorships can promote your business, increase awareness of your products and services, and help you reach Mass Senior Care members. Please click here to view the opportunities.

Approximately 50% of Massachusetts long-term care facilities have had a recertification survey under the new RoPs and new survey process. As part of our commitment to assisting members with quality improvement, the Mass Senior Care Association/Mass Senior Care Foundation recently released its updated report, Massachusetts’ Top Ten Most Frequently Cited Deficiencies: A Summary Report on Trends and Opportunities for Quality Improvement November 2017 - November 2018 . Since March 2018, Mass Senior Care has reviewed approximately 246 Statements of Deficiencies

Yesterday Senate President Karen Spilka and Speaker of the House of Representatives Robert DeLeo announced their respective leadership teams and committee assignments for the 2019-2020 legislative session including the appointments of new Chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means. President Spilka appointed Senator Michael Rodrigues (D-Westport) as chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means and Speaker DeLeo appointed Aaron Michlewitz (D-Boston) as chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means. The House and

Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Provider Preview Reports are now available. Review your performance data by March 4, prior to public display on Nursing Home Compare in April 2019. Corrections to the underlying data are not permitted during this time; request a CMS review if you believe your data is inaccurate. For more information: SNF Quality Public Reporting webpage, Access Instructions .

In accordance with 105 CMR 150.028 Dementia Special Care Unit Disclosure Requirement requires that all long term care facilities which advertise or hold themselves out to the public as a provider of specialized care to persons with dementia must file a disclosure statement with the Department of Public Health. Disclosure statements must be filed annually no later than March 1st. Statements must be submitted using the Health Care Facility Reporting System (HCFRS). Additional information on filing, including a blank disclosure

Mass Senior Care and D’Youville Center for Advanced Therapy co-hosted a Legislative Breakfast for the Greater Lowell delegation on February 12th. This annual event drew local nursing home providers and elected officials including Chairman Thomas Golden, Jr., Senator Edward Kennedy, and representatives from Rep. David Nangle and Rep. Rady Mom’s office. The provider members and the Lowell delegation discussed senior care issues and the urgent need to invest in nursing facility care in FY 2020. We extend our gratitude to

Tax legislation passed late in 2017 disallows any expenses for qualified transportation fringe benefits, such as employee parking, as tax deductions for commercial businesses effective for amounts paid or incurred after December 31, 2017. The tax law provides similarly that tax-exempt organizations will need to increase their unrelated business taxable income by the amount that is now nondeductible. On December 10, 2018 the Internal Revenue Service issued interim guidance regarding a four-step safe harbor method to calculate the amount to

The January 2019 Nursing Home Compare Refresh, including quality measure results based on SNF QRP data submitted to CMS, is now available. As a reminder, CMS announced in October 2018 that it will not publish a 6th previously posted quality measure, Potentially Preventable 30-Day Post-Discharge Readmissions, at this time. Additional time will allow for more testing to determine if modifications to the measure and method of displaying it are needed. This additional testing will ensure that the future publicly reported