E-News Update Articles

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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 .

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

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

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

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 5, 2019 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) posted on its MDS 3.0 Technical Information Webpage a new version (V3.00.0) of the MDS 3.0 Data Specifications was posted. This version is scheduled to become effective October 1, 2019. Note that there are many significant changes, including the removal of eight item sets (NS, NSD, NO, NOD, SS, SSD, SO, SOD), the addition of two new item sets (IPA and OSA), and item additions in Sections A

The Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) last week issued proposed revised rates for services provided by temporary nursing to licensed hospitals and nursing facilities -- 101 CMR 345/Temporary Nursing Services . The proposed amendments would establish the rate limits for temporary nursing agency services for each geographic region as purchased by hospitals and nursing facilities effective March 1, 2019. EOHHS estimates that the proposed rate limits—if all purchasers utilized the maximum rate—will result in an increase of

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

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

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

Did you know that the number of people with Legionnaires’ disease grew 5.5 times from 2000 to 2017 and is deadly for 25% of people who get it from a health care facility? Ninety percent of the problems that cause Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks could have been prevented with more effective water management. Help prevent outbreaks by taking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) new online training: Preventing Legionnaires' Disease: A Training on Legionella Water Management Programs . Learn

The Green House Project is sponsoring a workshop, to learn about the model's higher measurable quality outcomes, strong consumer demand, proven and effective tools and resources, and the ROI behind the movement to transform elder care. The workshop will take place at the Leonard Florence Center for Living Green House community in Chelsea, Mass., from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please click here for more information.

On January 22, 2019, CMS published a memo summarizing the inflation adjustments to the CMP amounts that may be imposed for noncompliance by nursing centers. The new CMP amounts and ranges can be found in the Appendix of the memo. The adjusted amounts apply to CMPs assessed on or after October 11, 2018, which is when the rule was published that finalized the adjustments. The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 required CMS to make annual

The FY 2020 budget is now being considered by the Massachusetts House of Representatives. In a hand-delivered letter to legislators Mass Senior Care urged lawmakers to make nursing home funding a priority in the state budget. In order to support the impact of this letter, we need the collective voice of the nursing home community to please contact your local legislators to ask for their support. Please click here to participate in this important Action Alert. Mass Senior Care members

Mass Senior Care has long advocated that greater transparency is critical as it will better ensure improved consumer and provider protections, including the establishment of standards to ensure nursing home options are available to allow beneficiaries have maximum choice and access to timely quality care in a given service area. It would also allow CMMI to better ensure that ACOs avoid any unnecessary, budget-driven reductions in utilization of services, as well as to promote, if possible, that care is directed

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has given the Harvard Chan School of Public Health Center for Work, Health, and Well-being a grant to study health, safety, and wellness in the nursing home industry. Harvard is collaborating with Massachusetts Senior Care on the study, Enterprise Outcomes, in Massachusetts. The first part of Enterprise Outcomes is a survey of Directors of Nursing. Please consider participating in the survey when you are invited. The study will look at policies, practices

Final Reminder! The 2019 AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Application Deadline is January 31 Don't miss out on the opportunity to be recognized for your commitment to quality care with this national honor. The deadline to apply is quickly approaching on January 31, 2019 at 8 p.m. EST! Log on to the Quality Award portal to submit today. For more information on the Quality Award Program, visit www.ahcancal.org/qualityaward or email AHCA staff at qualityaward@ahca.org.

Over the last week, two op-ed columns by Mass Senior Care Board Members were published calling on the Governor and state Legislature to make nursing home funding a priority in FY 2020, to address an unprecedented crisis that threatens the nursing home provider community’s viability to provide access to quality care. The MetroWest Daily News published an op-ed, “McCarthy: Addressing the crisis facing long-term nursing care” authored by Sister Jacquelyn M. McCarthy, CSJ R.N., CEO/Administrator at Bethany Health Care Center

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released updated versions of the Nursing Home Staff Competency Assessment, and they are now available to download for free on the CMS Civil Money Penalty Reinvestment Program (CMPRP) website. Download the assessment by visiting Civil Money Penalty Reinvestment Program https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Provider-Enrollment-and-Certification/Surv… . This toolkit is part of CMS’s effort to improve patient safety and quality of nursing home care under the CMPRP. This three-year initiative aims to improve residents' quality of life

The Department of Family and Medical Leave has issued draft Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) regulations. The regulations are posted on the Department’s website . In addition, the website now outlines further information on the contribution split . The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development will be holding public listening sessions throughout the Commonwealth with respect to the draft regulations beginning next week. Please click here for details on the time and location of the listening sessions. Additional

Executive Office of Health & Human Services (EOHHS) Secretary Marylou Sudders has appointed Robin Lipson to serve as Acting Secretary of the Executive Office of Elder Affairs (EOEA). Lipson was Chief of Staff to former EOEA Secretary Alice Bonner since 2015 and later also took on responsibilities of Chief Strategy Officer. She has been the lead staff person supporting the Governor’s Council to Address Aging in Massachusetts and led the effort that resulted in the Commonwealth becoming the 2nd state

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 December 2018. 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 Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) has adopted the second component of the FY 2019 Medicaid nursing facility rate regulation, focusing on (1) quality achievement and (2) PASRR add-ons. The two new add-ons are effective on January 1, 2019. In combination with the October 1, 2018 Medicaid rate increases, these actions total $31 million and represent EOHHS Secretary Marylou Sudders' first step in a short-term stabilization package. The Secretary has also committed to work with Mass Senior

The American Health Care Association’s (AHCA) Survey/Regulatory Committee has developed tools to assist nursing homes in addressing adverse and potential adverse events. These tools will assist nursing homes in documenting and tracking the steps that have been taken, and identification of best practices for ongoing improvement. Use of these tools does not guarantee regulatory compliance nor mitigate potential liability. Providers should adapt their tools, policies, and processes as needed to ensure compliance with current federal and state requirements and use

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences and Bureau of Healthcare Safety and Quality invites staff from non-acute hospitals, dialysis centers, ambulatory surgical centers, clinics, nursing homes, rest homes and adult day health programs to participate in an educational webinar which will provide a summary of the epidemiology of this flu season to date as well as provide guidance for reporting healthcare personnel influenza vaccination data. The webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, January 23

The SFY 2019 budget act authorizes the Direct Care Staff Payment at $38.5 million, a $2.8 million increase from the prior fiscal year. Please note that EOHHS plans to issue the second payment by the end of January. The agency has also updated its Nursing Facility Direct Care Program Compliance Filing FAQ for 2019 . The 2019 compliance period covers July 2018 through June 2019, and the baseline period remains the same at January 2016 through June 2016. Facilities will

The National Partnership to Improve Dementia Care in Nursing Homes will host a call on March 12, 2019 from 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm on a Dementia Care & Psychotropic Medication Tracking Tool. This tool is 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 released Nursing Home Staff Competency Assessment toolkit. Additionally, CMS will provide updates on the Phase

Peg Stearns celebrated her 108th birthday on January 5th at Life Care Center of Wilbraham. Joining in Peg’s festivities were special guests U.S. Congressman Richard Neal, State Senator Eric Lesser and State Representative Angelo Puppolo. Peg has been a resident at Life Care Center of Wilbraham for the last ten years. Her favorite hobbies include gardening and giving back to her church, community and fellow citizens. Pictured at left: Dennis Lopata, Senior Executive Director at Life Care Center of Wilbraham

Please join Mass Senior Care and the Department of Public Health for a complimentary webinar to discuss best practices in reporting incidents through the Health Care Facility Reporting System (HCRFS). This webinar will provide facilities with guidance on information that should be included on an initial and follow up incident report submitted through the HCFRS. This webinar is available to Mass Senior Care members only. Webinar Information Title: Best Practices when Reporting through the Health Care Facility Reporting System (HCRFS)

Take Action and Call Governor Baker at 617-804-5028 Today!

The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development will be holding seven public listening sessions on draft Department of Family and Medical Leave regulations. The Department has indicated that it intends to post draft regulations on its website on or before January 23. Please click here for details on the time and location of the listening sessions. Additional information on the Paid Family Medical Leave, including a Q &A for employers and employees can be found on The Department of

An audio recording and transcript are available for the December 11 call on the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Prospective Payment System (PPS). On October 1, 2019, the new Patient Driven Payment Model is replacing Resource Utilization Group, Version IV. Learn about this new case-mix classification system for SNF Part A beneficiaries.