All News

LeadingAge Minnesota named Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm and Senator Paul Gazelka as its Public Officials of the Year. The Public Official of the Year award recognizes public servants who went above and beyond the normal call for action and made a significant difference to the field of older adult services and those we serve.   

The Minnesota Board of Cosmetology is proposing changes in rules related to certain salon licensing and practice requirements that could exempt some assisted living settings. The revised language states: 

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) is seeking proposals for the new Customized Living Quality Improvement Grants, which support provider-initiated projects that improve quality, encourage innovation and advance efficient, high quality service.  

October District Meetings will feature a one-hour session on the new electronic monitoring law that will take effect Jan. 1, 2020. Business Partner Attorney Rebecca Coffin will review what the current law says (and doesn’t say), as well as the changes ahead that you need to understand for when the people you serve want to install an electronic monitoring device.  

Governor Tim Walz appointed Gayle Kvenvold, President & CEO of LeadingAge Minnesota, to the newly-created Blue Ribbon Commission on Health and Human Services.  

Through a unique partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association nationally and here in Minnesota, the LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation is excited to announce an opportunity for our assisted living members to participate in Project ECHO—an internationally recognized training program to build skills and capacity in serving those with chronic, common and complex diseases.  

Assisted Living/Home Care nurses won't want to miss the ALNET meetings in October where we will discuss top survey trends and regulations, professional practice, quality of care and more. The Duluth and the Twin Cities Metro Area meetings feature guest speakers from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and the law firm Voigt, Rode, Boxeth & Coffin.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) convened the first meeting of the Adult Day License Stakeholder Group, which will provide input on the development of new licensing standards for adult day services.  

We are now less than two weeks from implementation of the new Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) that will take effect for Medicare Part A skilled nursing facility clients on Oct. 1. LeadingAge MN has developed a number of key resources to help members with this transition. Below are five key steps for members to be sure they have taken before the new payment system goes into effect:  

Morshed (Mo) Alam, has been named Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Ecumen, effective Sept. 30. 

Does your staff know the right thing to do when they find a resident unresponsive? Is your team prepared to rapidly and effectively respond to urgent or unexpected situations? Join us on Oct. 8 for our first Safe Table in the Safe Care for Seniors program to learn how a Rapid Evaluation Team (RET) process can improve how your staff call for and receive support to in these situations.   

CAST has updated its Medication Management Selection Tool with two new products CuePath Innovation and Nexusera. The tool also includes an updated Product Matrix and Online Selection Tool.   

If you tried to nominate your Safe Care for Seniors kick-off event last week for our Free Banner contest and received an error message – the link is fixed!   

Hospital and Healthcare Compensation Service, in cooperation with LeadingAge National, is currently conducting its 22nd annual Assisted Living Salary and Benefits Report and invites LeadingAge members to participate.  

Virtual reality, predictive analytics, sensors, and other artificial intelligence (AI) solutions are helping keep older adults from falling, according to a recent HealthTech article.  

Applications for the Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Scholarship Grant Program are due Friday, Sept. 27. To help you complete your application, check out the following resources:  

A summary of key strategies from a two-year Workforce Solutions Grant pilot project funded by the LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation can now be found on www.workforcegrants.org.  

A recent article in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News shared that long-term nursing home residents enrolled in UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare Advantage Institutional Special Needs Plans (I-SNPs) are 112% more likely to use skilled nursing services than those with Medicare fee-for-service plans.   

Staff at all levels should be considered the expert in their roles. Serving on internal committees and task forces are ways to uniquely engage staff in the organization’s vision while tapping into their personal strengths and positional expertise.   

Are you up to speed on the MDS? One of the benefits of being a member of LeadingAge National is access to Judy Wilhilde Brandt, our MDS-expert consultant.  

The forecast is set for a spectacular week at Annual Meeting & Leadership Forum next week in Brainerd. 

Our two-day dementia care workshop, Person-Centered Care and Strategies to Avert Challenging Behaviors, Sept. 24-25 or Oct. 22-23, is specifically designed to equip hands-on caregivers with practical information and knowledge they need to care for individuals with dementia and the necessary problem-solving skills for dealing with challenging behaviors. 

Registration is open for a Sept. 27 webinar covering important new requirements for management of hazardous waste pharmaceuticals that were effective Aug. 21. 

PDPM. It's just a few weeks away. Are you ready? Don't forgot to check out our Rate Calculator and Case Mix tool. We've also updated our PDPM resource library with a webinar that will help you make sure you are ready to go on Oct. 1. 

The Nominating Committee has prepared its 2020 Nomination Slate for the LeadingAge Minnesota Board of Directors and 2019 Honorary Membership nominations. Meet the candidates:  

At the beginning of this month, the Minnesota Department of Human Services began implementing a new federal requirement for Medicaid long-term care eligibility. Clients will have 10 days to return the form. If they do not return the form, they will get a second notice about returning it. If they do not respond to that second request, the county will terminate their Medicaid enrollment.  

Technology for independent living is the theme of this year’s 4th Annual Reimagine Aging Conference that place on Oct. 3 in Golden Valley. One highlight of the conference is the breakout session on Aging with Technology - Something for Everyone featuring Cassia’s Learning Lab.  

How will senior living attract more residents and cultivate new revenue streams? The American Seniors Housing Associated (ASHA) has released a new issue brief that challenges the status quo and provides guidance for how senior living can improve.  

Did you host a Safe Care for Seniors kick-off event? We’d love to hear about it! And – as an added bonus for sharing your story – we will select two member sites to receive a FREE Safe Care for Seniors banner that can be branded with your logo.  

Effective immediately, HUD providers of Section 202 Housing for the Elderly with Project Rental Assistance Contracts (202/PRACs) can begin to leverage private capital to preserve their affordable housing over the long-term.