All News

Most people at or near retirement age would rather stay home than move into a senior living community, but the gap between the two options is narrowing, according to a recent article in McKnight’s Senior Living. 

In our recent assessment of Adult Day Services surveys by the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS), we found several deficiencies in record keeping regarding Individual Service Planning. In this edition of our “Adult Day Services: A Closer Look” series, we review the requirements for the most common deficiencies in Individual Service Planning and link you to resources that will help you comply with the requirements.  

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a new State Medicaid Director Letter titled 10 Opportunities to Better Serve Individuals Dually Eligible for Medicaid and Medicare. 

More home health agencies (HHAs) than skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) have adopted electronic health records (EHRs), according to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). 

The Minnesota Legislature is scheduled to convene on Tuesday, Jan. 8 and aging services providers have a lot at stake. Don’t miss a free, one-hour webinar on Jan. 9 for insights into the current political environment, our priorities at the Capitol, and ways you can support our advocacy efforts.  

Are you curious about the OnTrack Nursing Assistant Training program that more than 30 organizations have launched? Sign up for a demo webinar on Jan. 16!  

The best way to kick off a new year? Joining LeadingAge Minnesota at one of its seven district meetings taking place in January. Our hot topic agenda features a sneak peek at our new Safe Care for Seniors program, and two breakout sessions that will help prepare care centers and housing with services/assisted living prepare for new opportunities in payment, regulations and more in 2019. Our meetings start next week, so don’t delay - register today!   

As we continue to address the workforce challenges in aging services, we encourage you to get engaged with organizations that are educating your potential workforce at a crucial time in their development. 

Cybersecurity, telehealth and interoperability are the top three concerns for healthcare IT executives in 2019.  

The federal government remains in a partial shutdown, which could impact affordable housing as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is one of the federal funding bills in limbo. It is unclear at the time we distributed this newsletter how long the shutdown will last. This articles provides some details on what a shutdown means for affordable housing funding, plus an update on a new hemp law and funding for Alzheimer's education. 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking comments on draft guidance intended to streamline the use of electronic health records (EHRs) and other health information technology (IT). Comments are due Jan. 28.  

A 2.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) approved in October will begin with benefits payable to more than 62 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2019. 

The newest upgrade to AgingServicesJobs.Org integrates your job posting into a premium job board with access to special pricing. Premium job boards include:   

Although the annual Medicare open enrollment period ended Dec. 7, special enrollment periods remain for most beneficiaries who live in one of the 66 Minnesota counties that are losing their Cost Plans as of Dec. 31, 2018. Members are reminded to refer residents and families with questions or in need of additional assistance to the Senior Linkage Line.  

As reported in McKnight’s Senior Living this week, most people at or near retirement age would rather stay home than move into a senior living community -- but the gap between the two options is narrowing. 

LeadingAge national has submitted comments to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) expressing opposition to its proposed rule broadening the factors used in public charge determinations, meaning whether a legal immigrant would become primarily dependent on the government for subsistence.   

LeadingAge national has submitted comments to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) expressing opposition to its proposed rule broadening the factors used in public charge determinations, meaning whether a legal immigrant would become primarily dependent on the government for subsistence.   

LeadingAge Minnesota filed comments last week with the United States Department of Labor (DOL) to voice our support for a proposal that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to operate power-driven patient lifts independently. 

The role of the Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM) was reviewed in a previous edition of Advantage. One important clarification to that story is the designation of a Person in Charge (PIC). When present, the CFPM functions as the PIC. However, when the CFPM is not present and food service is being offered, the CFPM must designate a PIC. 

The United States spent $3.5 trillion on health care across all payors and out-of-pocket costs, according to the new National Health Expenditure (NHE) report.

LeadingAge Minnesota is offering a Food Manager Certification Course on Tuesday, Feb. 5 to individuals seeking a new or renewal certification. This one-day ServSafe Manger course meets the criteria for Food Protection Manager Certification in Minnesota* and will provide eight hours of approved sanitation education required for CDMs. 

Two new reports shed more light on how Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) evaluated offering the new benefits for 2019 Medicare Advantage plans. The conclusion? Few plans – only 102 – are testing the new benefits in 2019, with more looking to offer some new Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) in 2020. The report also note that challenges remain. 

Happy Anniversary to LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation’s OnTrack Nursing Assistant Training program, which launched the RN Train the Trainer curriculum in December 2017! The first students matriculated a month later in January 2018. 

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development operates more than 50 Workforce Centers around the state to help job seekers find jobs and employers find staff. One LeadingAge Minnesota member has seen great results working with a Workforce Center– 75 percent of the Workforce Center referrals were hired and 90 percent were still employed after six months!   

AgingServicesJobs.Org continues to see upgrades. The newest upgrade includes integrating your Aging Services Job posting into a premium job board with access to special pricing. Premium job boards include: 

Katelyn Reichow, a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) at Friendship Village in Bloomington was named the 2018 CNA of the Year by the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners (NCCDP).  

HealthForce Minnesota will soon launch Caring Careers Start Here, a career awareness campaign targeted at aging services. We are encouraging members to host an Open Hearts Open House to expose students and adults to the great careers that await them in your settings.

Telemedicine grew at a rapid pace in Minnesota between 2010 and 2015 with a nearly seven-fold growth in visits jumping from 11,113 in 2010 to 86,238 visits in 2015, according to a new Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and University of Minnesota School of Public Health study highlighted in Health Affairs. 

Minnesota’s latest budget forecast was released last week, showing a $1.544 billion surplus for the next biennium but also predicting a slowdown in economic growth. Positive reaction to the state budget surplus at the State Capitol was accompanied with a note of caution. 

Nursing Home Compare has a whole new look after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) added five of six Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting Program (QRP) measures to the site on Nov. 28. While the measures are listed under the Quality of Resident Care tab with the other measures of short-stay quality, they are not used to calculate a Skilled Nursing Facility’s Quality star rating. The newly reported measures include: