All News

Effective July 1, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Home Care and Assisted Living Program discontinued mailing paper copies of license survey results to providers and began emailing the results to the agent on record with MDH. 

Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) identified as not meeting the 80 percent reporting threshold under the SNF Quality Reporting Program (QRP) recently received a letter from National Government Services, the Medicare contract agency for Minnesota, informing them that they will be subject to a 2 percent reduction on their Medicare fee-for-service rates beginning Oct. 1, 2018. SNFs who received these letters can request reconsideration by Aug. 7.  

The OnTrack Nursing Assistant Training program is seeing incredible state exam results! We currently we have 60 sites adopting the program, with 104 RN Trainers and 135 students. Student testing data shows: 

The FREE Onboarding Toolkit provides tools to turn your standard new employee orientation into an engaging onboarding experience! Watch this introductory 7-minute video to learn about the new resource. 

During her recent keynote address at the Adult Day Conference, Ruth Katz, Senior Vice President of Public Policy/Advocacy or LeadingAge, discussed the importance of strengthening the data story for Adult Day Services. Adult day members can now shape that story by participating in a national study. 

The Stars Among Us Award program is open for the 2019 recognition awards and we want to hear about the great work your organization is doing. The Excellence in Practice Awards recognize promising programs and initiatives in four areas: Quality, Innovation, Workplace and Community Collaboration. 

LeadingAge Minnesota is now accepting nominations for the Board of Directors and Honorary Memberships. Applications are due by Friday, Aug. 10. 

Life plan communities need to get busy growing the supply of senior housing and finding new ways to attract younger residents to that housing. 

The new AgingServicesJobs.Org platform launched nearly 2 months ago, with 72 jobs posted to date! 

In a proposed rule released for public inspection this week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) aims to make changes to a 2016 final rule that requires the electronic reporting of work-related injury and illness data.  

To facilitate timely passage of 2019 spending bills and avoid a government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1, the U.S. House and Senate are combining multiple individual spending bills into larger legislative packages. 

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) recently published application materials for the moratorium exceptions process. To help care center members learn more about this process, we are hosting a Moratorium Exceptions Process: What Care Centers Need to Know webinar on Aug. 9. 

Registration is being accepted for the 2018 CHAIN (Collaborative Healthcare-Associated Infection Network) Conference.  The conference, which takes place on Wednesday, Sept. 26 at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Center, includes the latest evidenced-based approaches for preventing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and antibiotic resistance. 

The 2018 Annual Meeting & Leadership Forum is Sept. 18-21 at Madden’s in Brainerd. Go BOLD is the theme of this year’s leadership conference, with speakers, sessions and events designed to explore what it means to lead in today’s complex environment and to navigate through the changes that will define the very future of senior living.

A new resource from LeadingAge will help you better protect your residents from falling victim to telephone and internet scams typically aimed at older people. 

Do you know a candidate for state office who is a champion for the seniors we serve and their caregivers? The LeadingAge Minnesota Political Action Committee (PAC) seeks to support compassionate leaders who will champion policies promoting excellence and innovation in older adult services. 

The Minnesota Directors of Nursing Administration (MN-DONA) is now accepting nominations for the Nursing Director of the Year. 

The last day to register for the August 8-9 Billing University is Thursday, August 2. 

This two-day intensive learning workshop delivers essential knowledge, skills and resources to help capture all appropriate reimbursement for the services you provide and is applicable and valuable learning for both new and seasoned staff.

Find details and registration here.

Registration is now open for the 43^rd Annual Minnesota Health Care Engineers Association (MHCEA) Fall Education Seminar and Vendor Show. 

Consultant Pharmacists Inc. (CPI) will unravel some of the complexities of the regulation and guidelines for pharmacy services from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) “Mega-rule” of 2017 at is annual conference on Sept. 14.  

The new AgingServicesJobs.Org platform has launched! Sign up for a live webinar demo on July 31 from 9 a.m. – 10 a.m. to learn how to post a job. 

Registration is open for the 2018 Annual Meeting & Leadership Forum, Sept. 18-21 at Madden’s in Brainerd. Go BOLD is the theme of this year’s leadership conference, with speakers, sessions and events designed to explore what it means to lead in today’s complex environment and to navigate through the changes that will define the very future of senior living. 

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) recently released the application materials for this year’s round of the nursing facility moratorium exceptions process. Care centers interested in applying will need to complete and submit the required application materials by Dec. 20. To help members evaluate whether they should apply, LeadingAge Minnesota is hosting a Moratorium Exceptions webinar on Thursday, Aug. 9. 

Business office staff in care centers are encouraged to attend the annual Billing University on Aug. 8 and 9. This two-day intensive learning workshop delivers essential knowledge, skills and resources to help capture all appropriate reimbursement for the services you provide. 

As part of our ongoing commitment to help you improve performance and measure and report outcomes in your organization, LeadingAge Minnesota is proud to provide you with access to a new tool that will help translate your current MDS 3.0 data into actionable information. 

LeadingAge Minnesota is now accepting nominations for the recognition of Lifetime Honorary Membership. This honor is provided to persons of distinction by election each year during our Annual Meeting & Leadership Forum in September.  

The U.S. Department of Labor has rescinded the 2016 Persuader Rule that required employers to report whenever they seek assistance from consultants or lawyers to dissuade employees from joining unions. 

The OnTrack Nursing Assistant Training program has seen 100 nurses complete the Train the Trainer course! Those 100 RN Trainers are now supporting OnTrack Nursing Assistant programs all over the state. 

In keeping with the Minnesota State Transition Plan to comply with the Home and Community-Based Services Settings (HCBS) Rule, the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) has added a person’s evaluation of services and compliance with HCBS Standards to the MN Choices Tool. The questions are to be completed at the next reassessment visit on or after Aug. 1, 2018. 

Ruth Katz, Senior Vice-President of Public Policy/Advocacy at LeadingAge, opened the 2018 LeadingAge Minnesota Adult Day Conference with a strong message of support for providers of these valued services that help older adults age in place.