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It’s Older Americans Month! Engage at Every Age, this year’s theme, emphasizes that every age is the right age to take part in activities that can enrich your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Now it’s your turn to engage! 

In addition to building a solid foundation of knowledge on the important regulations governing home care in assisted living settings covered in the new Assisted Living Certificate program, the nursing track will continue to emphasize those essential skills required to successfully run the clinical services component in these settings. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Skilled Nursing Facility Advance Beneficiary Notice of Non-Coverage (SNFABN) (CMS-10055) was mandatory for use by all skilled nursing facilities as of Monday, May 7. The form and instructions are available on the CMS website.  

The fourteenth edition of An Employer’s Guide to Employment Law Issues in Minnesota is now available.   

For the first time since the Assisted Living Home Care (ALHC) comprehensive home care regulations were implemented three years ago, none of the most frequently cited correction orders were cited above 63 percent of the time.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) last week issued a Proposed Rule that provides information about the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) payment rates for the year that starts on Oct. 1, 2018 as well as proposing an entirely new case mix payment system to take effect on Oct. 1, 2019.  CMS will follow up with a final rule on the Oct. 1 rates around Aug. 1. 

The Minnesota House of Representatives on Tuesday passed the House Omnibus Health, Human Services, and Transportation Budget bill (HF 3138 – Dean). The bill, which passed on a 82 to 43 vote, contains a number of provisions important to senior service providers including the Vulnerable Adults Maltreatment Prevention and Protection Act (HF 3308 – Kiel, as amended in HHS) and funding for DWRS (HF 3191 – Schomacker). 

The Minnesota Senate has advanced a bill that would significantly alter many provisions that impact the way aging services providers serve older adults in long-term care settings.

The National Fire Protection Association has issued a Tentative Interim Amendment (TIA 12-8) concerning the storage and use of liquid oxygen. CMS has not taken any formal action in response, but we expect them to review the issue in the near future. 

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) is contacting providers whose submitted Attestations related to the Home and Community Based-Services (HCBS) Settings Rule (and DHS validated via geo-mapping) indicates a setting(s) that meets one of the following criteria: 

Don’t miss the next round of District Meetings scheduled in June. This session in our 2018 District Meeting series - Creating a Culture of Excellence - will explore how to develop a staff-centered workplace culture. To respect your busy schedule and travel time, we're also planning a special advocacy discussion on the heels of what is proving to be a pivotal legislative session for our field. 

Sign up today for the final Onboarding Toolkit Webinar on May 9 at 10 a.m. This webinar is open to anyone who has already implemented the toolkit as well as anyone interested in learning more about the resource.  

The Nursing Leadership Symposium kicked off its 27th year last month with 23 nurse leaders embarking on a journey to discover a new set of skills, knowledge and mindset that will help them succeed in their new role. 

The Minnesota Department of Human Services, through a contract with Navigant Consulting, recently launched a survey of the cost of providing services under the Elderly Waiver (EW) program. The survey is part of a larger study designed to validate and propose adjustments to EW rate reform that was introduced by Long-Term Care Imperative last year and due to be partially implemented on Jan. 1, 2019.  

Bring your team to discover new tools and approaches to your strategic planning process. As part of LeadingAge Minnesota’s Performance Excellence in Aging Services platform, the May 17 workshop A Systematic and Effective Approach to Strategic Planning unfolds the strategic planning process from preparation and prioritization to deployment and sustaining the plan. 

A new report that compares marketplace data on 40+ jobs in assisted living can help you develop a competitive and comprehensive compensation strategy. 

Adult Day Services are an integral part of the long-term care continuum, but a potential move by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) could put up a barrier in advancing the use of these valued community-services. 

LeadingAge Minnesota’s much-anticipated Assisted Living Certificate Program is open for registration. This program is a two-in-one merger of the Housing-with-Services Management and Home Care Nurse Managers certificate programs. It is designed for facility-based assisted living with separate learning tracks for the Housing with Services/Assisted Living Manager and the Home Care Nurse Manager. 

Did you miss the online demo of the OnTrack Nursing Assistant Training? Did you miss the Workforce Solutions Conference Express Demo too? Don’t worry! Call the OnTrack team today at 651.425.1110. 

Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious and highly contagious disease. A webinar on May 3, Tuberculosis (TB): An Ongoing Concern for Prevention and Management, will deliver best practices in prevention to help minimize risk. 

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) Aging and Adult Services Division is about to launch a survey of wages and costs for all types of providers in the state’s Elderly Waiver (EW) program. 

In a call with LeadingAge last week, we received key updates on affordable housing funding from their advocacy on Capitol Hill: 

Current law has a severe penalty that causes nursing homes with fines over a certain level ($10,483 as of 2017) to automatically lose their ability to train CNAs for two years - even if the care deficiencies cited are unrelated to the nursing home’s CNA training program.   

Last week’s newsletter included a preview of our new Assisted Living Certificate Program, a combined series with separate tracks for Assisted Living/Housing with Services Managers and Nurse Managers. 

This program will be offered in the spring and the fall of 2018. Registration will be open very soon and is expected to fill quickly. Watch the LeadingAge Minnesota website and your email for registration announcement.

Technology solutions are expanding to help long term services and support providers address physical plant issues in their organizations, including data storage and internet service, facility maintenance, staff scheduling, resident security and asset protection. 

Coming soon: New AgingServicesJobs.Org platform! The temporary job board we launched in August 2017 is about to sunset as we integrate the newest job board technology. 

More than 200 LeadingAge Minnesota members gathered for the fourth annual Workforce Solutions Conference last week. The conference was designed to be interactive and fast-paced – featuring expert panels, 15-minute express sessions, and providing tools needed to build and retain our workforce. 

There are important differences between the POLST (Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) and Advance Care Planning. To help members better understand POLST, we are providing the following overview and resources: 

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) informed us last week that section 11.7.4 of NFPA 99, Health Care Facilities Code (2012 edition), does not allow the storage or use of liquid oxygen in patient bed locations (resident rooms) or patient care rooms, unless the room meets a 1-hour fire-resistance standard. Here is the code language: 

Two questions that arise frequently from Assisted Living Home Care Providers relate to what an LPN can carry out when delegated to by the RN.  Both questions have been addressed by the Minnesota Department of Health in their Provider FAQ responses: