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LeadingAge Minnesota recently recognized five members with Excellence in Practice awards. The Quality, Star Workplace and Community Collaboration awards recognize and showcase exceptional progress in long term services and supports, serving as a platform to share promising programs and new ideas to help advance and transform the way we serve older adults. 

We’ve been hearing it more and more from our members: family support is one of the biggest influencers in the decision-making process for older adults when it comes to their housing and care needs. A new study from the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society supports this trend and calls for clinicians to consider older people with illnesses and their families together as a unit of care.  

The proposed 14 percent cut to HUD programs will have a devastating impact on voucher and public housing programs that serve more than 750,000 senior households. Act Now! Tell Congress: More HUD Funding, Not Less. 

The National Quality Forum released a new, comprehensive guide to help frontline providers more safely and effectively manage patient and resident pain. 

Anyone who saw Bryan Williams at Institute will not want to miss spending a day with him engaging in a discussion on effective leadership. The Thursday, March 29 session is the first in a four-part leadership series focused on the essential components of achieving a high performing organization. 

Minnesota’s latest budget forecast that came out a couple of weeks ago includes roughly $65 million in state savings related to an action by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rejecting the state’s implementation of an update to the Disability Waiver Rate System (DWRS) last year. This “savings” is potentially bad news for adult day services providers. 

Jane Houlton, a board trustee at Guardian Angels in Elk River, was recently honored by LeadingAge Minnesota with the Board Trustee of the Year Award. 

Learn how to communicate effectively across your organization and increase morale and motivation. Dr. Jermain Davis, best-selling author, documentary filmmaker and award-winning professor of communication studies and organizational leadership, opens the 2018 Workforce Solutions Conference with his keynote presentation, Influencing Up, Down and Across Your Organization, on April 19. 

The nominations process for the LeadingAge Annual Awards opened this month. The deadline to apply is April 30. 

Sue Voigt, an attorney and partner with Voigt Rodè and Boxeth, was recently honored by LeadingAge Minnesota with its Business Partner Impact Award.   

Employer applications are being accepted for the 2018 Summer Health Care Internship Program. Skilled nursing, home care providers and adult day centers are encouraged to participate. The deadline to apply is Friday, April 13. 

The Minnesota Department of Human Services has updated the MnCHOICES Fact Sheet. 

If you or someone on your team has recently become a supervisor, a workshop on April 19 is just the training needed to get off to a great start. Get the essential Dos, Don’ts, How-tos and answers to some of the most common questions from perennial favorite Dr. Barry Lane. 

Bed rails have often been implemented in a desire to provide a supportive, assistive and safe environment for residents and home care clients, but they do pose a risk for entrapment.  

Legislation amending the Home Care Law has been introduced this session. The bill was developed through a working group of the Minnesota Home Care Association, Care Providers of Minnesota, and LeadingAge Minnesota, with technical assistance provided through the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). 

A new report from the LeadingAge LTSS Center and Generations United identifies the characteristics of successful intergenerational programs in affordable senior housing communities, examines the implementation challenges these programs face, and offers strategies that programs can use to overcome these challenges. 

The Office of Legislative Auditor (OLA) yesterday released its 2018 Evaluation Report of the Office of Health Facility Complaints (OHFC). The report recommends several actions the Minnesota Department of Health and Minnesota Legislature could take to better protect vulnerable adults, several of which align with the Long-Term Care Imperative policy priorities.   

A free webinar on March 14 will help Adult Day Services and Assisted Living providers whose clients receive funding through Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waiver programs ensure their setting facilitates community inclusion as required by the HCBS Settings Rule. 

Don’t forget to register for the March 12 webinar, Building a Successful MDS Program for Your Care Center, featuring Nadine Olness, RN RAC-CT, Minnesota State RAI Coordinator. The registration deadline is March 8.

When it comes to quality, you can’t afford to wait. In just one week, LeadingAge Minnesota members from across the state will take their first steps on a path continuous quality. You can join them by registering today for the March 15 kick-off meeting for Performance Excellence in Aging Services. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is required to remove Social Security Numbers (SSNs) from all Medicare cards by April 2019. This will have an impact on how providers submit claims.  

Members of the Minnesota Senate Aging and Long-Term Care Policy Committee listened to impassioned testimony today from eight providers of long-term services and support who each showcased the work they do to ensure a high quality of life for older adults. 

Minnesota’s latest budget forecast predicts a $329 million surplus for the current biennium, which runs from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2019. 

Registration will open soon for the Nursing Leadership Symposium, the state’s most comprehensive training for preparing new directors of nursing and nurse leaders for a successful career. 

A new webinar from the U.S. Housing & Urban Development Department (HUD) will help Project Rental Assistant Contract (PRAC) properties successfully complete the new, mandatory electronic format and online submission for the Comprehensive Needs Assessment.  

Send your MDS Coordinator to this essential webinar to help them prepare for this critical role, including what is required, the MDS coding process, common mistakes to avoid, and how to adapt your processes to recent MDS changes. Register today.

Beginning March 5, all Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) providers – including Adult Day Services and Customized Living - must bill each date of service on a separate line for all HCBS claims submitted. DHS will deny any claims that use a date span instead of individual lines for each date.  

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) has posted updated information on Phase 2 of the Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) provider attestation process on the transition plan for HCBS settings webpage. 

The LeadingAge Minnesota YouTube Channel is an important tool we use to communicate with our members. If you are not subscribed to our channel, here are a few things you might have missed: 

Congress has until March 23 to finalize the FY18 appropriations bill that includes funding for U.S. Housing & Urban Development (HUD) programs. LeadingAge has been very active on Capitol Hill advocating for our affordable housing priorities, which include: