News

The 34th Annual Skilled Nursing Facility Cost Comparison and Industry Trends Report released by CliftonLarsonAllen last week shows the median operating margin in care centers has dipped below zero. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced this week that it will use a Consumer Alert Icon on the Nursing Home Compare website to identify nursing homes with instances of non-compliance related to abuse, neglect and exploitation and will penalize these settings under the Five-Star Quality Rating System.  

Looking to create and enhance safe, trusted and inclusive environments where staff feel connected and appreciated, engaged in their work and your mission, and know they can speak up to prevent harm and ensure respect and dignity for all who live and work in your setting? Introducing: Leadership Rounding -- the latest tool from Safe Care for Seniors. 

Each day, dedicated staff in LeadingAge Minnesota member settings across the state are going above and beyond to create safe, trusted environments for the people they serve and their fellow team members. Today, we recognize four individuals and four staff teams with our Make Zero Harm Possible award.   

It is important that care centers remember that a mandatory Interim Payment Assessment (IPA) is required to transition from Resource Utilization Group, version IV (RUG-IV) to the Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) as of Oct. 1.    

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.  

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:  

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.   

What experience are you selling? Does your sales process give decision makers - the eldest daughter, family, and the future resident - a realistic picture of what life will be like, should they choose you?  Dayta Marketing, a valued partner in the LeadingAge Savings & Solutions Center says organizations who focus on experience and create a sales and marketing funnel that’s customized, responsive, and caring will emerge as winners who have gained natural advocacy from their residents and families.  

Does your staff know what to do when they find a resident unresponsive? Having a policy and procedure in place is not enough. In our assessment of OHFC substantiated reports, we continue to see system failures and staff behaviors that hinder an effective response to urgent situations. Join us on Oct. 8 for a Safe Table on DNR Status and Response.  

No matter what setting you’re in, TB Prevention and Control is one of the highest cited deficiencies. It has risen steadily to land as the most frequently cited in Comoprehensive Licensed Home Care survey this past quarter. Also, in the past quarter, F880 Infection Control has taken the number one spot in citations for care centers. Bumping TB Prevention and Control out of first place should be an easy fix as the reasons for the correction orders are basically:  

We are now less than one month from implementation of the new Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) that will take effect on Oct. 1.  LeadingAge MN has worked with other state affiliates and our national association to develop some new tools, including a rate calculator and case mix system, that are posted on our PDPM web page.  

A recent analysis of Comprehensive Home Care licensed providers surveys for the past quarter (April 1, 2019 – June 30, 2019) revealed several trends. Of the top 10 correction orders written, Tag #1035 Individualized Treatment/Therapy Mgmt Plan has risen to the top of the 52 initial surveys conducted. 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has issued a final Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds rule  that goes into effect Oct. 15. This rule applies prospectively to determine the eligibility of persons wishing to immigrate to the US, obtain a green card to authorize employment or to obtain certain visas. It will not be applied to immigrants currently in the country unless or until they seek to change or extend their immigration status. 

New resources to prevent drug diversion in long-term care are now available. The Minnesota Pathway to Prevent Diversion of Controlled Substances in Long-Term Care features a pathway and support tools to help you increase awareness, assess your processes, create individual plans for intervention implementation, and measure your outcomes. 

National Adult Day Services Week, which takes place Sept. 15-21, is a great opportunity to highlight the important work these valued providers do every day. Our theme this year is focused on raising public awareness on how Adult Day Services can help prevent loneliness and social isolation.