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So that we may deliver the best customer service, please ensure that the Division of Health Care has up to date contact information for your facility, including e-mail addresses.

 

Please contact 502-564-7963 to provide this important information!

 

ALSO...

 

The Kentucky Department for Public Health would like to establish an email notification distribution group for Infection Preventionist (the person who is the leader for the Infection Control efforts at each facility) practicing in long-term care.  This email group would receive notifications concerning outbreaks, educational opportunities and pertinent State communications regarding infection prevention and control in the long-term care setting.  Names and e-mail addresses need to be sent to Andrea.Flinchum@ky.gov in Public Health.  Thank you.

 

 

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The CMS, Center for Clinical Standards and Quality, Survey and Certification Group training website allows providers to take courses that surveyors take.
  
This website is currently down for maintenance.  Please continue to check back for availability.  
  
Attention Surveyors:  Due to the website maintenance, the deadline for completing the mandatory surveyor training 'National Partnership to Improve Dementia Care/ Antipsychotic Initiative' has been extended to September 30th. 
  

 

 

  

 

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Issue: #08-2013  

             August 2013

LONG TERM CARE
NEWSLETTER
Welcome to the Office of Inspector General, Division of Health Care's August 2013 edition of the Long Term Care Provider Newsletter.  This newsletter is a valuable vehicle to update you on current events affecting Long Term Care.  
  
Please feel free to share this newsletter with anyone you think would benefit.  To continue receiving this newsletter, be sure to join our mailing list by clicking the link at the bottom.  We look forward to serving you through this communication vehicle.
KARES PROGRAM
Sign up now for Kentucky's new employment screening program!
The Office of Inspector General is excited to announce that the KARES or "Kentucky Applicant Registry and Employment Screening" Program will be piloted in October 2013.  If your facility would like to be among the first to add State and FBI fingerprint checks to your hiring process, you may register for participation in the KARES pilot by September 20th.  To register, contact Jennifer Mayes at (502) 564-2159 or at kares.helpdesk@ky.gov 

  

After the pilot, all long-term care facilities and other employers eligible to participate in KARES are strongly encouraged to enroll voluntarily in KARES as the program rolls out statewide in November.  Until grant monies are depleted, long-term care employers participating in KARES will pay only $20 for a State and FBI fingerprint check of each new employee.

 

Your facility can benefit from participating in KARES!

 

By adding FBI checks to the current system in place for screening employees, KARES will help prevent job applicants from hiding criminal actions committed in other states.  State-of-the-art fingerprint scanners, a key feature offered by KARES, will be an improvement over name-based criminal background checks.  Fingerprint checks are considered the "gold standard" in helping to prevent misidentification!

  

For more details about KARES and how you can enhance the safety measures your facility currently takes to protect residents, check out our new website:

 

http://chfs.ky.gov/os/oig/kares
MDS/RAI Updates

CMSNet Juniper Client Mandatory Upgrade

A mandatory upgrade to the CMSNet Juniper Client will occur for eastern states on August 17, 2013 and for western states on August 31, 2013. QIES users who connect to CMS Systems using CMSNet must follow the instructions in this document.

 

CMSNet Juniper Client Upgrade

 

 

MDS 3.0 Manual Record Correction Requests

A few types of errors in a record in the QIES ASAP system cannot be corrected with an automated Modification or Inactivation request. These errors are: 

  1. The record is a test record inadvertently submitted as production.
  2. The record has the wrong submission requirement in item A0410.
  3. The record has the wrong facility ID in the control item FAC_ID.

In all of these cases, the facility must contact the State Agency to have the problems fixed. The State Agency will send the facility the MDS 3.0 Manual Assessment Correction/Deletion Request form. The facility is responsible for completing the form. The facility must submit the completed form to the State Agency via certified mail through the United States Postal Service (USPS). The State Agency must approve the provider's request and submit a signed form to the QIES Help Desk via certified mail through the USPS.

 

Please use this form to complete these requests and mail to the address below.  It is preferred that the request form be placed in double envelopes to ensure privacy.

 

Cabinet for Health and Family Services

Office of Inspector General

Attn:  Rhonda Littleton-Roe

275 E. Main St., 5 E-A

Frankfort, KY  40621

 

 

MDS/RAI Coordinator Changes

For MDS assessment or coding issues, please contact Michelle Mitchell at 502-564-7963, x3304 or via e-mail.  Michelle is graciously filling in until we refill this position of State MDS/RAI Coordinator.  This position should be filled in September, so watch for updated contact information via our newsletter or the MDS bulletins website.

 

You can continue to contact Rhonda Littleton-Roe at 502-564-7963, x3300 or via e-mail for any transmission or technical issues. 

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Survey and Certification Letters

Below you'll find links to survey and certification letters issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) pertaining to Long Term Care facilities.  Please take a look and determine how these may impact your facility.

  
Below are the S&C memos for this month: 

 

Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Clearance Process- Changes to State Survey Agency Responsibilities in Obtaining Information for Civil Rights Clearances for Initial Certifications and Changes of Ownership (CHOWs) 
  
Notification of Facility Closure: Revisions to Tags F203 and F204 and Issuance of New Tags F523 and F524 in the State Operations Manual (SOM), Appendix PP 

 

 

OIG Eastern Enforcement Branch is Moving
moving 
 The Eastern Enforcement Branch
will be moving during the week of
August 26th-30th. 
  
 
Phone system outages will occur during this move.  If you have information that needs to be delivered to the EEB during the outage,  please fax your information to (502) 564-6546.
  
Watch for updated contact information in next month's newsletter. 
Voluntary Termination

of the Medicare Provider Agreement

Dear Nursing Home Administrator,

 

Provisions specified in Section 6113 of the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" (the Affordable Care Act) (Pub. L. 111-148) and amended sections 1128I and 1819 (h) of the Social Security Act require the nursing home administrator to notify the Secretary (CMS), the State Survey Agency (SSA), the State Medicaid Agency and the State Long Term Care (LTC) Ombudsman of the impending closure of a nursing home. The administrator is to provide notice a minimum of 60 days in advance of closure of the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) or Nursing Facility (NF). Advanced notification assures residents' living in our nation's nursing homes an opportunity to network with other prospective providers to locate quality health care services in a certified facility. Along with notice of closure, provide to CMS, the State and the LTC Ombudsman your facility's closure plan which provides for the orderly relocation of residents. The plan must be approved by the State Agency before closure of the nursing home. The intent of this document is to provide some of the minimum requirements that should be addressed in your relocation plan. Submit the closure plan and all related documents to the State Survey Agency. Your earnest cooperation in sharing information with the State Agency during the voluntary closure is appreciated.

 

Regards,
  

Sandra M. Pace, ARA

Associate Regional Administrator

Division of Survey & Certification

 

Click here for the Full Disclosure Packet

 Cabinet for Health and Family Services

Office of Inspector General

Division of Health Care

 

Leadership Team 

 Mary Reinle Begley, Inspector General
Unbridled Spirit  
The Office of Inspector General is Kentucky's regulatory agency for licensing all health care, day care, long-term care, and child adoption/placing facilities and agencies in the Commonwealth. 
  
If you would like more information, please visit our website. 
  
If you have an idea for a future article, please contact Jami Biggs.