Issue#02-2015February 2015
Office of Inspector General 
Division of Health Care
 
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NURSING HOME COMPARE


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* New Changes *

CMS has made significant changes to the nursing home quality rating system, click here to read more.
 

 

February Results

 

3 Year Report

 

 

Want to Know Kentucky's Top 10 Citations for Nursing Homes?

 

Basic Chart

Health Care

 

Life Safety Code

 

 

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CMS Survey and Certification memoranda, guidance, clarifications and instructions to State Survey Agencies and CMS Regional Offices.

 

Survey and Certification Letters 


 

Are You a New Long Term Care Administrator?
Please ensure that the Division of Health Care has up to date information for your LTC facility's administrator.

Contact (502) 564-7963 to provide your LTC facility's administrator contact information.

CMS Survey and Certification Group

 

Surveyor Training Website

 

Enter Here

 

The survey and certification process is a collaborative effort between CMS and providers.  This website will allow providers the opportunity to take the same courses as surveyors. 

 

Division of Health Care Leadership Team

 

Connie Payne

Deputy Inspector General

 

Jackie Aitkin

Assistant Director 

 

Melanie Poynter

Assistant Director

 

Andrea Willhite

Assistant Director

 

Dudley Ellis

Pharmacy Consultant 

 

 

 

  

Long Term Care Provider Newsletter
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Welcome to the February 2015 edition of the Office of Inspector General, Division of Health Care's 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.  They may continue receiving this newsletter by joining our mailing list using the link at the bottom. We look forward to serving you through this communication vehicle.
Infection Prevention in Nursing Homes
Environmental Disinfection

 

Enhanced Education of Infection Prevention in nursing homes is available through North Carolina's Statewide Program for Infection Control & Epidemiology (SPICE).  Infection prevention education for all nursing home staff is key to stopping the spread of serious illness.  These free educational modules will help all nursing home staff learn how to protect their residents and themselves from the spread of disease. Module 4 was launched in the Spring of 2014 regarding environmental disinfection.  This module explains the role of the environment in disease transmission and how improving environmental disinfection can reduce healthcare-acquired infections.  To view the Nursing Home Module Environmental Disinfection and receive free continuing education credit, click the icon below. 

Message from Kentucky's QIN - QIO

The Office of Inspector General is pleased to provide information from the CMS funded QSource and atom Alliance, the Quality Innovation Network (QIN) - Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) for Kentucky. 

 

Click Here to read a message from Kentucky's QIN-QIO regarding the National Nursing Home Quality Care Coalition (NNHQCC) created by CMS that begins on April 1, 2015.   

National Background Check Program
The Kentucky's Applicant Registry and Employment Screening (KARES) program was recently featured in an article written by Douglas J. Guth and published in Government Technology Magazine.  Read Article
 
To sign up for the State and FBI background check program for new employees click the icon below.


For additional information about the program, please contact the help desk at (502) 564-2159 or [email protected]
The Positive Impact of Person-Centered Care

Be bold, forward thinking and rewards come to all.  

One facility's message.

 

Over two years ago, our facility began to combine our person-centered care plans with cutting edge technology in order to engage our elders in new ways. The idea came about after a couple of personal encounters with two residents.  One resident wanted to borrow my computer to talk to his granddaughter on Facebook and another resident had written on his dry-erase board that he wanted to be understood.  These encounters resulted in a conversation with staff and they voiced having similar experiences.  


We realized utilizing today's technology that is light weight, easy to use and easily accessible could make a tremendous impact on our elders.  Partnering with private foundations within the community our facility was able to purchase iPads for resident use.  The use of these iPads has allowed our facility to foster and strengthen communication between elders, the staff and their families because they have access and a voice to see photos, read books easier, access movies, or play chess with their neighbor down the hall.  The speech pathologist is even able to use the technology to help residents find their voice that has deteriorated through age, dementia and Alzheimer's and other debilitating diseases.

 

After success with iPads, our facility became one of only 200 homes in the country (the only one in Kentucky) certified to utilize the Music and Memory Program.  This program utilizes technology to turn yesterday's nursing home into a sustainable community where people go to live and be.  By incorporating technology into our person-centered care philosophy, we were able to create a home for today.  Providing person-centered care is the ability to be adaptable and adhere to the rigidity of the task list.  We discovered that technology, when used correctly, can be fun, empowering, inspiring and our best medicine.

MDS/RAI Updates

Revisions to MDS Manual

 

CMS has issued an errata document on the Nursing Home Quality Initiatives webpage titled MDS3.0RAIManualv1.12R.Errata.

 

This document is available in the Downloads section, and contains revisions to pages in Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, Section A of the MDS 3.0 RAI Manual v1.12R that clarify the meaning of entry/reentry and the coding for MDS items A1600, A1700, A1800, and A1900.

 

Changed manual pages are marked with the footer "October 2014 (R)" or "October 2014 (R2)" if the page was previously revised.

 

Providers who download and print the full MDS 3.0 RAI Manual (v1.12R) will need to download and print the errata document. The errata document begins with a table that lists the identified revisions and the pages to which they have been applied. Following the table are the actual corrected replacement pages for insertion into the printed manual.

 

Coding of Pneumococcal Vaccine on the MDS


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) along with recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has issued new requirements for the pneumococcal vaccine in adults over the age of 65.  They recommend that providers now use two pneumococcal vaccines for adults aged ≥65. These vaccinations are 13-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV13) and 23-Valent Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine (PPSV23)

 

CMS is updating the Medicare coverage requirements to align with the updated ACIP recommendation. Effective for dates of service on or after September 19, 2014, (and upon implementation of CR9051), Medicare will cover:

  • An initial pneumococcal vaccine to all Medicare beneficiaries who have never received the vaccine under Medicare Part B; and
  • A different, second pneumococcal vaccine one year after the first vaccine was administered (that is, 11 full months have passed following the month in which the last pneumococcal vaccine was administered).

These Medicare coverage requirements are implemented on February 2, 2015 as posted in the MLN Matters document - MM9051.

 

Continue to code item O0300 as instructed in the current RAI User's Manual.   

 

 MDS/RAI Coordinator Contact Information

 

MDS Assessment or Coding Issues 

Jan Keeling at 502-564-7963, x3301 or via e-mail

  

Transmission or Technical Issues

Rhonda Littleton-Roe at 502-564-7963, x3300 or via e-mail

 

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.