Member Resources

The House of Representatives earlier this week enacted an omnibus health care reform bill. The final bill includes three nursing home provisions that Mass Senior Care supported in order to preserve access to long and short term care. Creation of an Emergency Task Force on the Financial Conditions and Future of Massachusetts Nursing Home Care – the emergency task force, of which Mass Senior Care would be a member, would be required to evaluate options and make policy recommendations necessary

The Legislature on Wednesday enacted and sent to Governor Baker legislation that would raise the minimum wage and create a paid family and medical leave program for employees.

At the June 13th Board of Registration in Nursing (Board) meeting, the Board revised Advisory Ruling (AR) 0801: Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Long-Term Care Facilities to clarify and ensure compliance with current statutes, regulations and scope of practice standards. AR 0801 guides the decision making of Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses regarding cardiopulmonary resuscitation when a patient in a health care setting has been found unresponsive. Mass Senior Care and provider members worked with the Department of Public Health, Bureau

On June 15th, the Bureau of Health Care Safety and Quality, the Drug Control Program and Board of Registration in Pharmacy, through the Bureau of Health Professions Licensure released a revised list of controlled substances in Schedules II-V that Long-Term Care Facilities (LTCFs) are permitted to store on their premises in a locked Emergency Kit.

On June 15th, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) issued its annual policy report entitled June 2018 Report to the Congress: Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System. This report fulfills the Commission’s legislative mandate to evaluate Medicare payment issues and to make recommendations to the Congress. You can view the entire report or sections of the report from the MedPAC Report webpage. To view the fact sheet, click here. Please note that the report includes ten separate policy sections

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final version of the revised policies on the immediate imposition of federal remedies. The Quality, Safety & Oversight (QSO) memo 18-18-NH replaces S&C: 16-31-NH, released in July 2016 and S&C: 18-01-NH, published in a draft on October 27, 2017. With this finalized version of the immediate imposition policies, CMS has revised guidance in Chapter 7 of the State Operations Manual (SOM) related to the Immediate Imposition of Federal Remedies as

Leaders of Mass Senior Care Association advocated on Capitol Hill during AHCA/NCAL’s Annual Congressional Briefing on June 5 th and 6 th. Matthew Salmon, Mass Senior Care Chairman was joined by Frank Romano, MSCA Board Member, Travis Romano, MSCA Member, John Olenio, MSCA Associate Member Medline and Tara Gregorio, MSCA President, who met with the Massachusetts Congressional delegation to discuss elder care issues and legislative priorities including financial pressures on the profession and common-sense regulatory relief. Over 400 AHCA/NCAL members

Twenty-eight Mass Senior Care member facilities are being recognized with a 2018 Bronze - Commitment to Quality Award by AHCA/NCAL.

AHCA recently received clarification from CMS on S&C Memo: 17-30 Requirement to Reduce Legionella Risk in Healthcare Facility Water Systems to Prevent Cases and Outbreaks of Legionnaires’ Disease (LD). CMS has clarified that testing for Legionella or other waterborne pathogens are not required, unless it is required by the state. Facilities must have a water management plan to assess the risk of pathogens and have testing protocols in place.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is holding a webinar on Tuesday, June 19th at 1:00pm ET on Emergency Preparedness for Providers. The national webinar will address topics and questions related to the new CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule, the 1135 waiver and Lessons Learned (observations) within the past year. Register for the webinar here.

In the past weeks, several members have noted unusual outputs from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) tools. Since then, AHCA has been in contact with CMS and CMS has updated several tools to correct errors. Please click here to read the complete summary from AHCA.

We are saddened to share that on June 6 th, Alfred "Doc" Arcidi passed away at the age of 86. A graduate of Merrimack College, Dr. Arcidi earned his Doctorate of Dental Science from the University of Buffalo School of Dentistry and developed a large family dentistry practice in Lawrence. In 1982, Dr. Arcidi founded the Whittier Health Network, a highly successful healthcare organization consisting of multiple facilities spread throughout Massachusetts as well as Eastern New York. Phil Arcidi, one

Four residents recently celebrated their 100 thplus birthdays at Hathaway Manor Extended Care Facility in New Bedford. Among those joining the birthday celebration was Wanda Hardy, Activities Director and New Bedford Mayor John Mitchell. It was Diamond and Denim Day for Virginia Brackman, 100, Juliette Higham, 103, Lois Vanorski, 101, and Mary Ferreira 100. (Pictured Below)

AHCA contracted with a law firm to develop a toolkit to support members creating a compliance and ethics program by November 28, 2019 for Phase 3 of the Requirements of Participation. Members must log into ahcancalED to access the resource. This toolkit is a concise summary of the requirements with helpful, practical tips for implementation. It also pulls in best practices from a variety of sources to support providers in building or improving their program. Creating an effective program requires

Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Provider Preview Reports are now available; visit the Spotlights and Announcements webpage for a list of quality measures based on quarterly data. Review your performance data by June 30, prior to public display on Nursing Home Compare. Corrections to the underlying data will not be permitted during this time; request a CMS review if you believe that your data is inaccurate.

The US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG) has released its updated list which reflects all OIG exclusions and reinstatement actions up to, and including, those taken in May 2018. This new file is meant to replace the updated List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE) database file available for download last month. Individuals and entities that have been reinstated to the federal health care programs are not included in this file. The updated files are posted

Each year, the American College of Health Care Administrators (ACHCA) recognizes the leaders of top-performing SNF’s across the country through its Eli Pick Facility Leadership Award. MDS quality indicators (QMs), occupancy, and three years of survey data are used to identify top-performers. Congratulations to the 56 facilities from Massachusetts that were selected in 2018, click here to view the list of Massachusetts recognized facilities.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences, is pleased to announce a free webinar designed for patient care and laboratory staff from the long-term acute care hospital and long-term care settings entitled, “Candida auris: A Fungus we don’t want Among us.” on June 7, 2018 from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm. Webinar topics: Epidemiology of Candida auris Laboratory testing and identification of Candida auris Candida auris containment and response recommendations Local facility experience with

CareOne Newton celebrated Skilled Nursing Care Week with its 1st Community Day in celebration of National Skilled Nursing Care Week. Residents, family members and community neighbors enjoyed games, food and laughs.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be hosting a 2-day Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) in-person 'Train the Trainer' event for providers on July 31 and August 1, 2018, at the Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore.

The Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA) has issued Hospital-Wide Adult All-Payer Readmissions in Massachusetts: SFY 2011-2016 updating previous CHIA reporting on the subject. Key Findings: The unplanned, all-payer readmission rate for Massachusetts acute care hospitals was 15.9% in SFY 2016, the same rate as in the previous year. The risk-standardized readmission rates for hospitals had more variability in 2016 compared to 2015, ranging from a low of 13.6% to a high of 18.1%. Medicare and Medicaid insured patients

Partners HealthCare will be accepting applications for participation in Year 6 of the Skilled Nursing Facility Collaborative Network beginning June 1, 2018 through June 30, 2018 at 5 PM. Participation in the Collaborative Network is an opportunity for skilled nursing facilities to join a bi-directional, quality-based collaborative emphasizing quality improvement and education. All facilities that are interested in participating in Year 6 of the Collaborative Network will be required to apply for inclusion. To indicate interest in applying to the

The Advance Beneficiary Notice (ABN) of Noncoverage Interactive Tutorial Educational Tool and the The Medicare Advance Written Notices of Noncoverage Booklet are available on the CMS MLN website.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has posted on its website updates to the following documents: New Long Term Care Survey Process and Slide Deck LTC Survey Pathways LTC Survey Procedure Guide LTC Interim Revisit Instructions

Nearly 200 nursing facility staff, residents and residents' family members took to the State House on Tuesday to deliver an urgent message that increased funding for frontline staff and resident care is immediately needed in order to meet the care needs of vulnerable nursing home residents who can no longer live safely in the community. The program at Advocacy Day featured Matt Salmon, Chairman of Mass Senior Care, Tara Gregorio, President of Mass Senior Care, Senate President Harriette Chandler and

The Massachusetts Senate has acted on a number of amendments related to nursing home care. We are pleased to report that the Senate adopted Senator Julian Cyr's EMAC Assessment Hardship Waiver, which directs the Department of Unemployment Assistance to develop a hardship waiver that may be approved for an employer experiencing a financial hardship due to its liability.

David Bell has been elected President of the Massachusetts Chapter of American College of Health Care Administrators. David has been a licensed long term care administrator since 1984 and has been an Administrator of Meadow Green Rehab and Nursing Center in Waltham since 1988.

The Department of Public Health has released proposed revision to 105 CMR 153.000 Licensure Procedure and Suitability Requirements for Long-Term Care Facilities for review and comment. We are pleased that the proposed revisions include recommendations submitted by Mass Senior Care members including the following:

In accordance with the SFY 2018 Budget Act, MassHealth will be sending a message text notifying providers that MassHealth will once again delay processing nursing facility claims for May 2018 dates of service. As you may recall, MassHealth has applied this temporary cash management delay for the last eight fiscal years. For the current year, this effectively means that nursing facility payments for May 2018 claims received by MassHealth in May or June will be pushed back by ten days, from June 25th to July 5, 2018.

In response to member concerns, Mass Senior Care has been working with the Department of Public Health and the American Health Care Association on guidance related to F700 Bedrails.

The US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG) has released its updated list which reflects all OIG exclusions and reinstatement actions. This new file is meant to replace the updated List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE) database file available for download last month. Individuals and entities that have been reinstated to the federal health care programs are not included in this file. The updated files are posted on the OIG’s website and healthcare providers have an

In honor of National Nurses Week on May 6-12, 2018, Blaire House of Tewksbury celebrated their dedicated nursing staff. The residents wrote thank you notes on heart cutouts for their nursing staff and hung these on all three units of the facility. Pictured are: Ashley Podzycki, RN, resident Dorothy Rogers, a former U.S. Navy nurse, and Jennifer Reid, RN.

Local legislators, town officials, and policy-makers met at John Scott Rehab and Nursing Center in Braintree on May 8 to discuss current issues related to the skilled nursing industry and the impact those issues are having on nursing home residents and employees across the state. Pictured Below: Richard Bane, President and CEO of BaneCare Management and a member of the Mass Senior Care Association Board of Directors , addresses issues facing the nursing home industry. Attendees included: Mayor Joe Sullivan

The Massachusetts Senior Care Foundation's annual scholarship program assists long term care staff in meeting their personal and professional goals through furthering their education. Since 1985, the Foundation has awarded $2.8 million in scholarships to nearly 1,600 "Foundation Scholars" across Massachusetts. The Foundation is now accepting applications for its 2018 scholarship awards. Scholarships from $500 to $2,000 will be awarded to selected applicants to help cover direct, out of pocket expenses for tuition, fees, books and supplies during the 2018

Join us on Thursday, May 31 st at 10:00 am for this important one-hour webinar, Massachusetts’ New Pay Equity Law – Where to Begin, What to do Next, and Why it is Important to Include Your Legal Counsel! The general purpose of the Massachusetts Pay Equity Act—scheduled to take effect in July 2018—is to close the gender gap and make it unlawful for employers to pay men and women different rates for "comparable work", a term that was not previously

From May 13-19, 2018, National Skilled Nursing Care Week (NSNCW), formerly known as National Nursing Home Week, provides an opportunity to recognize the role of skilled nursing facilities in caring for America’s seniors and individuals with disabilities. The 2018 NSNCW theme announced by AHCA, “Celebrating Life’s Stories”, serves as a tribute to life’s most significant events, relationships and experiences that shape the unique perspectives of residents, families, staff, and volunteers in long term and post-acute care. ​Facilities will be encouraged

The Committee on Senate Ways and Means (SWM) today released its state fiscal year (SFY) 2019 budget recommendation. The Committee’s recommendation includes level funding for the current year's $35.5 million direct care add on and restores the $7.5 million cut proposed by Governor Baker in his SFY 2019 budget recommendation.

Jennifer Gizmunt has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Salter HealthCare communities where she will oversee the daily operations for Aberjona, Winchester and Woburn Rehabilitation & Nursing Centers. Gizmunt joins Salter from Lahey Health Continuing Care where she was Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer. Gizmunt succeeds Robert Driscoll, former MSCA Board member, who retired earlier this year.

A recent Massachusetts Senior Care Association member survey documents that the Trump Administration’s decision to end the temporary protected status (TPS) for Haitians living in the United States will have a negative impact on the ability of skilled nursing facilities to provide quality care to frail and disabled residents. Massachusetts nursing facilities, like other human service providers, rely heavily on first-generation Americans and immigrants to meet resident care needs. Eliminating TPS for Haitians would undoubtedly exacerbate the sector’s staffing shortages

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued on Friday, April 27, 2018 its proposed federal fiscal year 2019 (FFY 2019) Medicare SNF PPS rule and Pre-Rule on Possible New Payment System. AHCA has created a summary document with a highlights section and preliminary overview of the payment updates, the SNF value-based purchasing (VBP) program proposed new components, the IMPACT Act quality reporting additions, and an overview of the payment reform discussion. Highlights of CMS’s proposed actions include: Market

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is continuing to offer a free monthly webinar series called “Bug of the Month,” which will feature Healthcare Associated Infection/Antibiotic Resistant pathogens of concern. The next webinar is "Super Bugs, Super Strategies: Where are we with CRE?" scheduled for Tuesday, May 1, 2018, 12:00-1:00 pm. Click here to register.

Fourth quarter FY 2017 Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Reports (PEPPERs) are available for hospices, Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs), Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs), Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities (IPFs), Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), and Long-term Acute Care Hospitals (LTCHs). These reports summarize provider-specific data statistics for Medicare services that may be at risk for improper payments. Use your data to support internal auditing and monitoring activities. For instructions on obtaining your PEPPER, read the Secure PEPPER Access Guide. Visit the PEPPER