MassHealth requires that nursing facilities and chronic disease and rehabilitation inpatient hospitals account for the balances of personal needs allowance (PNA) account funds. MassHealth has issued its annual LTC Bulletin for the accounting of balances of personal needs allowances (PNA) for residents in LTC facilities. For 2016, if a provider does not submit the PNA form by May 31, 2017, or if the filing is incomplete and not reconciled to the bank statement, the provider may be subject to administrative

The Massachusetts Council of Activity Professionals (MassCAP) is hosting a workshop on Wednesday, June 14th, "Activities: Not Just Fun and Games, A Look At Our Interdisciplinary Role to Resident Care." The workshop will be held at Pines Edge Health Center at North Hill in Needham and is open to all activity professionals. Discounted seminar fees are available for MassCAP members, please click here to view the registration flyer. For more information about MassCAP, please visit their website at www.themasscap.org.

On Thursday, April 27, 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its proposed rule for the skilled nursing facility (SNF) prospective payment system (PPS) governing Medicare rates for federal fiscal year (FFY) 2018 (October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018). Below are the highlights of the proposed rule: Market basket (i.e. cost-of-living) adjustment of 1.0% beginning October 1, 2017. The proposed rule for FFY 2018 establishes a net market basket increase of 1.0 percent. Specifically, for FFY

In response to concerns raised by Mass Senior Care to the MassHealth Commissioner, the Executive Office of Health and Human Services has extended the Direct Care Add On Interim Filing Date deadline to May 5, 2017 at 5 pm. On May 1, 2017 EOHHS posted on MassHealth Provider Forms webpage its official notice extending the deadline for filing the FY17 Interim Direct Care Add-on Compliance data. EOHHS has also included with the Notice instructions for completing the Interim Direct Care

Today the House of Representatives, on a 217-213 vote, passed an amended version of the “American Health Care Act”, the bill that would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Our national association, AHCA, reports that while the legislation has been modified from the original bill, the “substantial reforms to Medicaid funding still exist in the bill and will seriously affect AHCA/NCAL membership if it becomes law.” The bill will now go to the Senate, where a final vote

Mass Senior Care is currently displaying artwork from the talented residents at Island Terrace Nursing Homein Lakeville at our office in Waltham. The artwork is borrowed from the Art Gallery of Island Terrace Artists. Click here to visit their Facebook page and to view their entire gallery. Mass Senior Care invites members to participate and submit your facility’s artwork for display. Please contact Jennifer Chen, Director of Membership & Engagement, for additional information.

The LTC Trend Tracker Team is hosting a webinar for LTC Trend Tracker account administrators to discuss the administration screens and also a live tutorial on new features that only account administrators have access to. This webinar will be hosted by Gautami Inamdar & Lonnita Belk, managers of LTC Trend Tracker, on Thursday, May 11th at 2:00 PM. Please click here to register for the webinar. Please visit the Resource Center for helpful documents and how-to videos on all other

The submission deadline for the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) is approaching. Minimum Data Set (MDS) assessment data for October-December (Q4) of calendar year (CY) 2016 are due with this submission deadline. All data must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on May 15, 2017. View the list of measures required for this deadline on the SNF Quality Reporting Program Measures and Technical Information webpage. As a reminder, it is recommended that providers

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is hosting a live webcast on Tuesday, May 2, 2017, from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. ET. The focus of this training will be to assist providers from Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities, Long-Term Care Hospitals, and Skilled Nursing Facilities in better understanding how Review and Correct Reports fit within the overall Quality Reporting Program. Additionally, the training will provide information about re-submitting data to correct errors prior to the quarterly submission deadlines to ensure

On Thursday, May 4th, Carolyn Blanks, Mass Senior Care Foundation Executive Director, will present a webinar, Meeting the Challenge: Successful Strategies to Boost Nurse Recruitment and Retention, for McKnight's Long-Term Care News. Providers may feel as if they are going "back to the future" in facing a nursing shortage in long-term care. Carolyn will use her background in workforce development to provide background and strategies for skilled nursing facilities. As National Nurses Week prepares to kick off May 6, attendees