After extensive consideration by the WHCA Board of Directors, along with other Wisconsin long-term, post-acute and residential care provider associations, we are pleased to present to you our budget request for the skilled nursing facility payment system.
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Believe it or not, the WHCA/WiCAL 67th Annual Fall Convention is less than 2 months away! The 2018 Fall Convention will be held October 17-19 at the Radisson Hotel in Green Bay. WHCA/WiCAL is pleased to announce that the 2018 Fall Convention brochure and registration is now available!
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The final public provider meeting for the FY19 Methods of Implementation was held Monday in Madison. The meeting was led by Nursing Home Policy and Rate Setting section chief, Rene Eastman. The main news of the meeting was that...
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Officials from the DHS-DQA-Bureau of Assisted Living met with representatives of the state's assisted living provider associations to address areas of concern to the state's ALF provider community and the residents who they serve.
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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published a proposed rule that, if left unchanged, leaves unclear the status for assisted living community owners to take full advantage of this year’s federal tax cuts.
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On August 16, 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced significant improvements in managing the Medicaid program in partnership with states
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In the fall of 2017, Beneficiary and Family Centered Care Quality Improvement Organizations (BFCC-QIOs) launched Healthcare Navigation programs that offer a good solution for Medicare fee-for-service patients who need help navigating the health care system.
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be hosting two webinars for providers of Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF) about changes to the Minimum Data Set (MDS) 3.0 Version 1.16.0 related to the SNF Quality Reporting Program (QRP) that will go into effect on October 1, 2018. The upcoming webinars will focus on Section N: Medications and new items associated with Sections GG: Functional Abilities and Goals and I: Active Diagnoses.
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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the top diagnoses involved with readmissions throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin. Lake Superior Quality Innovation Network (Lake Superior QIN), Minnesota Hospital Association, and the American Lung Association Minnesota Chapter are partnering to provide a webinar series to inform providers across the continuum of care in support of patients with COPD.
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The University of Wisconsin (UW) Oshkosh Center for Community Development, Engagement and Training (CCDET) and the WI Department of Health Services, Division of Quality Assurance (DQA) are pleased to offer the Caregiver Project workshops in 2018 in Stevens Point and Milwaukee. These workshops are partially subsidized by DQA.
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Now that the 2019 National Quality Award Program applications have been released by the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL), be sure to watch the criteria series for each award level—bronze, silver, and gold—available on ahcancalED! As a reminder, these series are updated to reflect changes in the criteria each year, so even if you have viewed the series previously, you will want to view it again this year.
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The WHCA Annual Survey Workshop Update of 2018 will look back at RoP Phase II and the revised survey implementation, and will also look forward toward the final Phase III requirements.
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The National Nursing Home Quality Care Collaborative is ready to present “Learning Session Six: Improving Care by Reducing Avoidable Hospitalizations.”
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State and local health officials are advising residents to continue to protect themselves against mosquito bites due to the state's first human case of West Nile virus (WNV) this year. A resident of Dane County is the first person confirmed infected with the virus in the state in 2018.
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The Division of Quality Assurance (DQA), Office of Caregiver Quality (OCQ) oversees federal and state requirements for the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry/Nurse Aide Training and Competency Evaluation Program (NAR/NATCEP). On September 1, 2018, the management of the NAR/NATCEP will transition from Pearson VUE to D & S Diversified LLP dba as Headmaster.
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2019 application packets the National Quality Award Program are now available online! In addition, the 2019 program calendar and submission checklist have been posted to each award level page.
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August's F-Tag webinar will focus on the Activities of Daily Living Regulations including, but not limited to, F-Tag 677, with a review of the regulations and an analysis of the associated Interpretive Guidance. A review of survey procedures used to guide the investigative process will be discussed. Actual citation examples will be shared and discussed. Tools to assist the facility interdisciplinary team in monitoring compliance and incorporating into the facility QAPI processes will be discussed.
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Navigator GPO is the only group purchasing organization that has partnered with the WHCA/WiCAL Service Corporation. Through Navigator’s many vendor partnerships, WHCA/WiCAL member facilities can save money by purchasing through Navigator.
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In an effort to continue offering WHCA/WiCAL members relevant and informative educational events, WHCA/WiCAL staff is in the process of developing the Financial Affairs Webinar series calendar for 2019. Our goal is to offer members the most relevant sessions and to offer the most useful educational opportunities as possible. And there is no better way to ensure timely, informative topics than to ask members directly what topics they would like to see presented!
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Last week, NCAL revealed a new member benefit for assisted living providers, the AL Cost Calculator. Powered by Prime Care Technologies, the AL Cost Calculator is web-based, enhanced resident assessment tool that allows assisted living providers to assess how costs are allocated across residents.
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