The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) has been notified by Pearson VUE that they will be increasing CNA testing costs by nearly 70 percent. In response to this development, Department officials have released a Request for Proposal for new testing administration contract.
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As you know, this report proved to be extremely effective in our advocacy efforts over the last two years and helped secure a 2% increase for SNFs and an additional $60 million for Family Care in the 2017-2019 state budget. We are now conducting the survey for the second time in an effort to keep our workforce crisis front and center for state legislators.
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The Wisconsin Department of Health Services recently provided an update on the WisCaregiver Career Program related to current participation, a media campaign, a webinar series, and the interactive CCP website.
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Due to inclement weather, the SNF Medicaid Reimbursement Workshop originally scheduled for Friday, February 9 has been moved to Friday, February 16. It will start at 8:15 a.m. at the Embassy Suites in Brookfield.
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In 2018, WHCA/WiCAL is partnering with other state affiliates and Proactive Medical Review to bring you a 12-part F-Tag webinar series! WHCA/WiCAL is the exclusive Wisconsin provider of these webinars.
The February 27 webinar will discuss Food Safety F-812, F-813 (Former F-371) . Register today!
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WHCA/WiCAL’s public affairs lobbying firm Hubbard, Wilson, Zelenkova puts out a regular update on state political news called Capitol Column. The text is included below.
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President Trump on Friday signed a two-year budget deal that includes a 10-year, $2 billion cut to skilled nursing facility (SNF) Medicare reimbursement. The massive $300 billion spending package passed after a brief government shutdown early Friday morning. The bill also permanently repeals therapy caps, long a priority of the long term and post-acute care profession.
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In November, the Wisconsin State Assembly passed the CNA Training Bill, which ensure that the State of Wisconsin could not require more than federal training standard for Certified Nursing Assistants. However, procedural roadblocks in the Senate could prevent the bill from becoming law, despite bipartisan support in both chambers of the legislature.
It is CRITICAL that providers contact and encourage their senators to urge senate leadership to move the bill forward.
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Earlier this week, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its long-awaited report on Medicaid in assisted living: MEDICAID ASSISTED LIVING SERVICES: Improved Oversight of Beneficiary Health and Welfare is Needed.
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A calculation error has been identified for the three assessment-based quality measures (QMs) reported on the skilled nursing facility (SNF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Facility- & Resident-Level Quality Measure Report and the SNF QRP Review & Correct reports (NQF #0678, NQF #0674, and NQF #2631). Duplicate stays and invalid admission dates can appear on these reports.
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CMS released an updated Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) document. This (FAQ) document contains questions and answers about Long Term Care (LTC) regulations, the survey process, technical questions, and other related LTC areas. Newly added questions and answers are in red font and older questions and answers are in black font.
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As a reminder, PBJ data that your center collected from October 1 – December 31st, 2017 must be submitted by February 14th, 2018.
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A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report on the use of anti-psychotics in nursing facilities was released nationally on Monday.
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Last week, the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) launched a new website to help long term and post-acute care providers administer CoreQ.
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To ensure that people living with Alzheimer's or related dementia are receiving high quality care that is based on the most up to date, peer reviewed evidence, the Alzheimer Association released its new Practice Recommendations in a special supplement of The Gerontologist 2018 issue.
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The 56th Annual WHCA/WiCAL Spring Conference is April 11-13, and the Exhibitor Prospectus is now available! Our Spring Conference and Exposition is a premier opportunity for vendors to increase their visibility with long-term care providers from across the state.
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Please join us in welcoming Energy Performance Lighting as a WHCA/WiCAL Prime Business Partner!
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WHCA/WiCAL wanted to reach out to all about a great opportunity for one of your facilities. Rod Heller of Energy Performance Lighting is very interested in speaking with someone from a multi-facility company that might be able to take advantage of this opportunity. Grant-funded money is available to a facility interested in doing a lighting project.
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A resident death at an assisted living facility in Sun Prairie has led to news reports questioning staff training and facility protocol.
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Through a grant funded by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services Civil Money Penalty (CMP) program, the Wisconsin Center for Performance Excellence is teaming up with area experts to offer a FREE program to nursing home providers to help you identify areas for improvement then create and implement a plan to make changes toward your quality improvement goal. This program is specifically geared to 1 and 2-star nursing homes.
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