-- "Long-term care facilities would have to meet more comprehensive emergency preparedness guidelines, under a newly proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services." – McKnight's -- "Data privacy and security are not new issues to senior living operators, and many have made serious headway in protection of protected health information (PHI) with the onset of technology advances. But recent changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 … [Read more...] about LTC News: Emergency Preparedness
DADS News Alerts: January Meetings, Webinars, and Reminders
-- DADS will hold two free joint training sessions on Tuesday, January 7, and Wednesday, January 8, at various times. See Joint Provider Training site for more information. -- HHSC is hosting a series of information sessions about several Medicaid managed care initiatives scheduled for September 1, 2014. On Wednesday, January 8, 2014, a Medicaid Managed Care Initiatives Information Session will be held in Austin. For additional details, check the meeting notices on the HHSC site. -- … [Read more...] about DADS News Alerts: January Meetings, Webinars, and Reminders
TX Register Updates: ACA Implementation, Base Wages
The following information was obtained from the December 27 issue of the Texas Register. Public Notices HHSC intend to submit Transmittal Number 13-055 to the Texas State Plan for Medical Assistance to establish home telemonitoring services as a benefit of the Texas Medicaid program. HHSC also intends to submit to CMS a request for an amendment to DBMD waiver program to update unduplicated count and point-in-time limits, change the name from consumer directed services agencies to … [Read more...] about TX Register Updates: ACA Implementation, Base Wages
DADS News Alert: Five Star Preview Reports
-- From the news alert page: The Five Star Preview Reports were available beginning December 11th. To access these reports, select the Certification and Survey Provider Enhanced Reports (CASPER) Reporting link located at the top of your MDS State Welcome page. For Texas, this web page is at: https://158.73.90.242:81/home.html (Staff might get a warning message, but should be able to select "proceed"). Once in the CASPER Reporting system, click on the 'Folders' button and access the Five … [Read more...] about DADS News Alert: Five Star Preview Reports
TX Register Updates: Medical Board Changes
The following information was obtained from the December 20 issue of the Texas Register. Public Notices HHSC intends to submit an amendment to the Texas State Plan for Medical Assistance to update the fee schedules in the current state plan by adjusting or implementing fees for: 2014 Annual Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System Update; Ambulance Services; Case Management for Children and Pregnant Women; Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory Services; Dental Services; Durable … [Read more...] about TX Register Updates: Medical Board Changes
LTC News: MedPAC Calls for SNF Cuts
-- "The House of Representatives passed a 3-month patch late Thursday to stabilize physicians' Medicare payments -- delaying dramatic cuts scheduled for 2014 -- while Congress works on a permanent repeal of Medicare's sustainable growth rate (SGR) payment formula." - MedPageToday -- "Long-term care providers have lambasted the current [outpatient therapy payment] system, which requires Medicare contractors to manually review claims in excess of a set annual amount. Providers and government … [Read more...] about LTC News: MedPAC Calls for SNF Cuts
DADS News Alerts: PPECC Draft
-- The completed draft version of the 40 TAC Chapter 15, Licensing Standards for Prescribed Pediatric Extended Care Centers (PPECC) has been posted to the PPECC page. See the news alert page for more information. -- DADS Regulatory Services announced a new web site from your Facility Surveyor/ Liaisons. -- CMS released version 1.14.0 of the MDS 3.0 data submission specifications and version 1.12.0 of the MDS 3.0 item sets. For more information about these and other entries, see … [Read more...] about DADS News Alerts: PPECC Draft
IL/PL: NF Changes
DADS released a provider and an information letter. NF: DADS provided guidelines regarding the implementation of the new rules and their impact on: pending Medicaid bed waiver applications or exemption requests currently under review and approved Medicaid bed allocations that have not been certified. (Letter) Additionally, DADS clarified supporting documentation requirements for activities of daily living coded in Section G of MDS 3.0 assessments for state surveys and utilization … [Read more...] about IL/PL: NF Changes
LTC News: CMS Rules, Provider Court Case
-- "After years of trying to clamp down on hospital spending, the federal government wants to get control over what Medicare spends on nursing homes, home health services and other medical care typically provided to patients after they have left the hospital." - Kaiser -- "In a rule issued today, [CMS] finalized payment rates and policies for 2014, including a major proposal to support care management outside the routine office interaction as well as other policies to promote high quality … [Read more...] about LTC News: CMS Rules, Provider Court Case
TX Register Updates: Board of Nursing Compliance
The following information was obtained from the November 29 issue of the Texas Register. Public Notice HHSC intends to submit to CMS a request to amend the THTQIP to create a nursing facility transformation pool. See the Texas Register for details. Adopted Rules On DADS' behalf HHSC adopted amendments to §9.553, Definitions; §9.555, Definitions of TxHmL program service components; §9.567, Process for Enrollment; §9.578, Program Provider Certification Principles: Service Delivery; … [Read more...] about TX Register Updates: Board of Nursing Compliance