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Authors Posts by Carol Ferenz

Carol Ferenz

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ODP Announcement 22-085 announces clarification for Supports Coordination Organizations (SCO) on resuming Waiver and Targeted Support Management (TSM) Supports Coordination (SC) in-person monitoring. Many adjustments have been made to the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) policy and operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Appendix K allowed for SC services to be provided remotely during the pandemic. ODP planned to replace the Appendix K guidance with new requirements detailed in the Intellectual Disability and Autism (ID/A) Waiver renewals and the Adult Autism Waiver (AAW) amendment effective July 1, 2022, to allow for some SC individual monitoring to continue to be completed remotely.

Both the ID/A Waiver renewals and the AAW amendment are pending approval with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). Therefore, ODP is issuing guidance to clarify the expected requirements of individual monitorings performed by SCs. This announcement outlines the updated requirements for SC in-person and remote monitoring and obsoletes that section of Appendix K.

ODP expects SCOs that were unable to meet the June 30 deadline for completing the in-person monitoring for at-risk individuals to continue to follow their plan and communicate with the ODP regional office to ensure that all the priority individuals are seen in-person.

This announcement outlines requirements for SCOs to implement no later than October 1. For additional questions, please contact your appropriate ODP regional office.

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Tablet on a desk - Newsletter

Welcome to the first edition of Technology Today! The aim of this quarterly newsletter is to share the work being done by the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) Technology Taskforce, as well as resources, events, and success stories.

ODP hopes you enjoy the inaugural edition of this newsletter and look for future editions! The Technology Today newsletter is also available on MyODP.

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ODP Announcement 22-054 informs Medication Administration Trainers that the outage for important infrastructural changes to the Medication Administration Training Program will now be extended through Sunday, August 7, 2022.

Trainers will be able to login and register to take the “Train the Trainer” course on August 8, 2022. Trainers will be able to administer new classes, and students will be able to register in the system on September 6, 2022. If you attempt to conduct a class or complete any training on the system during this outage, your work will be lost.

All sites related to the Medication Administration Training Program will be unavailable because of scheduled maintenance from 12:00 am, Friday, July 1, 2022, now through Sunday, August 7, 2022. We apologize for the inconvenience.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the fundamental role that infection prevention and control (IPC) practices play in the delivery of safe healthcare and sustaining a strong, healthy community. The pandemic has taught us that not all healthcare settings have the same needs, abilities, or serve the same populations, and because of that, each facility may have their own set of unique IPC challenges. Behavioral health/psychiatric facilities, drug & alcohol treatment centers, and group homes have been identified as the state’s non-traditional healthcare settings, and through experience, we have learned that these sites may require additional IPC support and resources. Recognizing this need, DOH has created the Non-traditional Infection Control Consulting (NICC) Team.

The NICC Team is a group of certified, experienced infection preventionists with commitment to empowering and supporting non-traditional healthcare settings throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as they aim to reduce transmissible diseases and conditions. To assist in promoting integration of best practice IPC principles into all roles and aspects of care in these settings, the NICC Team can provide the following free of cost services:

  1. Infection prevention and control consultations;
  2. Guided facility assessments;
  3. Policy and guidance interpretation and recommendations (DOH, CDC, CMS, DHS, etc.);
  4. Education and training resources; and
  5. Tools and resources to support facility needs, including audit tools, checklists, and fact sheets.

Please review the more detailed information sheet about the team’s services and an introductory program flyer to share with non-traditional healthcare partners & facilities. This new resource is intended to increase awareness of IPC best practices as they aim to ensure patient safety in all PA healthcare settings.

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a State Medicaid Director Letter (SMDL 22-003) providing guidance for the first-ever Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Quality Measure Set, the first of two planned guidance documents from CMS.

The HCBS Quality Measure Set is included in the SMDL, starting on page 14. The list of measures includes the NQF number (if applicable), measure steward, and data collection method, as well as information on whether each measure addresses section 1915(c) waiver assurances and/or can be used to assess access, LTSS rebalancing, and/or community integration and HCBS settings requirements.

Most of the measures are derived from consumer surveys; CMS gives states the flexibility to select measures from the consumer survey of their choice from the following validated tools: NCI®-IDD, NCI-AD™, HCBS CAHPS®, and POM®.

Visit here for more information.

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The PA Family Network invites you to attend this free workshop:

Wednesday, August 24, 2022
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Monday, August 29, 2022
11:00 am – 1:00 pm

REGISTER

Join PA Family Network Advisors as we plan and problem solve for the safety of your loved one with intellectual disabilities and/or autism. See the flyer for more information, including registration instructions.

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