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Authors Posts by Melissa Dehoff

Melissa Dehoff

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Melissa Dehoff is responsible for all medical rehabilitation and brain injury service issues. Ms. Dehoff attends multiple state-level meetings to advocate on behalf of members on brain injury and rehabilitation issues and is a member of the Department of Health Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory Board.

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The Department of Health’s Brain Injury Advisory Board, established under section 1252 of the Federal Traumatic Brain Injury Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. § 300d-52), will hold their next public meeting on Friday, November 1, 2024, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. The meeting will be held in person at the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network, 6340 Flank Drive, Harrisburg, PA 17112 in the Cambria conference room.

Meeting materials will be sent out before the meeting and will also be available on the Board’s website and at the meeting location. Questions should be directed to Nicole Johnson.

The Department of Health’s Head Injury Program (HIP) strives to ensure that eligible individuals who have a traumatic brain injury receive high quality rehabilitative services aimed at reducing functional limitations and improving quality of life. The Board assists the department in understanding and meeting the needs of persons living with acquired brain injuries, both traumatic and nontraumatic, and their families. This quarterly meeting provides updates on a variety of topics, including the number of people served by HIP. In addition, meeting participants will discuss budgetary and programmatic issues, community programs relating to traumatic and nontraumatic brain injuries, and available advocacy opportunities.

For additional information or for persons with a disability who wish to attend the meeting and require an auxiliary aid, service, or other accommodation to do so, contact Nicole Johnson, Division of Community Systems Development and Outreach, 717-772-2763. For individuals with speech and/or hearing impairments, contact V/TT 717-783-6514 or the Pennsylvania Hamilton Relay Service at 800-654-5984. This meeting is subject to cancellation without notice.

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The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has announced that they are reopening the calendar year (CY) 2023 rate study survey in order to gather responses from providers that were not able to submit previously. The rate study survey is for the following Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS):

  • Adult Day;
  • Structured Day Habilitation;
  • Employment and Training;
  • Personal Assistance (Agency);
  • Personal Assistance (Participant Directed); and
  • Residential Habilitation.

Access the survey here. Please complete the survey for CY 2023, which spans from January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023, unless otherwise specified. Please only complete the survey if you did not previously participate. The reopening of the survey will ensure every provider has ample time to offer input to broaden and improve the resulting analysis. The survey will remain open until Friday, November 15, 2024.

It is highly recommended that you review the survey questions before starting the survey. This survey tool does not allow individuals to save and go back to answer questions. Have all your agency information such as wages, employee information, and financial statements readily available. This will help you to submit accurate information when answering the questions.

This survey is one piece of the targeted rate review and is intended to collect current provider rate and wage data and general feedback on the challenges of providing these services. The information collected in this survey will be used to assist in developing a point of reference for the rate range to evaluate current payment rates. In addition to results from this survey, the review will include payment rate information from Managed Care Organizations (MCO) in OLTL claims data, recent legislative policies, department expectations, and other data obtained from publicly available sources.

HCBS providers that delivered multiple service categories during CY 2023 should fill out this survey separately for each service category you delivered.

HCBS providers that did not deliver any of the service categories listed above should disregard this survey. OLTL is partnering with Mercer to perform a rate study exclusive to the service categories listed above at this time.

The information collected for this survey will be used for both this rate study and to meet the requirements of House Bill 1300 from the 2023–2024 Pennsylvania General Assembly regular session. The information you provide will remain confidential and private and will only be shared publicly through high-level summary reports that do not include provider-level detail. Please comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and do not share any protected health information (PHI) within your survey responses.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please reach out via email.

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Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) recently released a reminder to ensure that all agencies have correct contact information on file with them in accordance with § 52.14 (j)(1) (related to ongoing responsibilities of providers), which states that a provider shall notify the Department of Human Services’ (DHS) OLTL at least 30-days prior to changes in the provider’s address, telephone number, fax number, email address, provider name change, or provider’s designated contact person.

Additionally, it is imperative that the participant’s designated service coordinator’s correct information is included in the Home and Community Services Information System (HCSIS). Please ensure that the correct service coordinator’s (SC) name and contact information are accurate on each Individual Service Plan (ISP) assigned to them. OLTL uses this information to contact providers for many reasons specific to your agency, and it is important that members of their team have accurate information, as some of these contacts require immediate follow-up.

Please verify that your agency and staff member contact information is accurate and correct in HCSIS and PROMISe™ no later than 30 Days from Notice. If changes are needed to the SC and/or SC Supervisor contact on the Caseload Facesheet page, work with your agency’s designated Business Partner Administrator (BPA) and SC Supervisors to make the applicable changes to your agency’s caseload. If you are unsure of how to make those changes, all training materials are located in the HCSIS Learning Management System (LMS). If you do not have access to LMS, please contact your agency’s BPA.

To update your information with OLTL, complete the Change of Information form and send the completed form and any required supporting documents electronically.

If you have any questions regarding this communication, please contact the Division of Provider Operations, Enrollment and Certification Section inbox or call 800-932-0939, Option 1, Monday through Friday, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm.

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The agenda for the October 2, 2024 Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) Subcommittee meeting has been released. The meeting is scheduled for 10:00 am – 1:00 pm and will be held via webinar.

To participate in the meeting, please register here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. If you plan to participate via phone, the dial-in number is: 562-247-8422; Access Code: 681 281 984#.

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The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) will be conducting an event via Zoom that will focus on the recent announcement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that formally designated brain injury as a chronic health condition. The session, “CMS Chronic Condition Designation — What it Means for You,” will be held on September 24, 2024, at 12:00 pm.

Panelists for this event include:

  • Denver Supinger, BIAA’s Director of Advocacy and Government Relations;
  • Karen Kimsey, former Director of the Department of Medical Assistance Services;
  • Paul Bosworth, brain injury survivor and member of BIAA’s Brain Injury Survivors Council; and
  • Darcy Keith, brain injury survivor and member of BIAA’s Brain Injury Survivors Council.

To participate in the event, please register here.

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The meeting documents from the September 4 Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) Subcommittee meeting are now available. These documents include the transcript and PowerPoint presentations. You can view them below:

The next LTSS Subcommittee meeting is scheduled for October 2, 2024, from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm via webinar only.

To participate in the meeting, please register here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. If you plan to participate via phone, the dial-in number is: (562) 247-8422; Access Code: 681 281 984#.

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Novitas Solutions, the Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) for Pennsylvania, will be conducting a three-day Medicare Compliance Matters Virtual Symposium. The symposium is free of charge and will be conducted September 17 – September 19. It will offer 44 webinars that include essential information, updates, and key information on Medicare compliance.

Members who are Medicare-certified providers are encouraged to review the agenda and register for sessions that you would benefit from. The full agenda and registration information is available here.

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The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has announced they will be hosting Transportation Summit 3 (via Zoom) on September 17, 2024, from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm.

The Transportation Summit is an open forum for anyone interested in discussing transportation-related issues in the Community HealthChoices (CHC) Program. There will be staff from various programs on the call, including the managed care organizations (MCO) and transportation brokers, Medical Assistance Transportation Program (MATP), and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT). They will be on the call to listen to feedback and answer questions as they can.

During the webinar, there will be three ways for individuals to ask questions.

  1. You can submit your questions to OLTL in advance by emailing Cortney Alvord.
  2. They can be read during the meeting, where you will use the “Raise Hand” feature during the meeting, be unmuted, and ask your question.
  3. You can type your question into the “Chat” box located on the right side of your screen during the meeting.

To participate in the Transportation Summit, please register using this registration link. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

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WellSky will be offering a one-hour webinar entitled “60 Minutes With the IRF Final Rule” that will focus on the fiscal year (FY) 2025 Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) Final Rule, which was finalized on July 31, 2024. It will go into effect October 1, 2024. As with past final rules, it will have a financial impact on reimbursement for IRFs as well as operational changes from both this final rule and past final rules going into effect. Join long-term care expert Jane Snecinski, FACHE, MRMC, MBA, for a live webinar and learn about:

  • The algorithm for IRF reimbursement (and key factors you should know);
  • The financial impact the rule will have on your IRF reimbursement;
  • Changes to the quality reporting factors; and
  • Changes included in previous years’ IRF final rules that may go into effect October 1, 2024.

The webinar is scheduled for September 18, 2024, from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm ET. To participate in the webinar, register here.

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