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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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On behalf of the Pennsylvania Long-Term Care Learning Network, the Jewish Healthcare Foundation invites you to join the next special population webinar on October 13, 2022.

Going Beyond “Great Job!” With Appreciation That Impacts Lives
This webinar will continue to follow this quarter’s education theme, addressing workforce challenges. We all share the same need to feel appreciated for our contributions, yet only 3 in 10 US employees strongly agree that in the last seven days they have received recognition or praise for doing good work (Gallup, 2017). Using an interactive exercise, this session will explore a different way of expressing appreciation that supports connection and wellbeing.

Please invite the following Special Population Team Members:

  • Nursing Home Administrators;
  • Directors of Nursing;
  • Nurse Managers;
  • Medical Directors;
  • Service Coordinator Supervisors; and
  • Human Resource Team Members.

VISIT HERE to register for this Zoom webinar scheduled on Thursday, October 13, at 2:00 pm.

You will need your National Provider Identifier (NPI) to register. (If you do not have one or do not know it, please enter 0 on the registration form)

REMINDER: If you have not already registered for the October 6, 2022, Nursing Facility Webinar: Protecting and Preserving our Workforce by Preventing Common Injuries, VISIT HERE.

The Learning Network is part of the Department of Human Services’ Quality Strategy for Nursing Facilities, offered as a collaboration of the Community HealthChoices Managed Care Organizations.

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RCPA has been in communication with the American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association (AMRPA), who has been working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to ensure inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) do not face inappropriate non-compliance penalties related to the IRF Patient Assessment Instrument (PAI) version 4.0 that is set to go into effect tomorrow (October 1, 2022). One particular concern is new items in version 4.0 do not include a “skip logic” to account for unplanned discharges that classify as incomplete stays. This oversight could lead to many IRFs not meeting the 95 percent data completion threshold for the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Quality Reporting Program (IRF QRP).

Yesterday, CMS released a statement on the issue along with a Question & Answer (Q&A) document. CMS also noted that the agency will determine if a permanent fix is necessary and will release any related guidance or data specifications in the coming weeks.

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The Department of Human Services (DHS) Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has announced the launch of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) Funding Reporting portal. The online portal will be available on September 30, 2022, for OLTL providers to submit costs associated with ARPA funding distributed in 2021 in order to comply with DHS reporting requirements.

Background: ARPA Funding Information 

In 2021, federal funding from ARPA was allocated by the General Assembly under Act 24 and enacted by Governor Wolf to provide funding to nursing facilities (NF), personal care homes (PCH), and assisted living residences (ALR). These ARPA funds should be used for COVID-19 relief for costs not otherwise reimbursed by federal, state, or other sources of funding.

In addition, ARPA provided a temporary 10 percent increase to the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for certain Medicaid expenditures for home and community-based services (HCBS). The funding must be used to enhance, expand, or strengthen HCBS. OLTL outlined in its plan to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) initiatives to strengthen the workforce and assist Adult Day Services (ADS) providers. The OLTL ARPA plan directed funding to Personal Assistance Service (PAS), Community Integration (CI), and Residential Habilitation (Res Hab) providers to assist with recruitment and retention of direct care workers. The plan also directed additional funding to providers to strengthen ADS.

ARPA funding must be used for things such as sign-on bonuses, retention payments, COVID-19 related leave benefits and paid time off, vaccination incentives, and/or the purchase of personal protective equipment and testing supplies. Additionally, ADS providers can use the funding for retrofitting adult daily living centers, expenses to re-open the centers, and expenses to develop alternative models to provide ADS.

Additional detailed information about the distribution of the 2021 ARPA funding can be found on the DHS Long-Term Care Providers web page.

ARPA Funding Reporting Portal
Effective September 30, 2022, providers can access the portal and begin to report ARPA 2021 costs. Providers can access the portal through the Funding Portal Login web page. The first report due date will be November 30, 2022, and should reflect two reporting periods. Providers are required to submit reports in the portal on a bi-annual basis thereafter according to their exhaustion of the funds. Please reference the chart below.

Report Period 

Due Dates 

07/01/2021 – 12/31/2021

01/01/2022 – 06/30/2022

 11/30/2022
07/01/2022 – 12/31/2022 2/28/2023
 01/01/2023 – 6/30/2023 8/30/2023
 07/01/2023 – 12/31/2023 2/28/2024

Providers must keep all documentation related to the costs reported in the final cost report for a minimum of five years.

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The Council on Brain Injury (CoBI) clinical forum will be presenting a webinar on November 8, 2022, from 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm. This webinar, titled “Recreational Therapy: Implications for Life Care Planning After Brain Injury,” will focus on how recreational therapy (RT) can help to support health promotion, prevention of secondary conditions, and quality of life. RT can also contribute to positive outcomes for individuals with various chronic conditions, such as brain injury. This webinar will consider the steps for integrating RT into the life care plan for individuals with brain injury and will include specific case studies to be described and discussed.

This webinar is intended for a professional audience and is free of charge. To participate, registration is required. Questions should be directed to MJ Schmidt of the Council on Brain Injury.

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The agenda for the October 4, 2022, Managed Long-Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) Subcommittee has been released by the Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL).

As a reminder, the meeting will be held in person and will also offer participation via webinar. The meeting will take place at the PA Department of Education’s Honors Suite, 333 Market Street in Harrisburg, from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm. To register, visit here.

Dial-In Number:
The dial-in number is: (914) 614-3221
Access Code: 803310710#

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The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) will conduct a Financial Management Services (FMS) stakeholder webinar on October 7, 2022, from 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm. This public meeting will be to discuss upcoming changes for the administration of FMS under the Community HealthChoices (CHC), OBRA Waiver, and Act 150 programs. Representatives from the Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) and CHC Managed Care Organizations will be in attendance to discuss upcoming changes. Registration is required to participate in the webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

If you choose to use your phone to call in, please use the numbers below:

Dial in: (631) 992-3221
Access Code: 988871316#
Audio PIN: shown after joining the webinar

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