';
CLOSE
Authors Posts by Melissa Dehoff

Melissa Dehoff

877 POSTS 0 COMMENTS
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.

0 1470

Members are encouraged to save the date of the upcoming Managed Long-Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) Subcommittee Meeting. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 12, 2020 via webinar, from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm. To participate in the webinar, members are encouraged to register. After registering, interested participants will receive a confirmation email that will contain information about joining the webinar. Questions about the webinar should be directed to Paula Stum.

0 1649

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released a new inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) Grouper (Version 4.01), which is effective retroactively to April 1, 2020. This new version includes a new ICD-10-CM code for COVID-19. This new code, U07.1, should be used for assessments with a discharge date of April 1, 2020 or later.

0 1232

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), along with the Departments of Labor and the Treasury, recently issued guidance that announces the expanded coverage for essential diagnostic testing and other related services at no cost (no co-pays or out-of-pocket expenses). To assist in the efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19, this testing will include antibody testing (when it becomes widely available). This will include urgent care visits, emergency department visits, and in-person or telehealth visits to doctor’s offices that result in an order for or administration of a COVID-19 test.

0 1262

Today Governor Wolf announced the creation of a new loan program, the Hospital Emergency Loan Program (HELP), that will provide short-term financial relief to Pennsylvania’s hospitals as they prepare for the growing surge of individuals infected   with COVID-19 and the economic impact expected as a result of this surge. This loan will provide hospitals with immediate financial support for working capital to ensure they have sufficient personnel, equipment, and personal protective equipment.

The funding was dispersed by the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority and will be administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development through the Pennsylvania First Program (PA First).

Pennsylvania health care facilities licensed as hospitals by the Pennsylvania Department of Health under the Health Care Facilities Act of 1979 that are eligible to receive federal grant funding through the CARES Act are eligible for HELP. The maximum loan size is $10 million per hospital, at an interest rate of 0.5 percent.

HELP will allow hospitals to take responsive action now until funding through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was signed into law on March 27, 2020, is dispersed completely, with the goal of easing the financial strain of the pandemic and smoothing the transition back into regular health care operation. Permitted expenses under HELP will mirror those under the CARES Act, allowing hospitals to close out their loan with CARES funding once it is received.

Applications will be available on the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s website starting at 10:00 am on April 13 and will be available through April 20. The costs must be incurred between March 1, 2020 and September 1, 2020.

0 1197

The next Community HealthChoices (CHC) Third Thursday webinar has been scheduled for April 16, 2020 at 1:30 pm. This webinar will focus on COVID-19 updates from the Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) Deputy Secretary, Kevin Hancock.

In order to receive the call information, members must register prior to the start of the webinar.

Questions regarding the webinar should be directed to the OLTL Bureau of Policy Development and Communications Management at 717-857-3280.

0 1816

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) received direction from President Trump to temporarily suspend a number of rules so that hospitals, clinics, and other health care facilities can boost their frontline medical staff as they take on the COVID-19 pandemic. The changes will focus on reducing supervision and certification requirements in order for practitioners to be hired quickly and perform work to the fullest extent of their licenses. As a result of this action, doctors can now directly care for patients at rural hospitals, across state lines if necessary without being physically present; Nurse practitioners can now perform some medical exams on Medicare patients at skilled nursing facilities so that patient needs can be met; Occupational therapists from home health agencies can now perform initial assessments on certain homebound patients; and Hospice nurses will be relieved of hospice aide in-service training tasks so they can spend more time with patients.

For additional guidance, CMS has published a list of workforce flexibilities that CMS has permitted thus far.

0 992

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced they will be awarding $186 million in supplemental funding to go towards the COVID-19 outbreak. The focus of this funding is for regions that have a high number of COVID-19 cases. Some examples of how this funding can be used include: staffing and surge staffing; lab equipment; and infection control.

Prev1...585960...88Next Page 59 of 88
© 2021 - Rehabilitation & Community Providers Association