';
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 1242

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is seeking additional feedback and recommendations regarding the elimination of specific Medicare regulations that require more stringent supervision than existing state scope of practice laws, or that limit health professionals from practicing at the top of their license.

This request from CMS stems from President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) #13890: Protecting and Improving Medicare for our Nation’s Seniors, which directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to propose a number of reforms to the Medicare program. These reforms include those that eliminate supervision and licensure requirements of the Medicare program that are more stringent than other applicable federal or state laws and often limit health care professionals, such as Physician Assistants (PAs) and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRN) from practicing at the top of their professional license.

CMS did incorporate some of the recommendations previously submitted in several payment rules, including the calendar year (CY) 2020 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS), where one of the changes included redefining physician supervision for services furnished by Physician Assistants (PAs).

If members have additional recommendations on ways to reduce unnecessary burden, increase efficiencies, and improve the beneficiary experience, please send them to this email with “Scope of Practice” in the subject line. Recommendations must be submitted by January 17, 2020.

0 1377

The next Community HealthChoices (CHC) Third Thursday webinar has been scheduled for January 16, 2020 from 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm. During this webinar, Office of Long-Term Living’s (OLTL’s) Deputy Secretary Kevin Hancock will provide updates on the CHC program. Providers should register to participate in the webinar. Once registered, a confirmation email will be sent and will include the call information. Questions about the webinar should be directed to OLTL’s Bureau of Policy Development and Communications Management at 717-857-3280.

0 1756

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved the Office of Long-Term Living’s (OLTL) Community HealthChoices (CHC) Waiver renewal. The renewal became effective on January 1, 2020.

Key changes in the approved waiver include:

  • Revised the Residential Habilitation service definition by modifying the number of hours that are defined as a day unit from a minimum of 12 hours to a minimum of 8 hours.
  • To the service definitions of Job Finding, Job Coaching, Employment Skills Development, Career Assessment and Benefits Counseling, added language that Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) services are considered to not be available if OVR has not made an eligibility determination within 120 days; and added language to address when employment services through the CHC waiver can be provided should OVR close the order of selection, thereby creating a waiting list for OVR services.
  • Modified the qualifications for Service Coordinators and Service Coordinator supervisors.
  • Clarified that if a CHC Managed Care Organization (MCO) identifies that a participant has not been receiving services for 5 or more days, and if the suspension of services was not pre-planned, then the CHC-MCO must communicate with the participant to determine the reason for the service suspension within 24 hours. If the participant’s health status or needs have changed, the CHC-MCO must conduct a comprehensive needs reassessment of the participant’s needs within fourteen (14) days of identifying the issue.
  • Added that an emergency back-up plan must be included in the Person-Centered Service Plan.
  • Modified language to reflect that the CHC waiver will be fully operational statewide as of January 1, 2020.
  • Updated language to reflect that the Department utilizes IDEMIA as the data system to process fingerprint-based Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) criminal record checks.
  • Updated the OLTL bureau names and responsibilities.

Questions surrounding the CHC Waiver Renewal should be directed to the OLTL Bureau of Policy Development and Communications Management at 717-857-3280.

0 2130

On this episode of A BATTLE WITHIN, we get to spend some time talking with Kevin McDonald.

Kevin was at the Mind Your Brain Conference in October of this past year. His work is conducted locally and on both the state and federal levels in an effort to help those affected by the invisible injury.

In part one, they cover his own injury from 2009, his recovery process and the support he has had available to him.  We also get to learn a little about what he has been up recently as he continues down the road of trying to improve.

Next we will spend time reviewing his wonderful organization Restart Your Life/Review Your Mind and covering the advocacy work he has down statewide and on the federal level.

You will find much of what Kevin has to say to be important and valuable. Having somebody like this in the fight in our community of warriors is fantastic and deserves to be recognized.

Keep Battling!

0 3544

The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) will be conducting the next Community HealthChoices (CHC) Third Thursday webinar on December 19, 2019 from 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm. During this webinar, Deputy Secretary Kevin Hancock will provide updates on the CHC program. To participate in the webinar, please register here. Once registered, you will receive a confirmation email that contains the information about joining the webinar. If you have any questions, please contact the OLTL Bureau of Policy Development and Communications Management at 717-857-3280.

0 1679

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced the availability of the inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) provider preview reports. These reports have been updated and contain information based on quality data submitted by IRFs between Quarter 3 of 2018 and Quarter 2 of 2019. The data will reflect what will be published on IRF Compare during the March 2020 update of the website.

Providers have 30 days (December 9, 2019 – January 9, 2020) to review their performance data. While corrections to the underlying data will not be permitted during this time, providers can request CMS to review their data during the preview period if they believe the quality measure scores that are displayed are inaccurate.

Additionally, providers are reminded that the data for the quality measure Percent of Residents or Patients that have new or worsened Pressure Ulcers (short stay), will continue to reflect data collected between Quarter 3 2017 – Quarter 2 2018, and will continue to be publicly displayed until the new Changes in Skin Integrity Post-Acute Care: Pressure Ulcer/Injury, is publicly displayed in fall 2020, as finalized in the fiscal year (FY) 2018 IRF PPS Final Rule.

As of the March 2020 refresh, CMS will no longer publicly display the measure Percent of Residents or Patients who were assessed and appropriately given the seasonal influenza vaccine (short stay), as finalized in the FY 2019 IRF PPS Final Rule. This change is reflected in preview reports. Contact RCPA Rehabilitation Services Director Melissa Dehoff with questions.

0 1646

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently notified the Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) of the approval of the OBRA Waiver amendment. The amendment is effective on January 1, 2020.

The changes in the approved amendment include:

  • Revise the Residential Habilitation service definition by modifying the number of hours that are defined as a day unit from a minimum of 12 hours to 8 hours.
  • Revise the service definitions of Job Finding, Job Coaching, Employment Skills Development, Career Assessment, and Benefits Counseling to address when employment services can be provided through the OBRA waiver, should the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) have a waiting list (closed order of selection) or when OVR has not made an eligibility determination within 120 days.
  • Update the Abuse Registry Screening information to reflect that the Department of Human Services (DHS) utilizes IDEMIA as the data system to process fingerprint-based FBI criminal record checks, as well as other minor changes.
  • Revise cost neutrality estimates to reflect rate changes to the Personal Assistance Services (PAS) and Residential Habilitation waiver services.

If you have any questions, please contact the OLTL Bureau of Policy Development and Communications Management at 717-857-3280.

0 3727
physiotherapist helping patient to walk

An article, “Comparison of Functional Status Improvements Among Patients with Stroke Receiving Postacute Care in Inpatient Rehabilitation vs Skilled Nursing Facilities,” was recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network that highlights the findings from a cohort study of patients who received post-acute care in inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) or skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) following a stroke. The study examined changes in functional status. Stroke was selected because it is a major cause of disability in the United States and an important public health issue, and often requires a range of treatments and expertise.

The study included patients with stroke who were discharged from acute care hospitals to IRFs or SNFs from January 1, 2013 to November 30, 2014. Medicare claims were used to link to IRF and SNF assessments. The study does include limitations that were encountered, such as the findings don’t take into account other post-acute settings (home health, long-term care hospitals, etc.) and the inability to examine cognitive function before and after the stroke, stroke severity, or location of the stroke.

The findings of the study suggest that the care in an IRF was associated with greater improvement in mobility and self-care compared with care in an SNF. Their findings indicate the need to carefully manage discharge to post-acute care based on the patient’s needs and potential for recovery. Post-acute reform based on the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 (IMPACT Act) must avoid a payment system that shifts patients with stroke who could benefit from intensive inpatient rehabilitation to lower cost settings. The IMPACT Act of 2014 is a bill that is intended to change and improve Medicare’s post-acute care services and how they are reported. Contact RCPA Rehabilitation Services Director Melissa Dehoff with questions.

0 4785

The Department of Human Services (DHS) has announced rate increases for Personal Assistance Services (PAS) in the OBRA Waiver and Act 150 program. There will also be a rate increase for Residential Habilitation in the OBRA Waiver. These rate increases become effective on January 1, 2020. The new rates for the OBRA Waiver were published in the August 24, 2019 edition of the Pennsylvania Bulletin. The new rates for the Act 150 Program were published in the November 30, 2019 edition of the Pennsylvania Bulletin. These new rates are based on a participant’s county of residence.

In addition, Home and Community Services Information System (HCSIS) service plans were updated on November 30, 2019. Service Coordinators (SCs) do not need to make any service plan updates for this rate change, as a HCSIS system-wide update is being initiated to make the necessary service data updates onto the impacted service plans.

Questions about these updates should be directed to the Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) Provider Inquiry Line at 800-932-0939, Option 2, Monday–Friday from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm.

0 1327

The Department of Human Services (DHS), Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) will conduct the next Managed Long-Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) Subcommittee meeting on Tuesday, December 3, 2019, in the Honor’s Suite at 333 Market Street Tower in Harrisburg from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm. Those who cannot attend in person may participate by dialing: 213-929-4212; Access Code: 524-290-985, or by webinar. If you plan to participate via webinar, registration is required.

Public comments will be accepted during presentations instead of just being heard at the end of the meeting; however, there will be an additional 15-minute period at the end of the meeting for any additional public comments.

If you have any questions about registering for the webinar or require a toll-free number to dial in, please contact the Office of Long-Term Living.

Prev1...626364...88Next Page 63 of 88
© 2021 - Rehabilitation & Community Providers Association