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The Pennsylvania Department of Aging has released information about the 2024 Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders (ADRD) virtual forum. The forum, “Brain Health and Beyond: Taking Care of Your Brain as You Age,” is scheduled for November 7, 2024, from 9:00 am – 12:30 pm.

The agenda for the forum is located here. To participate in the virtual forum, registration is required.

Questions regarding the virtual forum should be directed to Heidi Champa, Aging Services Specialist, via email.

Fortifying the Future: Data Privacy & Security in Behavioral Health AI
When: Tuesday, October 22, 2024, 2:00 pm ET
Register Here

In the behavioral health world, few things are more intimate and private than a provider’s conversation with a client.

Keeping those sessions secure — and complying with always-evolving government regulations and ethics concerns — is a top priority for behavioral health organizations looking to implement an AI tool.

Join Eleos Health for a 1-hour virtual discussion on “Fortifying the Future: Data Privacy & Security in Behavioral Health AI.”

Facilitated by Eleos Health’s VP of Customer Success Nisheeta Setlur, attendees will hear from behavioral health AI experts Raz Karmi, CISO of Eleos, and Rony Gadiwalla CIO of GRAND Mental Health, as they break down:

  • Which existing and emerging security regulations and best practices apply to behavioral health organizations — and their AI vendor partners.
  • How to navigate key AI security, compliance, and ethical concerns in a behavioral health setting.
  • What steps orgs must take to protect sensitive client information from AI-specific threats.
  • How Eleos accounts for all of the above in their industry-leading AI platform.

Register here and secure your spot. If you can’t make it live, Eleos will send you a recording to watch at your leisure.

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RCPA has made the decision to cancel the Thursday, October 17 Government Affairs meeting after reviewing legislative actions in relation to our activities and concerns.

The November Government Affairs Committee meeting will be held on Thursday, November 21, 2024, at 9:00 am to review the November 5 General Election results and any last-minute legislative action(s).

If you have any questions, please contact Jack Phillips.

The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) is presenting a live, interactive, 6-session webinar series on housing issues from November 5, 2024, to December 10, 2024, every Tuesday, from 11:00 am – 12:30 pm. The webinars will include targeted content as well as Q&A sessions with housing experts and OLTL staff.

The webinar series targets Service Coordinators, Managed Care Organizations, and Service Coordination Entity support staff who assist program participants in securing and maintaining affordable, accessible housing through Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS). The target audience for these webinars includes individuals and organizations who provide long-term services and supports for older Pennsylvanians and people with physical disabilities.

Register Here

Presenters

  • Leigh Howard, President of DMA, Inc.
  • Carolyn Steinhofer of Housing Equality Center of PA
  • Wendy Davis of PATF

Folders with the label Applications and Grants

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) providers with approved ARPA Grant applications should use the following survey to request reimbursement for expenses incurred.

Reimbursement for Technology Grants may consist of one progress payment and one final payment.

Reimbursement for Training/Credentialing and Business Associate Grants may include up to two progress payments and one final payment.

Prior to beginning the survey, providers should ensure that supporting documentation (paid invoices, cancelled checks, accounting records, etc.) is available and scanned into a PDF. These documents will need to be attached at the end of the survey. Providers should generally expect to see payments a few weeks following ODP review of submitted information. The deadline for submissions is October 31, 2024.

Please use the following link to access the survey: ARPA Grant Fund Reimbursement – Online Survey Software | QuestionPro Survey.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health (PA DOH) and Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH), in collaboration with the Center for Forensic Science Research & Education (CSFRE), are providing virtual trainings to clinicians and non-clinicians on best practices for caring for individuals with xylazine-associated wounds. These trainings are offered at no-cost to attendees.

The trainings will be offered in two separate two-hour sessions for individuals and organizations working in Pennsylvania.

Last Thursday (October 3, 2024), the Pennsylvania Department of State’s Board of Medicine submitted to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) a final-omitted regulation that would allow an initial physical examination required for prescribing, administering, and dispensing controlled substances to be conducted via telehealth under certain circumstances under 49 Pa. Code § 16.92. A final-omitted regulation does not require a public comment period and is in essence an expedited process for proposing a regulation change. IRRC will hold a public meeting on November 21 to approve or disapprove the regulation.

This final-omitted regulation would enable the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) to grant a statewide exception to 28 Pa. Code § 715.9(a)(4), which today requires Pennsylvania OTPs (called narcotic treatment programs in DDAP regulations) to conduct a face-to-face determination of whether an individual is currently physiologically dependent on an opioid.

In its Regulatory Analysis Form, the Department of State’s Board of Medicine wrote:

“This final-omitted rulemaking amends the Board’s regulations at § 16.92 by allowing the initial physical examination required for prescribing, administering, and dispensing controlled substances to be conducted by means of telehealth for those patients being admitted into an Opioid Treatment Program (OTP) for treatment of opioid use disorder with either buprenorphine or methadone, provided that the health care provider determines that an adequate evaluation of the patient can be accomplished via telehealth and a full in-person physical examination is completed within 14 days after admission to the OTP. This standard is the same physical examination standard utilized as a result of the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs regulatory waiver issued during the COVID-19 epidemic, which proved to be safe and effective during and after the COVID-19 epidemic. This final-omitted regulation also conforms the Board’s regulations to the Federal opioid use disorder treatment standards as the Board does not wish to unnecessarily maintain a more stringent standard than required by Federal law for OTPs given the continued opioid crisis in this Commonwealth.”

In February 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) published a final rule amending the federal regulations for the certification of OTPs in 42 CFR Part 8. The changes to the federal rules were used temporarily to improve access to treatment during the COVID-19 federal public health emergency. SAMHSA has now made those changes permanent, and DDAP intends to implement the updated federal rules and reduce barriers to treatment, as described in its latest Licensing Alert 07-2024. This final-omitted regulation is part of the commonwealth’s process for aligning with the final rule on 42 CFR Part 8.

ODP held a quarterly provider forum to discuss Performance-Based Contracting status. During the meeting, ODP staff reviewed the data regarding provider submissions to date, common errors, and the top 10 unmet measures among the 2024 provider submissions.

Additionally, technical assistance areas were discussed and a guide was provided for using the Incident Management overview dashboard to assess performance-based measurement data.

A total of 36 residential providers submitted their applications in August: 15 Primary, 6 Select, and 15 Clinically Enhanced. These tier submissions have all been scored, and the results will be emailed to those providers in November. The communication will include a list of measures that the provider did not meet and instructions for the data submission resolution process available if a provider believes ODP made an error in evaluating provider performance. These tier assignments will be in effect from 1/1/2025 to 6/30/2026.

For providers who will be submitting their data in February, ODP will update the tools and guidance to reflect review period timeframe. Measures will not change between August and February/March and additional communications and reminders will be sent closer to February. ODP has a web page dedicated to assisting providers through this process.

The Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) will host its monthly ASAM Technical Assistance webinar at 10:00 am Monday, October 7. Staffers from the Bureaus of Quality Assurance and Administration, County Program Oversight, and Program Licensure will provide updates, including information about changes to 42 CFR Part 8, impacts to licensing, and how those changes align with the ASAM Criteria.

Past webinars and additional ASAM 3rd Edition resources are available on DDAP’s ASAM Transition page.

If you want to receive email notification of upcoming ASAM Technical Assistance webinars, email DDAP’s ASAM Resource Account.

The following information can be used to connect to each month’s webinar, including Monday’s.

Microsoft Teams meeting
Join on your computer, mobile app or room device
Click here to join the meeting

Meeting ID: 225 792 355 092
Passcode: fEEaG4
Download Teams | Join on the web
Or call in (audio only)
+1 267-332-8737,,336948391#   United States, Philadelphia

Phone Conference ID: 336 948 391#
Find a local number | Reset PIN

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) held a training session on the Incident Management Systems and Critical Incident Reporting Provisions of the Medicaid Access Final Rule on September 16, 2024. The webinar recording, transcript, and slides are now available on the Training Series: HCBS Provisions of the Medicaid Access Final Rule web page. Register for upcoming sessions in the training series here.