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On April 24, 2024, Novitas Solutions hosted their first webinar for inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRF) in preparation for the start date of the IRF Review Choice Demonstration (RCD) in Pennsylvania on June 17, 2024. Novitas is the RCD contractor for the state of Pennsylvania. The webinar provided an overview of the process, the different review choices, and the instructions for contractor-specific portal (Novitasphere). While the webinar primarily covered the basics of the program as previously laid out in CMS’s materials, there was some new information that was shared:

  1. For the first time, Novitas introduced the clinical leadership team for the demonstration in Pennsylvania:
    • Ene Ojile, the Contract Medical Director overseeing the RCD in Pennsylvania. Dr. Ojile is Board-Certified in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R), and she most recently served as Medical Director for a large freestanding inpatient rehabilitation hospital.
    • Jessica Hicks, RN, MSN, the Medical Review Manager.
    • Mia Jackson, RN, BSN, the Medical Review Team.
  2. There was some discussion and confusion about the methodology Novitas will use to calculate individual hospital’s affirmation rates under the RCD. During the webinar, Novitas staff stated that the total number of submissions and resubmissions would be included in the calculation, potentially penalizing hospitals for completing resubmissions even if the claim is eventually affirmed. After the webinar, Novitas circulated a “clarification” indicating that, “The number of resubmissions is not counted against the affirmation rate.” Additional clarification will be requested to confirm how the rates will be calculated and that the same methodology will be used as in Alabama.

The slides from the April 24 webinar are now available, and Novitas has also posted a recording of the main presentation (without the public Q&A portion) available here.

Novitas will also be hosting the following training and education webinars leading up to the start date. You can register for these webinars at their website.

  • May 2 — Review Choice Selection & Process (PA IRF Providers Only)
  • May 3 — RCD: How to Prepare (All JH and JL IRF Providers)
  • June 4 — Pre-Claim and Post-Payment Review Submissions (PA IRF Providers Only)

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Happy May! PA Family Network is sharing these important workshops and Good Life Groups! Register for upcoming events at their website. You can view the flyer for each workshop below.

Support Groups:

LifeCourse Workshops

Waiver Workshops

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The Council of State Administrators for Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR) is partnering with the Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center for Quality Management (VRTAC-QM) to assess the extent to which vocational rehabilitation (VR) service providers are experiencing a decrease in service capacity, the reasons for this decrease, and potential solutions to address reduced capacity. To that end, they have created a short survey that they are asking service providers to complete by Monday, May 27, 2024.

This survey is anonymous and will be recorded without any identifying information (unless you choose to include this information). The survey was developed to be taken by the leadership of service provider agencies, but can be taken by others within the organization if these individuals have knowledge of the capacity of the organization to serve individuals with disabilities referred by the public VR program. If you wish to participate, you can take the survey here.

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Photo by Copernico on Unsplash

Closing the Gap: Achieving a Workforce with Different Abilities

Registration Now OPEN!
In this second annual ODP Employment Regional Symposium, participants will hear from employers about how, what, and why they hired individuals with developmental disabilities. Individuals who are employed and their teams will describe how having a job made a difference in their lives and the lives of their families. Representatives from the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP), Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR), and the Bureau of Special Education will discuss collaboration across systems and offices with a focus on things that you thought might not be possible.

Who should attend?
Anyone interested in advancing the employment of individuals with developmental disabilities including but not limited to: current and future employers, local education authorities, intermediate units, ODP employment/community participation support/residential providers, supports coordinators, administrative entities, transition counselors, regional employment coalitions, and OVR business liaisons.

All sessions will run from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Lunch will be provided. Morning beverages and snacks are on your own.

Session Dates and Location:

June 5, 2024 Tannersville, PA, Northampton Community College
June 12, 2024 Butler, PA, Monarch Institute
June 18, 2024 Malvern, PA, PaTTAN East
June 26, 2024 Bellefonte, PA, Central Penn Institute of Science and Technology

You will be prompted to select the location you wish to attend on the registration page.

Use this link to register. For questions, please submit via email.

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The Department of Human Services (DHS) has released the report Recommendations for Improving Self-Direction in Community HealthChoices. The purpose of this report is to provide Community HealthChoices (CHC) stakeholders with identified barriers and recommendations to improve and increase the use of self-direction in CHC. View the report here.

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