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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that payments under the Accelerated and Advance Payment (AAP) Program for the Change Healthcare/Optum Payment Disruption (CHOPD) will end on July 12, 2024.

CMS has reported that CHOPD accelerated payments totaling more than $2.55 billion have been issued to over 4,200 Medicare Part A providers, and another 4,722 CHOPD advance payments, totaling more than $717.18 million, have been issued to Part B suppliers. CMS also states that providers of services and suppliers are now successfully billing Medicare, and to date, CMS has already recovered over 96% of the CHOPD payments. After July 12, providers that are having difficulty with billing or receiving payments should contact Change Healthcare and/or their Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) directly.

Additional information can be found on the Healthcare and Public Health Cybersecurity Performance Goals web page.

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the June 2024 inpatient rehabilitation facility patient assessment instrument (IRF-PAI) quarterly question and answer (Q&A) document. The document is located at the bottom of the IRF-PAI web page under “downloads.” It consolidates June 2020 to June 2024 quarterly Q&A’s in order to provide all IRF providers the benefit of the clarifications to existing guidance. The Q&A’s included are based on questions received through the IRF Quality Reporting Program (QRP) help desk. A Q&A on completing IRF-PAI items for pediatric patients is included on pages 2 and 3. CMS acknowledges concerns about coding certain assessment items for pediatric patients, but instructs providers to code each item based on the guidance regardless of the patient’s age.

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The Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) is offering a virtual training series on “Implementation, Improvement, Sustainability, and Coaching of the ASAM Criteria” with Train for Change. This training teaches the NIATx model and ASAM Criteria Implementation Guide to foster continuous improvement in areas like trauma-informed care and CBT. Participants must have completed ASAM Criteria 3rd edition training. The training is in three series of five sessions each, with fixed schedules. A one-hour coaching call after the series is required for a CEU certificate. Review the flyer for more information and to register.Top of Form

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In May 2024, OMHSAS announced the next evolution of the Call for Change initiative: Advancing the Call for Change. Beginning in 2022, a diverse group of stakeholders with lived experience came together to form a steering committee that convened regularly over the course of a year and formulated goals and objectives they felt were important to continue system transformation. The efforts of this committee resulted in the Advancing the Call for Change document. Advancing the Call for Change was designed to assess how far the behavioral health system has come in 19 years, stimulate conversation, and drive action. As the system progresses, this document should act as a guide for all decision-makers in focusing on the critical principles of recovery and resilience, including ensuring that approaches are person-centered, strengths-based, trauma-informed, follow a DEI framework, integrate peer supports, and are outcomes-focused.

In July 2004, the OMHSAS Adult Advisory Committee called for a work group to guide recovery transformation efforts. In November 2004, the work group held its first meeting and a steering committee was formed to move forward with recommendations. In November 2005, A Call for Change was presented to the Adult Advisory Committee.

A Call for Change offers a basic framework for transformation, including indicators of a recovery-oriented system. In addition, it discusses some of the implications of these changes and recommends some approaches for using the indicators to initiate changes in local, county, and statewide systems. It is to be considered a “living, breathing” document and not a “set in stone” plan. As the first phase of an ongoing process, the purpose of the report is to stimulate discussion in all arenas and at all levels. Additional materials will need to be developed to help inform and guide the process as Pennsylvania shifts toward a more recovery-oriented service system.

We are grateful to the Department for their inclusion of RCPA on the Call for Change Work Group and look forward to the opportunities to implement the recommendations with our members. If you have any questions, please contact RCPA COO and Mental Health Director Jim Sharp.

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Save the Date!
RCPA’s Brain Injury Committee will conduct a separate meeting with representatives from the Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL), including Deputy Secretary Juliet Marsala, Director of the Bureau of Coordinated and Integrated Services Randy Nolen, and Director for the Bureau of Policy and Communication Management Jen Hale. Representatives from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will also be in attendance.

This meeting was originally scheduled for May 22, but had to be rescheduled. The meeting has now been scheduled for Tuesday, July 30, at RCPA’s office from 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm. While this will be a hybrid meeting, members are encouraged to attend in person, if possible.

Please send topics and/or questions to Melissa Dehoff by July 9, 2024. Registration information will be sent out shortly.

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Image by Riki32 from Pixabay

To honor the history of Juneteenth and celebrate the contributions of Black Americans, the RCPA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee encourages you to learn about some exceptional individuals and their accomplishments. Did You Know…

John Mercer Langston
John Mercer Langston became the first Black man to become an attorney in the United States when he passed the bar in Ohio in 1854. The following year, he became one of the first African Americans ever elected to public office in America when he was elected to the post of Town Clerk for Brownhelm, Ohio. John Mercer Langston was also the great-uncle of Langston Hughes, famed poet of the Harlem Renaissance.

Claudette Colvin
Claudette Colvin was arrested at the age of 15 for her refusal to give up her seat to a white woman, nine months before Rosa Parks’ more famous protest. Because of her age, the NAACP chose not to use her case to challenge segregation laws. Despite a number of personal challenges, Colvin became one of the four plaintiffs in the Browder v. Gayle case. The decision in the 1956 case ruled that Montgomery’s segregated bus system was unconstitutional.

Hiram Rhodes Revels
Hiram Rhodes Revels was the first ever African American elected to the US Senate. He represented the state of Mississippi from February 1870 – March 1871.

Robert Johnson
Robert Johnson became the first African American billionaire when he sold the cable station he founded, Black Entertainment Television (BET), in 2001.

Lewis Latimer
While Thomas Edison is credited with the invention of the lightbulb, it was Lewis Latimer, the son of formerly enslaved people, who guaranteed its success. Latimer patented a new filament that extended the lifespan of lightbulbs to extend beyond a few days. In 1882, Latimer was granted a patent for his invention, a feat countless Black innovators in the generations before were unable to achieve.

William Wells Brown
William Wells Brown, author of novel Clotel; or The President’s Daughter that was published in 1853, became the first published African American novelist.

Ketanji Brown Jackson
Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first Black woman to serve on the Unites States Supreme Court after nomination by the president and confirmation by the Senate in 2022.

Gladys West
Gladys West was the second Black woman ever to be employed by the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division and was inducted into the United States Air Force Hall of Fame — one of the highest honors awarded by the Air Force. She leveraged her mathematical and programming expertise to invent an accurate model of the Earth, which was used as the foundation for the creation of the Global Positioning System (GPS).

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Folders with the label Applications and Grants

The Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) is offering funding through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to support Community Mental Health Services Block Grants. Millersville University of Pennsylvania will administer these grants to implement Community Violence Intervention Projects aimed at reducing trauma in communities affected by gun violence. The university plans to award grants to 2–6 nonprofit organizations, with contracts expected to start in July or August 2024 and ending on June 30, 2025. Applicants can request a budget of up to $250,000 but not exceeding $150,000 for the initial term.

Applications are due by July 31, 2024. Completed applications must be submitted as a PDF via email. For more information, contact Millersville via email or visit the Millersville University Safer Communities Grant Information page. For full details and application instructions, refer to the Request for Applications (RFA) flyer.

If you have any other questions, please contact RCPA COO and Policy Director Jim Sharp.

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