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Policy Areas

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ODP Update
The Office of Developmental Programs has released the following information:

  • Announcement #113-15: Enterprise Incident Management System Implementation Information: Changes to the Incident Management Report and System as a Result of EIM Newsflash 5.
  • Pennhurst Advocacy; The Department of Human Services will be transitioning this function from the Office of Administration to ODP, with Southeast Region Program Manager Rochelle Zaslow as the unit director. There are currently 643 Pennhurst class members. Questions may be submitted via email.
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Time is running out; the deadline for revalidating is Thursday, March 24, 2016. Numerous RCPA members have already gone through this process, but it appears that large numbers of providers have not yet done so. A special provider revalidation webinar will be held by RCPA on Wednesday, January 6 at 10:00 am. Jamie Buchenauer, from the Department of Human Services, will be presenting the webcast.

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On December 11, 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) posted an update to the inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) quality reporting spotlight & announcements page of their website, regarding an extension of the IRF quality reporting program data submission. CMS made the decision to extend the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) data submission deadline for IRF providers until Monday, February 15, 2016. The extension also applies to the submission deadline to the calendar year 2015 quarters 1 and 2, fiscal year 2017 payment determination. In addition, the extension applies to the submission deadlines for assessment data for the quality reporting program.

Members are encouraged to run the applicable CMS output reports within their facility prior to each quarterly reporting deadline. Detailed guidance on how to run and interpret these reports, and additional information, are posted on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website. Additionally, once these reporting deadlines have passed, members should run the advanced analysis reports within NHSN to view when each data element was first entered and last modified, to determine whether all data were complete at the time of the reporting deadline.

Additional information on how to run and interpret these reports is provided by the CDC/NHSN. Questions on the reports within NHSN should be directed to the NHSN help desk. Additional questions can be directed to the CMS help desk.

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The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) and Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) are inviting providers and others to review and provide comments on its draft State Plan for the Child Care Development Block Grant.

To submit comments, download and complete the response form by Friday, January 8, 2016, and email or mail to:

The Office of Child Development and Early Learning
Attn: State Plan
333 Market Street
Sixth Floor
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17126

The Child Care Development Block Grant is one of the primary federal funding sources for monitoring regulated child care programs, child care subsidy through Child Care Works, and child care quality improvement through Keystone STARS. Pennsylvania’s plan, once finalized, will address how the state will implement new requirements imposed by the reauthorization over the next three federal fiscal years. Key features of the plan include:

  • Supporting child development by providing greater opportunities for stable, quality child care.
  • Exploring payment rates to providers serving children receiving Child Care Works, to ensure equal access, and compensation for providers that is closer to the market rate.
  • Improving health and safety requirements for child care providers through child care regulations and inspections.
  • Reaffirming professional development requirements for providers participating in Keystone STARS.

The Office of Child Development and Early Learning has also posted and begun accepting public comment on a policy announcement, Reduction of Expulsion and Suspension in Early Childhood Programs in Pennsylvania. OCDEL will hold a webinar to review the public comments received to date and give the stakeholder community a final opportunity to provide feedback. OCDEL will also accept additional comments via email until Monday, January 18, 2016, at which time the public comment period will be closed.

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Pursuant to Executive Order 1996-1, the State Board of Physical Therapy (PT) has requested member comments and suggestions on two draft rulemakings.

The first draft rulemaking, 16A-6518-Foreign Trained Evaluation, would amend the board’s regulations so that a foreign-trained applicant would be required to submit an evaluation showing that the applicant’s training was equivalent to what is required in a program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) — the accrediting body for United States programs — rather than program contents specified in the regulations.

The second draft rulemaking, 16A-6519-Student in Master’s Program Statement of Policy, is for a statement of policy that would make clear that, for purposes of the exception to the licensure requirement for physical therapy students, the term “Board-approved School” includes all physical therapy programs at a school that has a program accredited by CAPTE, as CAPTE accredits only pre-licensure programs.

The State Board of PT welcomes comments on these draft rulemakings. Comments are due by Friday, January 15, 2016, and should be submitted via email. Please specify rulemaking 16A-6518 (foreign-trained applicant evaluation) or 16A-6519 (student in master’s program) as appropriate on your comments.

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On December 10, 2015, the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee (LB&FC) released and presented their report, Implementation of the PA Safety in Youth Sports Act, pursuant to HR 2014-1064. This bill called on the House of Representatives to direct the LB&FC to assess compliance with the Safety in Youth Sports Act, determine the best practices for managing concussions and traumatic brain injuries, and make recommendations on provisions of the act that should be strengthened to be more effective.

While changes were not recommended to the current act, there was concern expressed that concussions are still not taken as seriously as they should be. As a result, it was recommended that the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) develop additional guidelines and recommended practices for schools to follow with regard to identifying, assessing, and managing student athletes suspected of having sustained a concussion. The recommendation was made to PDE to consider the guidelines developed by the New York Department of Education (Guidelines for Concussion Management in the School Setting) as a possible model. The report was accepted and approved to be released.

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This article from Capitolwire is a good and extensive overview of what is going on with the budget here in Harrisburg. Health and Human service budget line items are still fluid until the House and Senate negotiate a final budget deal. RCPA will provide updates on any budget deal, and RCPA encourages members to continue to contact the governor and state legislators to inform them why it’s necessary for them to pass a state budget sooner rather than later. Questions, contact Jack Phillips.

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