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Physical Disabilities & Aging

The following updates have been released regarding the Personal Care Home (PCH) and Assisted Living Residence (ALR) ListServs:

  • As of 6/22/2022, the PCH and ALR ListServ(s) have been merged. This action was taken in order to maintain consistency and streamline the flow of information, as well as to decrease duplicate emails in your inbox.
  • As of 6/22/2022, all provider emails will be subscribed to the ListServ. Please maintain your subscription and ensure that your email servers are set up to accept emails from [email protected], as well as emails from PA.GOV addresses.
  • Archives from the previous ListServ(s) can be accessed by visiting:
  • If we are unable to maintain email contact, you will undoubtedly miss information that is crucial to the operation of your facility. Any changes to facility administrator or email contact information should be reported to your regional office or to PWARL Headquarters.
  • Anyone who wishes to subscribe to the ListServ may do so by visiting OLTL Adult Residential Licensing ListServ.

Questions about this information should be addressed by calling the Operator Support Hotline at 866-503-3926 or by email.

**This communication was originally sent on 6/9/2022, but due to technical issues, the actions outlined below were not completed until 6/21/2022.**

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The Department of Human Services (DHS) is pleased to announce new provider enrollment portal enhancements designed to improve a provider’s enrollment experience. Providers will enter the enrollment portal from PROMISe™ using their existing registered login criteria. Upon successful login, providers will have access to these new enhancements:

  1. Applications for adding additional service locations, revalidations, and reactivations will prepopulate parts of your application;
  2. After logging into the portal, existing providers will be able to submit change requests to update their provider file without the need to complete a full application; and
  3. Proof of provider enrollment status with PA Medicaid is available to view and print.

See the PROMISe Quick Tips update for more information. If you do not have an existing login, please select “Register Now” in the Provider Login box and complete the process options. Additional enhancements are planned and will be communicated through future banner alerts and quick tips.

If you have further questions, please contact RCPA Policy Director Jim Sharp.

Tuesday, July 12, 2022 • 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm

The PA Department of Health (DOH), Department of Human Services (DHS) and Management Agency, and the Jewish Healthcare Foundation are jointly hosting an informational webinar on COVID-19 Therapeutics.

Outpatient COVID-19 treatment and preventive therapies can improve patient outcomes and save lives. Oral antivirals (Paxlovid, Lagevrio) and monoclonal antibodies for pre-exposure prophylaxis (Evusheld) are now widely available in Pennsylvania, but more can be done to improve awareness, access, and equity. This session is intended for providers and facility administrators and will cover why, when, and how to prescribe and access outpatient COVID-19 treatment and preventive therapies. The session will include presentations by leaders and clinicians from DOH, DHS, and additional organizations, as well as provide an opportunity for Q&A.

Use this link to register for the webinar scheduled for Tuesday, July 12 at 4:00 pm. See the flyer for more information including registration assistance.

Our legislators are now determining whether to invest in DSP wages or place funds in the Rainy Day fund. Tell lawmakers to increase #DirectCarePA funding in the #PaBudget!

If you haven’t done so already, please reach out and urge lawmakers to increase funding to support human services professionals, so individuals and families in need get the support and care they deserve. Ask your networks to do the same.

Be sure to share our video on your social media pages, too. To share the video, check out our Facebook and Twitter pages where we have the videos posted. Be sure to “like” it and share it with your followers. Don’t forget to tag @directcareworks and use the #DirectCarePA and #PABudget hashtags so we can ensure as many people as possible see it.

It’s so important for us to share the story about how this workforce crisis is affecting individuals and families in need, as well as the providers and professionals who want to serve them.

Most importantly, TAKE ACTION TODAY. Tell lawmakers to increase funding to address the workforce crisis facing Pennsylvania’s health and human services. Thank you for your continued support.

The Pennsylvania Department of Aging (PDA) marks World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) by launching two new online education resources.

The first resource is a new web page that focuses on the growing problem of financial exploitation of older adults. The new Financial Exploitation Resource Web Page features information for older adults, caregivers, and other aging professionals on warning signs, preventive measures, and an expandable menu of resources on key topics such as banking and finance, legal services, and dementia. Future resources will include short educational videos from their Financial Exploitation Task Force experts explaining financial exploitation topics in everyday terms, as well as a social media toolkit.

The second resource is an elder abuse awareness web-based training. This interactive module is available to Commonwealth employees, Pennsylvania’s aging network, and the public. The module was developed to reach a broad audience and covers the four major types of abuse and how to recognize them; signs to watch for, mandatory and voluntary reporting of abuse, when and how to report; and more. The training takes about 20 minutes to complete and is available on the PDA Learning Management System.

[From Incite Consulting Solutions]

I was recently at a meeting of behavioral health leaders and the CEO of a large provider organization was there. We got to talking about the workforce and he mentioned all the data his organization can generate now.

He said that if you want to thrive and grow in the health care world, you need to be able to crunch numbers and make tough decisions. I couldn’t help but wonder… are we losing the passion and compassion that drove so many of us into the behavioral health care field by increasingly focusing on having a head for business? How do we focus on metrics while not losing sight of what’s truly important?

It’s no surprise that so much of a behavioral health leader’s time is spent on fiscal and administrative issues. Revenue cycle, productivity, clinical workflows, EMR issues – these can make or break an organization. These are activities that require us to lead with structured, analytical thinking. They call on our strengths of judgment and perspective.

The challenge? For most of us we entered this field with a strong sense of mission. We wanted to help people live better lives. We were, and are, driven by empathy – not clinical expertise, administrative excellence, and management oversight. We’ve undervalued the value of heart, creativity, and empowerment.

What we do is centered on human interactions and relationships, maintaining H.E.A.R.T while advancing healthcare management is important.

You and your staff are passionate about changing the world for good, facing the challenges of providing better behavioral health services and the mission it serves. At times, this can conflict with the time and attention needed to implement business processes to measure our success. In a series of blogs this summer, we will explore how to find balance between these two important aspects of behavioral health work.

Interested in continuing the conversation? We want to know what your successes and challenges have been with H.E.A.R.T in your workforce during these difficult times. Please share your ideas and perspective with us here.