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Tags Posts tagged with "DHS"

DHS

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The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has announced that they will be hosting a Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) provider call on July 18, 2024, from 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm that will include a presentation from Mercer providing an overview of the HCBS rate and wage study.

The Department of Human Services (DHS) contracts with Mercer Government Human Services consulting for actuarial services, Medicaid policy and fiscal analysis, financial monitoring, and other technical support.

Mercer will evaluate the following services categories in this rate study:

  • Adult Daily Living;
  • Residential Habilitation;
  • Personal Assistance (Agency and Participant-Directed);
  • Structured Day Habilitation; and
  • Employment and Training Services.

Because this is an HCBS Provider Call, registration for the call will be limited to providers who are enrolled with DHS to provide any of these particular services to individuals. Participant-Directed Common-Law Employers are also encouraged to attend. If you are not a provider of these services or are unable to attend the July 18 HCBS Provider Call, you are welcome to attend the July 2 Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) Subcommittee meeting to hear from Mercer about the HCBS Rate and Wage Study and ask questions.

Everyone is welcome to submit questions about the HCBS Rate and Wage Study electronically to OLTL in advance of the July 18 call. Questions submitted will be read during the call as time allows. Questions and Answers will be compiled into a Q&A document that will be available after the call.

A registration link for the July 18, 2024, HCBS Provider Call will be issued shortly. If you have any questions about the call itself, please contact Kristi Mundis.

Pennsylvania has launched a new website for the Enterprise Licensing System (ELS) project, designed to streamline and modernize the licensing, permitting, registration, certification, and incident management systems across four state agencies: the Department of Human Services, the Department of Health, the Department of Aging, and the Department of Drug & Alcohol Programs. The ELS will be implemented in stages over the next two years, with the aim of improving interagency collaboration and operational efficiency.

For more information and to stay updated on the ELS project, subscribe to the ELS ListServ. If you need additional information or have questions, you can reach out to OCYF through the Contact Us form.

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

The Department of Human Services Office of Children, Youth, and Families (OCYF) is pleased to announce the release of the Caseworker Recruitment and Retention Study. The report includes 43 recommendations across six themes that address the primary issues driving attrition: cross-cutting; compensation; recruiting; caseworker workloads; training; and safe, supportive workplaces. OCYF recognizes the recommendations will not be applicable, viable, or appropriate to every CCYA. However, the goal is that each CCYA will find some recommendations that will be helpful in bolstering the employee recruitment and retention experience.

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

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services released Medical Assistance Bulletin 99-24-03 on May 28, 2024, detailing updates to the Medical Assistance (MA) Program Fee Schedule based on the 2024 Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) changes. These updates include new codes such as 90867, 90868, and 90869 for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) treatment billing, along with additional modifications to other procedure codes, setting of limitations, fee adjustments, and new prior authorization requirements effective from the same date. This bulletin applies to all providers serving MA beneficiaries under the Fee-for-Service system and those in the MA Managed Care system should contact their respective organizations for specific billing guidance.

For more detailed information, read the full bulletin here.

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

This webinar is for all interested stakeholders. Presentation topics from Dr. Rabea Khadimi and Dr. Antonie Auguste will include an overview of psychiatric, neurologic, and cognitive manifestations and side effects of some infectious diseases in medically complex adults. This webinar has been rescheduled from June 19 to June 21, 2024, from 11:00 am – 12:30 pm.

If you previously registered for this session, you have remained registered; however, your calendar invitation will not update automatically. Please be sure to reschedule this event on your calendar. This webinar will also be uploaded to the MyODP Webinars page after the event.

Register for the event here.

The Department of Human Services (DHS) announced some upcoming changes to their website that will change the way individuals access licensing resources online. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania website is undergoing a wholesale redesign and migration in stages. The redesign is intended to highlight and create ease of access for all Commonwealth of Pennsylvania resources. The launch date for the DHS site is tentatively scheduled for May 28, 2024.

Due to the nature of the redesign/migration, all web addresses (URL) will change. Most of the web links you currently use to access licensing resources will automatically redirect, but some links, particularly those linking to or from PDF documents, may cease to work. A search function is included in the new website to assist in locating resources that may be lost due to URL changes.

The Bureau of Human Services Licensing (BHSL) will send additional communication after the full impact of changes related to the new website have been assessed. In the meantime, online search engines can help locate resources. You can also email for assistance.

RCPA recently signed two letters, one to Governor Shapiro and one to the PA Department of Human Services (DHS), alongside dozens of other organizations and the Pennsylvania Community Health Worker Collaborative (PACHW) regarding the state’s plan for an amendment to authorize payments for Community Health Worker services under Pennsylvania State Medicaid. The letters outlined several key features PACHW wished to highlight regarding these payments, including:

  • Requesting DHS set “an equitable and adequate” reimbursement rate;
  • The creation of a Community Health Worker provider type; and
  • Recognizing Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) as a primary diagnosis code.