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ODP Announcement 22-070 announces the release of a new Incident Management (IM) training series on the MyODP website, which focuses on incident prevention and reducing recurrence of incidents.
The course is titled “Preventing Incidents” and is relevant for all stakeholders. This course contains a seven-part training that focuses on the general safety of individuals with an intellectual or developmental disability, using a person-centered approach to prevent future incidents, anticipating situations and recognizing potential signs of mistreatment, communicating what you know and elevating concerns, proactive vs. reactive risk mitigation strategies, developing effective corrective actions, using data to improve overall quality, and self-care, taking care of yourself while supporting others.
Upon completion of the webcast series and successful completion of the post-test, 2 hours of training credits will be awarded. Visit here for a link to the course, which contains the webcast series.
ODP Announcement 22-048 serves to clarify the role and responsibility of providers to ensure individuals and amilies are provided access to Incident Management information as well as education on this topic.
As previously noted in ODP Announcement 21-071, published on 10/13/2021, the “Incident Management Family Guide: When Something Bad Happens to Someone I Care About or Support” was introduced with the announcement of Incident Management (IM) Bulletin trainings that were made available via MyODP. The Incident Management Family Guide was developed by and for families to provide information about incident management processes and to address some of the common questions and concerns they may have when they witness or are informed of something negative happening to their loved one.
Please see the announcement for a full review of provider responsibilities. Also, you can visit MyODP’s website to see the course that contains the webcast series “Responding to Incidents” and two guides: the “Incident Management Family Guide: When Something Bad Happens to Someone I Care About or Support” and “A Guide to Victim’s Assistance.”
ODP Announcement 22-012 provides information regarding the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) Bulletin 00-21-02, Incident Management, including the specific roles and responsibilities for Supports Coordination Organizations (SCOs). On June 25, 2021, ODP released Announcement 21-049 to clarify that SCOs were not expected to report more than what they were currently reporting until further notice. ODP is clarifying that announcement 21-049 does not apply to the Adult Autism Waiver (AAW).
SCOs serving individuals in the AAW have always been required to report all incidents that occurred in the absence of a provider rendering services at the time of the incident or if the target of an investigation is not an employee or volunteer of a provider organization. There has been no change in those requirements.
This data is critical to evaluating AAW program outcomes. Please note that with the release of ODP Bulletin 00-21-02 that was effective July 1, 2021, two new categories, Passive Neglect and Self-Neglect can be used to report incidents that were previously reported as Neglect when applicable. For further clarification on Passive Neglect and Self-Neglect, refer to the Learning Management System (LMS) for the recorded module on Enterprise Incident Management (EIM) System Changes, County Management and SC Incidents.
The SCO has a responsibility to respond to and assess emergency situations and incidents as well as assure that appropriate actions are taken to protect the health and welfare of participants. Incident management activities that are the responsibility of and completed by the SCO are billable activities. Billable incident management activities are considered part of the SCO’s function of location, coordinating, and monitoring.
SCOs are responsible for checking alerts generated by Enterprise Incident Management (EIM) that identify incidents entered for participants receiving services through their organization. SCOs shall monitor individual incidents in EIM and make recommendations to ODP regarding the appropriateness and effectiveness of the provider’s actions taken to protect the health and safety of the participant as described in the initial incident report. They must also monitor final EIM incident reports to determine if corrective actions are appropriate, revisions to the Individual Service Plans (ISP) are needed, or additional monitoring of the situation is necessary. Monitoring of incidents by the SCO is integral in helping the ODP incident management reviewer in making a determination regarding the approval or disapproval of the incident report.
For targeted technical assistance or questions, please contact ODP’s Bureau of Supports for Autism and Special Populations’ Provider Support mailbox.
Adult Autism Waiver (AAW) and Adult Community Autism Program (ACAP) providers are invited to sign up for a scheduled one-on-one VOH session to discuss incident management topics with the Office of Developmental Programs’ (ODP) Bureau of Supports for Autism and Special Populations (BSASP).
Providers may sign up for one 30-minute session, and multiple staff from the provider may join at the provider’s discretion. Topics for discussion may include: provider-specific IM issues or concerns; EIM reports; general questions about certified investigations; brainstorming ideas of how to improve “performance” related IM tasks; review of provider IM data and compliance; discussion of provider trends; etc.
Due to the positive feedback received from attendees of our previous sessions, ODP will be offering additional 30-minute sessions on a first-come, first-served basis.
Sessions begin Wednesday, March 9, 2022, with the first scheduled session beginning at 12:30 pm.
Register here. Be sure to complete all required information to reserve a time slot.
Please contact the Provider Support Mailbox with questions.
The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has issued additional guidance on the Enterprise Incident Management (EIM) Enhancements.
As stated in the ListServ communication sent on November 24, 2021, Critical Incident Report Extensions changes will be implemented in the EIM system on December 11, 2021. Once the maximum number of allowed extensions is reached, providers and service coordinators (SCs) will need to contact OLTL if additional extensions are needed.
When requesting incident report extensions, please follow these instructions:
OLTL staff will respond to extension requests within 3 business days by replying to the requestor to let them know if the request was approved or rejected. If rejected, the reason for the rejection will be included in the response. If approved, OLTL staff will enter the extension in EIM.
OLTL has drafted a form to use in the near future. Once the form is approved, providers will be notified. Any questions regarding the information should be directed here.
ODP Announcement 21-089 informs stakeholders that additional incident extension notifications can be entered into the Enterprise Incident Management (EIM) directly by providers and SCOs who initiate incidents.
In recognition of the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Office of Developmental Program’s (ODP) commitment to supporting providers, ODP is adjusting the limits that were introduced on September 11, 2021, to allow for additional internal notifications of the need for extensions in EIM. Effective December 7, 2021, providers and SCOs can enter a total of six 30-day extensions for each incident they initiate, regardless of primary category. Providers are advised that ODP monitors all facets of incident management standards, including those that are not managed in accordance with timeframes and standards established in policy. This also includes when final section documents are initiated, reasons for extensions, patterns of extension use, and patterns of incident disapprovals by management reviewers. Providers with a notable volume of such incidents or that demonstrate patterns indicative of concerning practices will receive technical assistance directly from ODP.
Included with this announcement are the following resources:
ODP Announcement 21-071 announces the release of additional Incident Management (IM) Bulletin trainings on the MyODP website, which focus on incident response, medication management, and target separation. The first course is titled “Responding to Incidents” and is relevant for all stakeholders. This course contains a series of four webcasts. The series also introduces two guides that are intended to assist individuals and families.
The second course is titled “Agency Focused Incident Management Training” and contains two webcasts that are targeted to Agency Incident Management Representatives and others who may have a role in agency incident reporting, management, oversight, or monitoring activities.
Visit the MyODP website to access Incident Management Bulletin 00-02-21 and attachments, resources, ODP announcements, and other additional ODP Incident Management trainings.
ODP Announcement 21-066 serves to distribute Version 3 of the FAQ document on questions received in regards to Incident Management Bulletin 00-21-02. The FAQ document contains both updates and changes. The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has received multiple questions from stakeholders through email, conversations, and dialogue during trainings, phone calls, etc. A FAQ was developed to answer some of the questions received. This FAQ does not contain all questions received; ODP chose questions that were asked frequently by multiple stakeholders.
ODP expects to continue to receive questions based on the IM Bulletin; therefore, this document will be updated on a routine basis. Stakeholders will be notified when there are additions added to this FAQ. The new questions that were added have a blue background, and any updated answer from a previous question is italicized. The Q and A begins on page three of the announcement.
For questions, please contact your ODP Regional Office or email directly.
ODP Announcement 21-063 serves to disseminate operating procedures and directions for the IM process for private ICFs as well as SCOs and County ID Programs serving individuals residing in a private ICF. The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has scheduled an ICF Task Force meeting to discuss this guidance and answer questions for September 15, 2021 from 2:00 pm–3:00 pm. Please register in advance for the ICF Task Force meeting.
During this meeting, ODP will also be providing private ICF stakeholders with timelines and information about the process to add incident management regulations into 55 PA. Code Chapter 6600.
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