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odp announcement

ODP Announcement 23-013 informs all interested parties of the submission of Pennsylvania’s Heightened Scrutiny locations to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The information submitted is available on the Department of Human Services’ (Department) website.

On February 1, 2023, the department submitted all locations identified as requiring a Heightened Scrutiny review by CMS. The information submitted may be viewed at the bottom of this web page. CMS will make final heightened scrutiny review determinations available online. Questions about Heightened Scrutiny or this communication should be sent electronically.

ODP Announcement 23-012 shares an updated AAW Provider Information Table to reflect changes made with the January 1, 2023, waiver amendment. This information includes waiver language, guidance, and provider qualifications. The requirements in the AAW will become effective when Appendix K flexibilities expire, six months after the expiration of the federal COVID-19 public health emergency.

The updated Provider Information Table includes these highlights:

  • Providing information on the delivery of direct services using remote technology (teleservices);
  • Introducing the AAW Travel Policy;
  • Introducing Remote Services, a new service in the AAW;
  • Adding waiver language and guidance on relatives providing the Life Sharing component of Residential Habilitation;
  • Providing clarification on the requirements for Supports Coordinators and in-person monitoring;
  • Noting the responsibility of Residential Habilitation providers to complete and update the Health Risk Screening Tool (HRST) for the individuals they serve;
  • Including the Place of Service codes and Electronic Visit Verification information for each service definition;
  • Adding other changes designed to align the AAW, where practical, more closely with the Consolidated, Person/Family Directed Support and Community Living waivers; and
  • Expanding sections on provider qualifications for each service.

Providers are reminded that they are responsible for being aware of any changes to definitions of services they provide and ensuring that individuals who furnish direct services are fully qualified prior to providing services to AAW participants. Questions or comments about this communication should be addressed to Tom Flynn.

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ODP Announcement 22-009 states that, in an effort to implement best practices and streamline requirements and operations between Intermediate Care Facilities (ICF) and Home and Community-Based Setting (HCBS) service providers, the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) intends to align incident management regulations and policies for ICFs with the already-existing regulations and policies for HCBS services.

Specifically, ODP plans to do the following:

  • Rescind the class 3 bulletin (statement of policy) that is currently codified at Pa. Code Chapter §§ 6000.901 — 6000.985 (relating to incident management) and issue a new class 3 bulletin that aligns with ODP Bulletin 00-21-02 (Incident Management for HCBS services) to the fullest extent possible.
  • Update Code Chapter 6600 to include new sections on definitions, incident management, and individual rights to align with the 55 Pa. Code Chapter 6100 regulations, to the fullest extent possible.

ODP is pleased to announce the release of the draft class 3 bulletin and the proposed 55 Pa. Code Chapter 6600 regulations for review and informal public comment in order to obtain meaningful input from stakeholders early on in the process of changing regulations. After the informal comment period ends, ODP will review and evaluate these comments, incorporating them when practical into the bulletin and regulations. The 30-day informal public comment period begins on February 2, 2022, and ends on March 4, 2022.

Interested persons are invited to submit written comments regarding the draft class 3 bulletin and Pa. Code Chapter 6600 regulations. Written comments should be addressed to Laura Cipriani, Department of Human Services, Office of Developmental Programs, 625 Forster Street, Room 510, Harrisburg, PA 17120. Comments may also be submitted to ODP via email using subject header “ICF Regulations.”

Questions about this communication should be directed to Laura Cipriani.

ODP Announcement 23-011 states that Support Service Professionals/Supports Brokers who were initially certified two years prior to the effective date of this waiver must complete the Supports Broker Certification program on or before the end of the third-year anniversary of the initial certification. Supports Brokers who were initially certified three or more years prior to the effective date of this waiver must complete the Supports Broker Certification program on or before July 1, 2023.

The Temple University Institute on Disabilities will offer six one-day virtual recertification training sessions. Dates are listed in the announcement.

Please contact the Participant Directed Services (PDS) Regional Lead in your area if you have questions.

ODP Announcement 23-010 is to communicate that the Temple University Harrisburg Certified Investigator Program and the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) will be facilitating Forums for Certified Investigators (CIs) and others involved in the incident investigation process as well as to announce the posting of Q&A documents from past CI Forums on MyODP.

Please submit questions related to the Investigatory Plan that you would like answered during the forum to Amanda Black by close of business Friday, March 3, 2023. The next session date and time is Friday, March 10, 2023, at 10:00 am – 11:30 am. The topic of discussion will be “Investigative Planning.” Registration for March 10, 2023, is open.

For any questions regarding registration for the CI Forums, please contact Amanda Black.

ODP Announcement 22-108 serves as an update to “Required Provider Qualification (PQ) Training on Common Health Conditions That May Be Associated with Preventable Deaths.” ODP added a new provider qualification to the Consolidated, Community Living, and Adult Autism Waivers for residential services. All provider staff who will spend any time alone with a participant during the provision of residential services must complete a “Department approved training on the common health conditions that may be associated with preventable deaths in people with an intellectual or developmental disability.” This applies to provider staff that are direct employees of an agency, contracted employees of an agency, or volunteers.

A list of Department approved trainings to meet this requirement is available at MyODP. This page lists each organization with currently approved training(s). The approved training(s) that must be completed for the organization are listed next to the “details” bullet underneath the organization. To meet the qualification requirement, staff are required to complete approved training(s) through one organization listed.

ODP will now allow Fatal Five trainings developed by residential provider agencies to be used if the training has been reviewed and approved by their regional Health Care Quality Unit (HCQU). To ensure content is clear, comprehensive, and adequately covers each condition, the HCQU Registered Nurse (RN) for that specific provider agency will review the training according to the guidelines provided by ODP.

Questions relating to this announcement may be directed to the ODP Provider Qualification Unit for Consolidated and Community Living Waiver providers. Adult Autism Waiver providers should send questions here.

ODP Announcement 23-009 shares that MyODP’s redesigned navigation structure is now live. Resource pages now reside on MyODP’s home page without the need for a login. MyODP will continue to host all Trainings and role-specific resources that require login.

The website will now be the primary site to access ODP-related resources. Many resource pages that were on MyODP have been consolidated for simpler navigation on the home page and are accessible without the need for login. The home page will also be the main point of access for Everyday Lives content, news, and communications. The home page search bar will search materials on MyODP, ASERT, and AIDinPA.

If you have bookmarks to any resource pages, they will remain accessible until February 28, 2023. Please change your bookmarks to the new resource pages before this date.

Along with this announcement is a Navigation Guide. Please submit feedback through the following MyODP New Navigation Feedback Form.

ODP Announcement 23-007 is to inform Providers, Supports Coordinator Organizations (SCOs), and County/Administrative Entities (AEs) that report or manage incidents in the EIM system, including those who are designated as Incident Management Representatives, that enhancements have been made to the EIM system.

On Saturday, January 14, 2023, the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) released enhancements within the EIM system. With this release, EIM users will benefit from updates that have been made to the system related to medication errors. To facilitate medication error trending and oversight, updates were made to the Medication Error Incident Report and a medication error visual analytic dashboard was created. In addition, a new EIM Medication Error canned report was created to facilitate the use of the Medication Error Dashboard and the analysis of medication errors.

For more specific information related the changes, please reference the HCSIS Release 90.10 Newsletter, pages 25-31.

ODP Announcement 23-008 announces that the amendment to the Adult Autism Waiver (AAW), effective January 1, 2023, was approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on January 13, 2023. The amendment to the AAW includes the following substantive changes:

  • Adding reserved waiver capacity for individuals who are discharged from a state center or are released from incarceration after a period of at least six consecutive months.
  • Aligning of provider qualifications in the AAW with the Consolidated, Community Living, and Person/Family Directed Support (P/FDS) waivers, whenever possible.
  • Allowing relatives to deliver the Life Sharing component of the Residential Habilitation service.
  • Requiring that agencies that provide Residential Habilitation/Life Sharing be qualified and enrolled to provide Residential Habilitation/Life Sharing in the Consolidated or Community Living waivers.
  • Increasing the annual fiscal limit in the Transportation service to $5,000 per participant’s Individual Support Plan (ISP) year.
  • Allowing one of the four required individual monitorings conducted by the Supports Coordinator each year to be conducted remotely. NOTE: For all individuals receiving Residential Habilitation (Community Homes or Life Sharing), remote monitorings are not permitted. See ODP Announcement 22-085 for additional information.
  • Allowing delivery of direct services using remote technology (teleservices). The requirements in the AAW will become effective when Appendix K flexibilities expire, six months after the expiration of the federal COVID-19 public health emergency.
  • Aligning the Assistive Technology service, where possible, with the Consolidated, Community Living, and P/FDS waivers. This includes adding generators for the participant’s primary residence.
  • Adding a new service, Remote Supports. A separate communication will be published in the coming weeks, providing instructions about how to add new Remote Supports procedure codes to ISPs. Remote Supports should not be added to ISPs until this communication is published.

The waiver application approved by CMS and the record of change document are available here.

ODP will be holding a webinar to discuss major changes made in the approved AAW amendment. Webinars specific to Remote Supports will be scheduled and communicated in the coming weeks. The date, time, and registration link for the general AAW amendment webinar are as follows:

ODP Announcement 23-005 is to inform stakeholders that the United States General Services Administration announced a change to the Transportation Mile reimbursement rate, procedure code W7271, beginning January 1, 2023.

The new rate is $0.655 per mile. This communication provides notice of the rate change, as well as provides instructions for Supports Coordination Organizations (SCOs) on how to add transportation mileage to the vendor screen. It also instructs direct service providers on how to submit claim adjustments, if applicable.

Questions regarding this announcement should be addressed to the appropriate ODP Regional Program Managers.