“Illuminate Leadership: Moving From Rockstar Contributor To Impactful Manager” — Free Webinar for RCPA Members on June 21
Webinar
CMS Medicare Updates & Education Webinar Announced for May 9
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced the next Medicare Updates and Education webinar. The webinar, “Medicare & Other Programs for People With Disabilities,” is scheduled for May 9, 2024, from 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm and will include information about:
- What’s Happening in Medicare – May 2024;
- NTP Announcements and Resources;
- Women’s Health Week (May 12 — May 18);
- National Osteoporosis Prevention Month;
- World No Tobacco Day (May 31);
- Older Americans Month;
- Arthritis Awareness Month;
- Mental Health Awareness Month; and
- Coverage to Care.
To participate, please register here.
Provider Preparedness Summits for Performance-Based Contracting Announced for June 2024
Information Overview and Performance Standard Webinar Sessions
Registration Now OPEN!
This webinar series will provide details on specific performance standards for Performance-Based Contracting for residential services. Each session will cover the required reporting, data source, data collection, and analysis for each performance standard.
A prerecorded General Overview Webinar will be disseminated on May 21, 2024, as a pre-requisite to the sessions outlined below. It is strongly recommended providers watch the General Overview Webinar prior to attending.
These sessions will each be unique in content and build upon one another. Providers are encouraged to attend all four sessions. Due to anticipated audience size, only two representatives from each Provider Agency should register to attend. All sessions will be recorded and made available on MyODP.
REGISTER:
- June 3, 2024 – 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
- June 10, 2024 – 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
- June 12, 2024 – 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
- June 20, 2024 – 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
You can send any registration questions you may have via email.
Novitas Solutions Releases Info From April 24 Review Choice Demonstration Webinar
On April 24, 2024, Novitas Solutions hosted their first webinar for inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRF) in preparation for the start date of the IRF Review Choice Demonstration (RCD) in Pennsylvania on June 17, 2024. Novitas is the RCD contractor for the state of Pennsylvania. The webinar provided an overview of the process, the different review choices, and the instructions for contractor-specific portal (Novitasphere). While the webinar primarily covered the basics of the program as previously laid out in CMS’s materials, there was some new information that was shared:
- For the first time, Novitas introduced the clinical leadership team for the demonstration in Pennsylvania:
- Ene Ojile, the Contract Medical Director overseeing the RCD in Pennsylvania. Dr. Ojile is Board-Certified in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R), and she most recently served as Medical Director for a large freestanding inpatient rehabilitation hospital.
- Jessica Hicks, RN, MSN, the Medical Review Manager.
- Mia Jackson, RN, BSN, the Medical Review Team.
- There was some discussion and confusion about the methodology Novitas will use to calculate individual hospital’s affirmation rates under the RCD. During the webinar, Novitas staff stated that the total number of submissions and resubmissions would be included in the calculation, potentially penalizing hospitals for completing resubmissions even if the claim is eventually affirmed. After the webinar, Novitas circulated a “clarification” indicating that, “The number of resubmissions is not counted against the affirmation rate.” Additional clarification will be requested to confirm how the rates will be calculated and that the same methodology will be used as in Alabama.
The slides from the April 24 webinar are now available, and Novitas has also posted a recording of the main presentation (without the public Q&A portion) available here.
Novitas will also be hosting the following training and education webinars leading up to the start date. You can register for these webinars at their website.
- May 2 — Review Choice Selection & Process (PA IRF Providers Only)
- May 3 — RCD: How to Prepare (All JH and JL IRF Providers)
- June 4 — Pre-Claim and Post-Payment Review Submissions (PA IRF Providers Only)
IPRC Webinar “Treating Post-COVID-19 Conditions in Children” to Be Held May 30
Thursday, May 30, 2024
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EDT; 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CDT;
10:00 am – 11:00 am MDT; 9:00 am – 10:00 am PDT
Register
Laura Malone, MD, PhD
Dr. Laura Malone is the director of the Pediatric Post-COVID-19 Rehabilitation Clinic at Kennedy Krieger Institute. She is also a physician scientist in Kennedy Krieger’s Center for Movement Studies and an assistant professor of Neurology and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Dr. Malone has a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and her medical degree from the University of North Carolina. She completed her pediatric neurology residency at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Malone’s clinical practice focuses on the neurological care of children with perinatal stroke, other brain injuries, and long COVID. Her research focuses on understanding complex pediatric disorders and on improving outcomes using mechanistic neurorehabilitation approaches. Regarding COVID-19, Dr. Malone investigates clinical phenotypes of children with persistent symptoms after COVID-19 infection and investigates factors and mechanisms that promote good recovery.
Objectives: At the end of this session, the learner will:
- Discuss how our understanding of long COVID has evolved over time;
- Describe guidance regarding assessment and treatment options for children with long COVID; and
- Identify recovery patterns and factors that influence severity and recovery of children with long COVID.
Audience: This webinar is intended for all interested members of the rehabilitation team.
Level: Intermediate
Certificate of Attendance: Certificates of attendance are available for all attendees. No CEs are provided for this course.
Complimentary webinars are a benefit of membership in IPRC/RCPA. Registration fee for non-members is $179. Not a member yet? Consider joining today.
Statewide Briefing on Medicaid Unwinding & Expanded Enrollment Options Planned for April 25
On April 25, 2024, at 12:00 pm, a virtual statewide briefing will be conducted on Medicaid unwinding and expanded enrollment options. This event will feature Health and Human Services (HHS) Regional Director Melissa Herd, Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Secretary Val Arkoosh, and Pennie Executive Director Devon Trolley.
The agenda will include a briefing on what’s happening at the federal level when it comes to Medicaid, an update on the Medicaid “unwinding” process currently wrapping up in Pennsylvania, and the expanded eligibility requirements for enrolling in Pennie coverage even when it’s not open enrollment.
To register, please visit here.
Addressing the Shortage: The Current State of the Direct Care Workforce — Webinar on April 25
Trauma-Informed Care: Your Questions Answered — Relias Webinar on May 7
PCHC to Offer Special Training Series From April to June
NASDDDS Announces Second Installment of Adaptive Strategies Video Series
The National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services (NASDDDS) has announced the second installment of the Adaptive Strategies Video Series. The Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) series was written and led by the Missouri Department of Mental Health and a stellar group of professionals from that state. The project has been an enormous undertaking and a true labor of love by professionals and clinicians in both Missouri (DBT series) and Louisiana (CBT series). We want to particularly highlight staff from Missouri since inadvertently not providing them appropriate credit in our original announcement. A special thank you to Dr. Sharon Robbins, Dr. Lucas Evans, Dr. Jessica Sergio, and Dr. Brandy Baczwaski for their incredible contributions to this body of work currently positioned to make a significant impact on the experiences of people with I/DD nationally. We would also like to thank Dr. Angeline Stanislaus, Chief Medical Director at the Missouri Department of Mental Health, along with Jessica Bax, Director of the Missouri Division of Developmental Disabilities, and Valerie Huhn, Director of the Missouri Department of Mental Health, for their leadership and support of this project.
We would also be remiss not to take a moment to mention the team from Louisiana who led the work on the first Adaptive Strategies series, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). We would like to thank Julie Foster-Hagan, Assistant Secretary at the Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities at the Louisiana Department of Health for her leadership and support. We are also incredibly grateful to Dr. Brandi Kelly and Dr. Tab Bounds for their innovative vision and immense contributions to this project.
Despite long-held beliefs that people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (I/DD) may not benefit from mental health treatment, we know that people with I/DD can successfully utilize integrated medical, mental, and behavioral healthcare (Ervin, Williams, and Merrick, 2014). NASDDDS is pleased to announce the second installment of its Adaptive Strategies video series featuring specific interventions and treatments highlighting modifications and adaptations for people with I/DD.
People with I/DD experience behavioral and physical health issues at rates higher than the general population and can benefit from the same evidence-based interventions that are used for people without I/DD. This second installment in the video series, developed in collaboration with Louisiana’s Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities, will focus on modifying Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for people with I/DD.
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