Member Resources

The US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG) has released its updated list which reflects all OIG exclusions and reinstatement actions up to, and including, those taken in Augusy 2021. This new file is meant to replace the updated List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE) database file available for download last month. Individuals and entities that have been reinstated to the federal health care programs are not included in this file.

On September 29th, Mass Senior Care Association and Mass Workforce Association hosted a webinar for long term care providers and MassHire workforce system staff on Strengthening Long Term Care Workforce Development Partnerships. More than 120 individuals attended the session to discuss the workforce needs of long term care providers and how to build successful workforce development partnerships in the future.

Today the Department of Public Health sent out a reminder to long-term care facilities of the requirements to report any clusters of influenza and respiratory illness using the Influenza/Respiratory Illness Cluster Reporting Form. These teleforms will be responded to by epidemiologists in the Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (via phone call or email). One exception remains: for reporting of SARS-CoV-2 viruses (COVID-19) clusters, please continue to report those directly to the epidemiology unit by calling 617-983-6800. Please DO NOT use the respiratory cluster teleform to report COVID-19 clusters.

Mass Senior Care is asking every member to join us in urging state legislators to support nursing facility residents, their families and caregivers by funding Massachusetts Senior Care Association’s Nursing Facility Recovery and Sustainability Proposal. Click here to take action today!

The PRF Phase 4 and Rural Distributions application webpage is now live and offers an array of guidance and new educational opportunities including additional webinar dates in October.

The Legislature yesterday sent to Governor Baker a bill extending to April 1, 2022 the emergency COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave Program enacted earlier this year and set to expire on September 30, 2021, and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) on September 27th released additional information on the $17 Billion Phase 4 and the $8.5 Billion Rural Distribution application.

Today, the DPH released guidance on the COVID-19 Booster Dose Vaccination in long-term care facilities.

Today the DPH released updates to Caring for LTC Residents During the COVID-19 Response and LTC Surveillance Testing guidance, DPH has also provided updated guidance on COVID-19 Personnel Vaccination Requirement in nursing homes specifically related to facility vaccination documentation requirements and clinical considerations for unvaccinated staff, Strengthening Long Term Care Workforce Development Partnerships webinar, and MSCA-MedPro international nurse recruitment partnership.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is inviting healthcare facilities to participate in a webinar series conducted by CDC due to the concerning increase in C. auris cases and other multi drug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in the state, and across the country. The first webinar in the series is scheduled for Monday, September 27, 2021, from 12:00 pm -1:30 pm.

MassHealth has asked provider associations to disseminate the request below in regard to a MassHealth survey on Robotics Processing Automation.

Effective October 1, 2021, MassHealth will require that nursing facilities complete the additional fields found in sections GG, I, and J of the MDS that are associated with Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) classification for all MassHealth members residing in a nursing facility. These PDPM

This webinar, offered by the Massachusetts Senior Care Association and the Mass Workforce Association, will support long term care facilities with developing partnerships with local MassHire Career Centers, and Workforce Boards to help meet facilities’ workforce needs and provide job opportunities for unemployed individuals.

Massachusetts Senior Care Association is calling on state lawmakers to allocate a portion of the state’s surplus tax collections and funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to support nursing facility residents, their families and caregivers through a Nursing Facility Recovery and Sustainability Proposal. Citing the worst staffing crisis in history and the COVID-19 pandemic which have devastated the financial stability of the nursing facility sector and led to disruptions in access to care for vulnerable seniors, Mass Senior Care’s Recovery and Sustainability proposal calls for $559 million in vital nursing facility investments in resident care, workforce and modernizing nursing facilities to create more homelike settings of care.

The Massachusetts Senior Care Association and the Mass Workforce Association webinar will support long term care facilities with developing partnerships with local MassHire Career Centers, and Workforce Boards to help meet facilities’ workforce needs and provide job opportunities for unemployed individuals, CMS launches new Medicare.gov tool to compare nursing home vaccination rates, AHCA has posted on its website a pre-recorded webinar which discusses the latest Provider Relief Fund (PRF) reporting guidance, and EOHHS issues 2022 user fee update, effective July 2021.

Beginning today, September 20, 2021, all healthcare regions of the state will be designated as Tier 3, Long-Term Care Booster Vaccination Updates, and the next DPH monthly call is scheduled for Thursday, September 23, 2021, at 11:00 a.m.

Mass Senior Care Association is pleased to announce a new exclusive benefit designed to assist member nursing facilities with one of the most significant workforce challenges facing the sector - the recruitment and retention of registered nurses. Under the leadership of a subcommittee of the Mass Senior Care Board of Directors, the Association conducted a rigorous and comprehensive vetting process and has selected MedPro International as its international nurse staffing vendor.

The Executive Office of Elder Affairs has filed ALR emergency regulations regarding the COVID-19 vaccine requirement for all Assisted Living Residence personnel, and AHCA has provided an update on the Phase 4 Provider Relief Fund – the portal opens on September 29th.

Effective October 1, 2021, MassHealth will require that nursing facilities complete the additional fields found in sections GG, I, and J of the MDS that are associated with Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) classification for all MassHealth members residing in a nursing facility.

Massachusetts is leading the nation in vaccinations - especially when it comes to protecting our older adults. CDC data shows that over 99% of all Massachusetts residents age 65 and older have at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Strengthening Long Term Care Workforce Development Partnerships Wednesday, September 29, 2021 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm Register for the Webinar - This program is for Mass Senior Care facility members, MassHire system and Career Center staff only. Registration is FREE. This webinar, offered by the Massachusetts Senior Care Association and the Mass Workforce Association, will support long term care facilities with developing partnerships with local MassHire Career Centers, and Workforce Boards to help meet facilities’ workforce needs and provide job

Mass Senior Care is pleased to welcome new members to our Association. Our Associate Members have demonstrated their commitment to the senior care provider community by joining Mass Senior Care and participating as exhibitors and sponsors for events and educational conferences. Mass Senior Care members are encouraged to contact Associate Members when they are in need of long term care products and services. You can find all of our Associate Members listed on our website, www.maseniorcare.org/preferred-vendors. Associate Members: Convergint Technologies

The Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS), Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, and her leadership team are hosting a National Stakeholder Call to discuss key updates from her first 100 days in office.

The 2022 AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Program intent to apply is now open! AHCA/NCAL encourages applicants who plan to apply for a Quality Award to submit an intent to apply by logging into the Quality Award Portal before the deadline on November 11, 2021. Applying for a National Quality Award provides a framework that can be used to prepare for and make critical improvements and serves as a team building activity to engage staff across all levels.

This COVID-19 memo includes the following updates: President Biden Expands Vaccination Requirements for Health Care Settings and DPH Announces a New CNA Testing Provider

The Biden-Harris Administration today announced that it will require COVID-19 vaccination of staff within all Medicare and Medicaid-certified facilities to protect both patients and staff. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), indicated that emergency regulations requiring vaccinations for nursing home workers will be expanded to include hospitals, dialysis facilities, ambulatory surgical settings, and home health agencies, among others, as a condition for participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

The Commonwealth’s nursing facility providers are making significant progress in vaccinating staff and residents against the COVID-19 virus. Massachusetts ranks 4th in the Nation with 79.6% of nursing facility staff fully vaccinated and 12th in the Nation with 90.1% of nursing facility residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Weekly data from National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Nursing Home COVID-19 Vaccination Data Dashboard show Massachusetts consistently leads the Nation in vaccination rates.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA) announced that this week the Committee will begin consideration of the Build Back Better Act legislative proposals under the budget reconciliation instructions. On September 9th and 10th, the Committee will mark up measures including nursing home resident protection, universal paid family and medical leave, access to child care and strengthening retirement savings. Learn more.

Yesterday on the DPH Provider call, Stephen Davis, Deputy Director and Acting Interim Director announced that Prometric LLC has been selected as the vendor to provide CNA certification testing in Massachusetts.

The DPH next monthly call is scheduled for Thursday, September 23, 2021, at 11:00 a.m. These calls will continue to include members of DPH’s Bureau of Health Care Safety and Quality, Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences, and Office of Preparedness and Emergency Management. Learn more.

The DPH has released information on implementing a streamlined oversight process for nursing home residents to safely receive hemodialysis in their nursing home. Dialysis facilities and nursing homes can partner to create dialysis spaces within the nursing home. In order to provide dialysis in this manner, the nursing home and dialysis facility must request approval for home dialysis in the nursing home as a special project and demonstrate in their application how they will meet space, staffing, and quality monitoring requirements. Learn more.

The 2021 National Assisted Living Week (NALW) will be observed on September 12-18, 2021 and this year’s theme is “Compassion, Community, Caring". National Assisted Living Week provides a unique opportunity for residents, their loved ones, staff, volunteers, and the surrounding communities to recognize the role of assisted living in caring for America’s seniors and individuals with disabilities.

The next DPH monthly call is scheduled for Wednesday, September 8, 2021 at 11:00 a.m.

The 2021 National Assisted Living Week (NALW) is coming up soon! To celebrate, ahcancalED is holding a sale September 8-19 on groundbreaking assisted living educational trainings. This sale features 20 percent off select ahcancalED trainings of interest to assisted living providers when you use promo code ALWEEK when registering.

Most nursing home residents will experience the end of their life in the care of nursing home staff, often with the help of a hospice team. Discussions about end-of-life wishes are best to have early on in the person’s admission to the nursing home, before there is a change in condition, so that residents, families, and staff are prepared and unnecessary hospital admissions are avoided.

Governor Charlie Baker has appointed Matthew Salmon, CEO of SALMON Health and Retirement and Mass Senior Care Past Chair, to serve on the Assisted Living Advisory Council (ALAC.)

The Baker-Polito Administration announced plans yesterday to require COVID-19 vaccination for all staff at rest homes, assisted living residences (ALRs), hospice programs, as well as for home care workers (HCWs) providing in-home, direct care services. The plan to expand the vaccine requirement for caregivers is subject to Public Health Council (PHC) approval and is part of the Administration’s continued effort to protect older adults against COVID-19. Last month, the Administration announced a vaccine requirement for employees of skilled nursing facilities.

Discussions on vaccine mandate and exemptions, the Federal COVID-19 Response Team changes in the authorized use of bamlanivimab and etesevimab administered together under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) 094, and reminder to urge Governor Baker to require ALL healthcare and eldercare workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Members are updated on temporary nursing licenses and reciprocity, Mass Senior Care comments filed with OSHA in regard to the agency’s COVID-19 Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS), published in the Federal Register on June 21, 2021, and asked to join Mass Senior Care in urging Governor Baker to require ALL healthcare and eldercare workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Commissioner of Public Health issued an Order authorizing the issuance of temporary licenses for certain providers, and renewal or reactivation of certain temporary licenses, the FDA released a letter ​yesterday alerting health care providers to stop using certain N95 respirators manufactured by one specific company, and Mass Senior Care asks members to join us in urging Governor Baker to require ALL healthcare and eldercare workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Mass Senior Care asks members to join us in urging Governor Baker to require ALL healthcare and eldercare workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Last week, The Boston Globe editorial called for Governor Baker to immediately implement a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all healthcare workers in the state. Take action today!

MassHealth has issued an email notice today noting that MassHealth Members in a long-term care facility such as a nursing facility, chronic-disease or rehabilitation hospital, or intermediate-care facility for individuals with intellectual disabilities, or admitted to a hospital from such facility or hospital, remain excluded from MassHealth copays.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a letter ​yesterday alerting health care providers to stop using certain N95 respirators manufactured by one specific company, Shanghai Dasheng Health Products Manufacturing Co.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) is sharing the announcement for the upcoming free, virtual X-waiver training for long-term care facility (LTCF) medical director(s) and other prescribers who treat residents at your facility. The training is necessary to prescribe buprenorphine to treat opioid use disorder (OUD) in 30 or more residents. For those who treat fewer than 30 residents, the training is highly recommended, nonetheless.

The September 30th Provider Relief Fund (PRF) deadline for the first reporting period is quickly approaching. The PRF Reporting Portal opened on July 1, 2021, for providers who need to report the use of PRF payments in Reporting Period 1. HRSA notes in a recent reporting reminder and new resources announcement, please click to learn more.

Reminder the September 30th Provider Relief Fund (PRF) deadline for the first reporting period is quickly approaching, and Mass Senior Care is asking members to join us in urging Governor Baker to require ALL healthcare and eldercare workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.