Last week, Massachusetts legislators filed over 6,000 bills to be debated during the 2021-2022 legislative session, including important nursing home legislation, which would provide further support for quality nursing facility care. Please join Mass Senior Care in urging legislators to prioritize nursing home care in the legislative session. Take action now by clicking here to email or call your state senator and representative to ask them to sign on as co-sponsor to the following bills.

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.

At a young age, Guylen [Gilly] Muzac’s heart was set on becoming a nurse after watching her aunt receive tremendous nursing care. For the past 14 years, Guylene has worked on the Alzheimer’s/Dementia Unit at Sherril House in Boston. Recently she has been working as a Resident Care Manager, where she continues to make a positive difference.

Members are encouraged to tap AHCA’s groundbreaking SNF-centered report using hospital, SNF and other post-acute care claims to track patient flow and availability in the SNF’s market area, broken out by clinical categories relevant to the Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM). The report is called P3©.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering a web-based training that provides an overview of the assessment and coding of the standardized patient assessment data elements (SPADEs) related to falls in Section J: Health Conditions.

Massachusetts Senior Care Association is excited to participate in the upcoming observance of National Skilled Nursing Care Week (NSNCW), which will be held May 9-15, 2021. This year's theme, "Together Through the Seasons," will honor the collaborative commitment of skilled nursing care facilities and their staff in providing compassionate care to their residents during this unprecedented time.

Mass Senior Care has provided public testimony on the following two proposed regulations:

Mass Senior Care would like to alert long-term care facilities to a change in the Long-term Care Facility Licensure Renewal Application. The Department of Public Health will accept and process a long-term care facility license renewal application only if the application is completed and executed by an “Applicant” as defined in 105 CMR 153.004 (for example, an owner or executive officer of the licensee).

An announcement that due to the decrease in the number of focused infection control surveys, DPH has resumed annual surveys and information on a BinaxNOW expiration date update.