Today we are providing you with several updates related to PPE, Telehealth and Media Relations. Please continue to visit our dedicated COVID-19 webpage for resources and updates.

We are looking forward to seeing our members in June when we have rescheduled two of our major programs and we hope you can join us.

We are looking forward to seeing our members in June when we have rescheduled two of our major programs and we hope you can join us.

With enhanced visitor restrictions now in place, staff members at long term care communities across the Commonwealth are using creative approaches to keep residents engaged and socially active during this extremely challenging time. Whether it be playing hallway bingo, window visits, hallway noodle baseball, or virtual visits and hugs, all levels of staff have taken extraordinary efforts to continue providing a safe, healthy and connected community for their residents.

Please join the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for a call on COVID-19 with Nursing Homes today at 4:30 PM. CMS leadership will provide updates on the agency’s latest guidance. There will be audience Q&A and an opportunity for you to share best practices with your peers.

MassHealth requires that nursing facilities and chronic disease and rehabilitation inpatient hospitals account for the balances of personal needs allowance (PNA) account funds.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that they are delaying the Minimum Data Set (MDS) 3.0 v1.18.1 release, which had been scheduled for October 1, 2020.

On March 22, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced administrative burden relief for providers participating in various quality programs during the COVID-19 outbreak.

On March 23, CMS released guidance prioritizing and suspending most federal and state survey agency (SSA) surveys, and delaying revisit surveys, for the next three weeks beginning on March 20, 2020, for all nursing homes. For non-IJ related onsite surveys that are currently in process, survey teams are instructed to end the survey and exit the facility.