“Little did I know that I would fall in love and spend most of my career caring for the geriatric community.” Lisa Cameron became a nurse 23 years ago - while she took her first job in long term care because it offered the best hours, her initial impression of long term care quickly changed. Since then and throughout her nursing career, she has worked with many different patient populations, but finds caring for her geriatric patients the most rewarding

On August 25 th, MassHealth issued a PASRR notice to Nursing Facilities, Hospitals, ASAPs and other Referral Sources Participating in MassHealth providing guidance in regard to: New vendor contact information for PASRR evaluations for individuals having, or suspected of having, serious mental illness effective September 1, 2017 New PASRR processes for individuals having, or suspected of having, serious mental illness, effective September 1, 2017. Please click here for the complete notice.

On September 8, 2017, the Executive Office of Health and Human Services through its Contractor (UMASS) issued an e-mail to nursing facilities indicating the webform to submit the Final Direct Care Add-on Compliance report is now available for use . The September 8 the-mail also included a revised hard copy Excel Worksheet that corrected 2 formula errors that were contained in the agency’s August 28, 2017 e-mail to nursing homes that would have resulted in an overstatement of the direct

On September 11th, the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs will be holding a public hearing on House Bill 2072 and Senate Bill 336, the Nursing Home Stabilization Bill. This omnibus legislation, filed by Representative Tom Golden and Senator Harriet Chandler, would require the state to take a series of measures to ensure that skilled nursing facilities have the resources necessary to provide quality care to frail elders and disabled individuals who no longer can live safely in the community. Nursing

This week, the Baker Administration announced that 26 health care organizations statewide will participate as Community Partners, in the next step of the rollout of MassHealth’s Accountable Care Organization (ACO) program. The intent is for community-based health care and human service organizations to partner with the ACOs to integrate and improve member health outcomes of approximately 60,000 MassHealth members with complex long term medical and/or behavioral health needs. The ACO program is funded in part by $1.8 billion in federal

Best Practices in Person-Centered Care at the End of Life The Massachusetts Culture Change Coalition invites you to participate in a new round of regional forums, designed to bring together long term care providers and other stakeholders interested in pursuing person-centered care. Regional forums serve as venues to share information and ideas about culture change and provide resources to help you get started or expand on your culture change journey. We encourage facilities to send members of the team that

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released new forms, including a new entrance conference worksheet and facility matrix, as well as new and updated investigative protocols, referred to as pathways that will be used for the new long term care (LTC) survey process starting on November 28, 2017. These forms are posted on the CMS Nursing Homes webpage here. Our national association, AHCA, has prepared a memorandum on this topic. Please click here to access it. For

“It is my dream to provide the same loving and compassionate care that my grandmother received in a nursing home to my future patients.” Katherine St. Onge, an Activities Assistant at Orchard Cove, credits her beloved grandmother as the reason she is now pursuing a career in occupational therapy, after witnessing the key role that occupational therapists played in returning her grandmother’s life back to normal after a knee amputation. She chose a concentration in Motor Development Therapy in her

The Department of Public Health, Bureau of Health Care Safety and Quality will be conducting three webinars on the new long term care survey process (LTCSP) developed by CMS. Additional information regarding registration will be announced once available. Facilities will be asked to participate in the webinar for their survey region: Tuesday, October 10th at 1:30 PM: West Region Tuesday, October 17th at 1:30 PM: North Region Tuesday, October 24th at 1:30 PM: South Region The purpose of this training

On August 28, 2017, the Executive Office of Health and Human Services through its Contractor (UMASS) issued guidance on preparing for the filing of the Final Direct Care Add-on Compliance Report. The agency notes that the webform to submit the Final Direct Care Add-on Compliance report will be available for use as of 9/4/17. Facilities will receive a second e-mail announcing when the form is live; please do not attempt to log in until you have received that second e-mail