Mass Senior Care is pleased to welcome our new Associate Members. 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. Favorite Healthcare Staffing of Worcester, MA, a Joint Commission certified healthcare staffing company. Contact: Joanne Hebenstreit, Area Director

Massachusetts Senior Care Association’s 2017 Nursing Facility Employment Survey has been mailed out to Nursing Facility Administrators. The deadline to return the survey has been extended to tomorrow, Friday, July 14, 2017. Mass Senior Care member providers have traditionally used the results of this survey to help them assess their wage and benefit packages. The aggregate survey data also enable us to document the costs associated with staff recruitment and retention, health insurance coverage and other factors as we continue

It has come to Mass Senior Care's attention that MassHealth providers using Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) 11 browser to upload claims for Medicaid payment are receiving a "File Name is invalid" error message. The MMIS file upload issue appears to occur when the MMIS web site is part of the IE "Trusted sites" and the Trusted sites zone has the "Include local directory path when uploading files to a server" setting set to "Enabled". MassHealth has indicated "if it is

On July 7 th, the Legislature approved its state fiscal year 2018 budget recommendation and sent it to Governor Charlie Baker for his action. The $40.2 billion budget mostly level funds state agency budgets due to the challenging state revenue picture. The final budget also imposed $400 million in reductions from the original House and Senate recommendations. Notwithstanding the deteriorating revenue outlook, we are grateful to Legislative leaders and the Conference Committee members for including $7.5 million in additional funding

The Board of Registration in Nursing (Board) will no longer issue license renewal reminders or paper licenses beginning with the 2018 renewal period. The Board will use email to communicate renewal reminders and important changes in statute, regulations and policies related to nursing. Please note that requiring a hard copy of a license is not a state or federal law. As stated in the BORN memo, “Licensure status can be verified by accessing the Board of Registration in Nursing (Board)

Due to the upcoming holiday weekend, this year's AHCA Silver Award notification date will be moved from Friday, June 30 to Thursday, July 6. Please mark your calendars with this change. The new date will ensure that AHCA has the resources to provide exceptional service and be responsive should members need assistance when they receive the notification. Source: AHCA

Mass Senior Care Association has partnered with our national association, American Health Care Association (AHCA) to help you meet the new Infection Preventionist specialized training requirement finalized by CMS in the Reform of Requirements of Participation for Long Term Care Facilities. This Infection Preventionist Specialized Training (IPCO) course provides education for healthcare professionals who seek to serve as Infection Preventionists. Individuals who complete the course will be trained to effectively implement and manage an Infection Prevention and Control Program at

Massachusetts Senior Care Association’s 2017 Nursing Facility Employment Survey has been mailed out to Nursing Facility Administrators. The deadline to return the survey has been extended to Friday, July 14, 2017. Mass Senior Care member providers have traditionally used the results of this survey to help them assess their wage and benefit packages. The aggregate survey data also enable us to document the costs associated with staff recruitment and retention, health insurance coverage and other factors as we continue to

On June 28, 2017 the Determination of Need Office issued notification that it has promulgated two new Guidelines and issued a clarification of the MCE Guideline, all three of which should be available on the DoN Website shortly. Specifically: J une 29, 2017 Update to Annual Adjustments to Determination of Need (DoN) Expenditure Minimums – updates Maximum Capital Thresholds effective October 1, 2016; Disaggregation – The purpose of this memorandum is to inform interested parties of the time period Applicants

The Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) earlier this week issued a Notice of Proposed Agency Action that would continue the current Medicaid user fee rate of payment to facilities at $17.59 per day on July 1, 2017, instead of temporarily reducing it to $15.47 per day pending enactment of the SFY 2018 budget.