Member Update: Legislature Enacts and Sends to Governor FY 2024 Budget

The Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health in Nursing Facilities (COE-NF) provides training, technical assistance, and resources to the staff at Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing facilities that care for residents with various behavioral health conditions. This three-year cooperative agreement was awarded to Alliant Health Solutions by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in collaboration with CMS. The Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health in Nursing Facilities provides the following services to nursing facilities: Training and resources on

Skilled nursing facilities and assisted living communities continue to receive or are eligible to receive free monthly shipments of Abbott BinaxNOW over the counter (OTC) COVID-19 test kits from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

As a reminder, the DPH released guidance on Organizational Policies and Procedures for Mitigating Respiratory Illness after the expiration of the PHE. Health care facilities must identify and monitor respiratory illness metrics to indicate when there are increased levels which may necessitate implementing additional infection control measures.

The CDC has launched an updated and improved COVID-19 website​. Based on the needs of the public, the updates are more streamlined and easier for the public to find relevant information on COVID-19.

Since their release on April 3, 2023, MDS 3.0 version v1.8.11v2 final item sets and draft RAI guidance were updated and substantial changes were made to several sections.

The DPH has updated the Massachusetts Multidrug-Resistant Organism (MDRO) Toolkit.

​As fall approaches, long-term care (LTC) providers should be preparing to vaccinate their residents and staff against common respiratory viruses.

After a brief pause during the COVID-19 pandemic, CMS surveys are back on track. Join us to hear from the Department of Public Health (DPH) as they walk seminar participants through the steps of the survey process from entrance to exit.