Larry Minnix, CEO of LeadingAge, announced that he plans to retire on or about December 31, 2015. Larry has served as LeadingAge’s CEO for 15 years and has guided our national organization to become a formidable thought leader and influencer in the field of aging services. When considering retirement, Larry wanted to create an opportunity for the new CEO and our membership at the national level.

LeadingAge will face a new White House beginning with the 2016 presidential election. Being in on the ground floor of policy formulation and relationship-building is critical to LeadingAge’s long term credibility and continued success of its mission and brand. Of course, Larry remains the CEO for the next 11 months or so, and we look forward to his continued strong and effective leadership. His will be big shoes to fill.

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National Update
5-Star Changes May Lower Facility Rating
This month CMS began announcing details to a new approach in calculating scores for the Nursing Home Compare, 5-Star Quality nursing home rating system. It is likely that a large number of facilities will have a lower star rating under this system than previously,

On February 13, all nursing homes were to receive a private preview (via their QIES mailbox) and access to the updated Technical User’s Guide (the User’s Guide can also be requested through BetterCare@cms.hhs.gov if it was not received).

Background and Coming Changes – provided by Evvie Munley of LeadingAge

• On February 20, CMS will publicly release a revised Nursing Home Compare (Nursing Home Compare 3.0). The public roll-out will include a press release and a press conference detailing the changes.
• The main changes include adding 2 measures on use of antipsychotic drugs to the calculation process for the 5-Star Rating System and resetting the quality measure scale to raise the standard for nursing homes to receive a high rating.
• CMS anticipates that most nursing homes will experience a change in their 5-Star rating.
• There will also be some “minor” adjustment to the staffing domain: CMS is making a general change to the final algorithm. Currently, it is possible to have a rating of 3 stars for RN and a rating of 3 stars for total staffing but achieve a rating of 4 stars overall for staffing. Facilities will now have to achieve 4 stars in at least one of the RN or Total Staffing categories to attain a 4-star rating for staffing. CMS’ rationale is that a 4-star overall rating for staffing is not warranted unless 4 stars are achieved in one or both categories.
• CMS intends to implement the electronic collection of payroll-based staffing data on a voluntary basis in/by the end of 2015; and, for all nursing homes by the end of 2016. CMS is working on compatibility with all payroll systems; in the interim, the 671 will remain in use.

LeadingAge (National) Comment

• LeadingAge supports a consumer-friendly nursing home rating system based on reliable quality information that the public can understand. The 5-Star rating system is a great idea, but was hastily and prematurely implemented. CMS continues to tweak it without addressing or correcting underlying fundamental flaws.
• CMS’s latest rebasing of the five-star formula will likely impact many LeadingAge members, who may see a one to two star drop in their total number of stars based on the new calculation. While LeadingAge supports the addition of a calculation that measures antipsychotic use and one that revises the current way that staffing levels are determined, we are disappointed overall that CMS has not yet provided more transparency about the recalculations. We are concerned about how this might affect and confuse residents and their families. We hope CMS will more aggressively pursue fixing the fundamental flaws behind 5-Star because the public deserves a tool that is easy to understand and is supported by reliable criteria. But we aren’t there yet.

CMS Survey and Certification Letter: MDS/Staffing Focused Surveys

• Read More

New Federal Manual – Protecting Residents from Financial Exploitation

The following is the link to a new brochure, “Protecting residents from financial exploitation; A manual for assisted living and nursing facilities”, developed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

• Link

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Upcoming Events

ICD-10 Webinar
March 5, 2015, 12:00pm – 1:00pm

• Stephanie S. Kessler, RAC-CT, Partner, Senior Living Services Consulting Group, Reinsel Kuntz Lesher LLP
• Members only – Registration here

2015 PEAK Leadership Summit

• More Information and Registration

LeadingAge DC Member Hill Visit to the Office of Congresswomen Holmes Norton
March 17, 2015, 12:00pm

• Please contact Christy Kramer at ckramer@leadingage.org to RSVP

Armed Forces Retirement Home – Tour of the Scott Building and discussion regarding their neighborhood design
April 7, 2015, 1:30 – 4:00pm

• LeadingAge Members Only
• Space is limited and registration details will be provided soon.

Dementia in Affordable Housing: Awareness, Action, and Assistance
April, 27, 2015

• 9 am – 12pm
• Agenda and registration information to come
  

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Governing for Strategic Success

• A new governance program led by renowned governance speaker and author Jamie Orlikoff will roll out this summer. The retreat will prepare boards for strategic planning discussions to help move forward in the rapidly changing aging services environment. Three two-day retreats will be offered in June, July and August in Denver, Philadelphia and Chicago. These retreats are for board chairs, chairs-elect and CEOs as well as full boards and leadership teams. Members can get more information and register on the LeadingAge Website.

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Member Opportunities and Resources

Housing and Health Care: A Toolkit for Building Partnerships
The LeadingAge Center for Housing Plus Services is pleased to announce its new Housing and Health Partnerships toolkit. The toolkit provides resources and guidance to help providers of affordable senior housing and their health care partners work together to improve health, safety and quality of life for housing residents, while reducing unnecessary use of health services and achieving cost savings.

Components include:

• A Guide to Housing-Health Partnerships, which explores the benefits of housing-health partnerships, outlines the wide range of health-related services that partners can implement, and steers housing and health care providers through the process of cultivating, structuring and implementing their partnership.
• Short videos highlighting the benefits of housing and health partnerships for low-income older adults, their health care providers and their housing properties.
• Video interviews with health care practitioners highlighting the value of collaborating with affordable housing communities, including benefits to patients, health care providers and payers.
• A Return on Investment Calculator that organizations can use to estimate the financial value of their housing-health partnership.
• Educational resources designed to help health care entities and affordable housing organizations better understand each other.

Insights/Quality Metrics Update

New Home Health Tool: 2 Upcoming Webinars on Accessing Using

Home Health Quality Metrics is the latest addition to LeadingAge Insights and complements Nursing Home Quality Metrics, an interactive data tool that provides skilled nursing homes with the ability to analyze their 5-star ratings, staffing, quality measures and deficiencies.

Beginning this month, LeadingAge members now have access to Home Health Quality Metrics, an interactive benchmarking tool that uses Home Health Compare data to analyze process and outcome quality measures reported on the Home Health Compare website.