On Thursday, May 28th, LeadingAge DC conducted an event “Working Together – Community Based Villages and Other Aging Services Providers” which was hosted by Forest Hills of DC. LeadingAge DC members and non-members gathered to hear from Bruce Rosenthal of LeadingAge and engage with a panel of local providers and experts including Sandy Douglass, CEO, Forest Hills of DC, Mariana Blagburn, Executive Director, Northwest Neighbors Village, and Gail Kohn, Age Friendly DC. Many thanks to Forest Hills for their hospitality.
Learn to Thrive
A new set of resources to help LeadingAge members achieve a successful future in meeting the needs of the people and communities they serve. LEARN MORE
Upcoming Event: On the Horizon in Senior Housing in Washington, DC June 10th, 10 – 12:00pm
Learn about the inter-generational solutions being implemented in Washington, DC from Dr. John M. Thompson, Executive Director of the District of Columbia Office on Aging (DCOA). This session will also provide a federal housing update with Alayna Waldrum and Colleen Bloom. Register Here This program has been approved for Continuing Education for 2.0 total clock hours from NAB/NCERS.
District of Columbia Update
DC Council Passes $13 billion Budget
On, Wednesday, May 27, the DC Council passed a $13 billion budget. LeadingAge DC will be developing next steps to address the some of the opportunities that exist in the FY 2016 budget. Some highlights for LeadingAge DC members include:
Housing Funding Increases
$100 million for the Housing Production Trust Fund
$8.8 million increase for Permanent Supportive Housing
$9 million increase for Local Rent Supplement Program tenant-based vouchers
$2.4 Million for Local Rent Supplement Program
DC Office on Aging
Approximately $2 Million funding decrease
Nursing Home Quality Fund
The DC Council approved reallocating any remaining balances in the Nursing Home Quality Fund into the General Fund.
National Update
Medicare Observation Days Must Be Fixed
On May 20, the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing on the problems facing Medicare beneficiaries caught in the “observation days” snafu.In its statement for the hearing record, LeadingAge pointed out that beneficiaries kept in the hospital for extended periods “under observation” do not meet the 3-day stay requirement for Medicare coverage of any post-acute care they may need following their hospital stay. Read More
LeadingAge Extends Deadline for Section 202 PRAC Preservation Survey
The LeadingAge Section 202 Project Rental Assistance Contracts (PRAC) Preservation Workgroup survey deadline has been extended to June 30, 2015. The survey was created to collect crucial data on the preservation and rehab needs of the Section 202 PRAC projects. Read More
National Partnership to Improve Dementia Care in Nursing Homes
On April 24, CMS received a new set of data for the national partnership that shows trends in antipsychotic use in nursing homes.
In 2011 Q4, 23.9 percent of long-stay nursing home residents were receiving an antipsychotic medication; since then there has been a decrease of 20.1 percent to a national prevalence of 19.1 percent in 2014 Q4. Success has varied by state and CMS region. The District of Columbia decreased from 21.4% to 14.1% during this time period.
Section 202 Demo Rescinded and NHTF Money Eliminated by House Appropriations Committee
The U.S. House Appropriations Committee passed the 2016 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) funding bill on May 13. The bill was funded at $6.8 billion less than the president’s request in order to comply with the budget caps set by sequestration. The Section 202 account faced a drastic cut with the bill allocating just $414 million for the program and underfunding the amount needed for PRAC renewals. Read More
CMS updates Medicare Claims Processing Manual for SNFs
Updates to the Medicare Internet-Only Manual Chapters for Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Providers are effective June 15, 2015. The updates can be found here.
Member Opportunities and Resources
LeadingAge HackFest
LeadingAge has opened the application period for the 2015 LeadingAge HackFest, our annual event that challenges participants to “Engage with Age” by creating a technology-driven tool aimed at improving the lives of older adults and their families.
Last year, Lauren Sims, Administrator-in-Training at Ingleside at Rock Creek, participated on the grand prize winning team!
Anyone with an interest in technology (you don’t need to be a computer programmer) is encouraged to apply. Check out this YouTube video to learn more about the event.
Readmissions Report: A QuickCast
In this 14-minute educational video, Holly Wittenberg, director at Avalere Health, explains ways in which post-acute care providers can leverage their readmission data to create partnership opportunities.
Holleran Poll Reports on Seniors’ Use of Technology, Importance of “Not-for-Profit” Status, and other Issues
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.
Insights/Quality Metrics Update
LeadingAge Quality Metrics is a set of interactive data tools that assists nursing homes in analyzing how they measure up to their peers, demonstrate value, and improve performance. Leveraging Nursing Home Compare data, Quality Metrics allows nursing homes to compare themselves against nearby or comparably sized nursing homes. It also offers a tool to help predict Five-Star status and provide guidance on where to focus to increase their rating. Read More
New Home Health Tool: 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.
Upcoming Events
On the Horizon in Senior Housing in Washington, DC
Learn about the inter-generational solutions being implemented in Washington, DC from Dr. John M. Thompson, Executive Director of the District of Columbia Office on Aging (DCOA). This session will also provide a federal housing update.
Date: Wednesday, June 10, 10:00 am – 12:00pm
Location: LeadingAge DC Offices, 2519 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008
Speakers: Dr. John Thompson, DCOA, Alayna Waldrum, LeadingAge, Colleen Bloom, LeadingAge
CEs: This program has been approved for Continuing Education for 2.0 total clock hours from NAB/NCERS.
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.
Did You Miss It?
LeadingAge puts out several newsletters related to specific provider news, weekly advocacy updates, technology and research. If you’d like to find out the latest on housing, nursing home, home & community-based services, assisted living, continuing care retirement communities or anything else related to the field, visit the LeadingAge newsletter archive today.
A new set of resources to help LeadingAge members achieve a successful future in meeting the needs of the people and communities they serve. 
