Ohio Health Care Association

Congratulations to Carol Nadaud of Glass Peaks Senior Living on receiving the OHCA Excellence Award for Assisted Living, sponsored by LeaderStat! Her nominators share that Carol has been the Resident Service Coordinator at Glass Peaks for 35 years.  Carol has had many titles in that time, but her role has remained the same. She has always been dedicated and passionate about enhancing the lives of the residents.  Carol says, “The residents are my family, and I am honored to be a part of enriching their lives. Honestly, I believe the residents enhance and enrich my life more than I do for them.”  Please join us in celebrating Carol, a true example of excellence in caregiving!! 🥂

The winds of change have come! For many years, Ohio providers have referred to our nursing assistants as "State-tested nursing assistants" or "STNAs". Meanwhile, most of the country refer to them as "certified nursing assistants" or "CNAs". Our nursing assistants are more than just state-tested. They complete a rigorous course of study and earn a certification by demonstrating competencies in their profession. Effective today, Nursing Assistants in Ohio can officially take the designation of CNA. OHCA members should check their weekly newsletters for more information on which provisions take effect immediately, and which provisions still require rule making. #CNAOhio #LongTermCare

Who can argue against people having access to the care they need? Medicare Advantage plans have been denying benefits to consumers who would benefit from the stabilization of post-acute services for too long. Many times, patients end up back in the hospital with a longer recovery time. Under the Medicare program, this would never happen. It's time to take action. #AccesstoCare #PostAcuteCare

Congratulations to Julie Simpkins, an OHCA Assisted Living Board Member, and Bill Weisberg, an OHCA Board member, on their re-election to the AHCA/NCAL Board of Directors! We are honored to have you on our leadership team!

Last week, OHCA received reports from our members that the Ohio Department of Medicaid is issuing bulk determinations for providers that applied for Category 1 Medicaid Private Rooms, as approved by CMS and the state of Ohio. To date, we have not seen any Category 2 Medicaid Private Room approvals. Providers should be carefully review their inboxes for approvals or denials from ODM on their applications. We believe all skilled nursing facility residents deserve privacy, dignity, quality of life, and protection from communicable diseases. All of these things are enhanced when a resident can live in a private room. The federal government recently approved Ohio’s first-of-its-kind plan to give Medicaid residents – nearly two-thirds of the total - access to private rooms. We applaud the General Assembly, Governor DeWine, the Department of Medicaid, and CMS for supporting our quest to enhance our residents’ quality of life and keep them safe in the coming years. #OhioMedicaid #PrivateRooms #SkilledNursing #QualityOfLife

🔔 Be on the lookout for your Off-Cycle Revalidation Notices from CGS! 🔔 All Ohio SNF providers will need to complete a new CMS-855A, regardless of when their next revalidation is due. OHCA members are invited to attend a free member webinar, hosted by AHCA/NCAL, on October 18th to discuss the new requirements. https://lnkd.in/gQSYcwSt

Attaining a goal is never easy, but when that goal keeps changing, the journey becomes infinitely more challenging. Imagine you're climbing a mountain, only to find that the summit keeps shifting further away with every step. This is what it feels like when the goalposts constantly move. When goals keep shifting, consistency and focus are compromised. Every time you make strides, you have to pause, reassess, and recalibrate. The momentum you've built stalls, and you're left questioning whether you're even on the right path. These are the practical implications of instituting a quality penalty on the bottom 25th percentage of all providers no matter how high their quality points reach. The goal constantly changes and we are left grappling with readjusting our goals. Even if we all had 99% of the quality points, the bottom 25% within that percentile will receive enormous financial penalties. Let's find a way to set a quality goals for our residents without jeopardizing access to care. #CommonSenseGoals #NursingHomeQuality #OhioMedicaid

A government survey of thousands of U.S. nursing homes confirmed that Medicaid reimbursement is not covering costs for our Medicaid beneficiaries. The report, titled "Assessing Medicaid Payment Rates and Costs of Caring for the Medicaid Population Residing in Nursing Homes," highlights the financial challenges nursing homes face. Conducted over five years, the study was commissioned by the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE). The findings underscore the difficulties in improving care quality due to insufficient funding, which limits nursing homes' ability to invest in staffing and quality improvements. Staffing challenges are emphasized in the context of a new CMS rule requiring nursing homes to provide 3.48 hours of daily direct care per patient. The report shows that about 80% of nursing homes would need to increase staffing levels to comply, but many lack the financial resources to do so without higher Medicaid or Medicare reimbursement. “One of the questions that we always ask is whether we’re adequately paying nursing homes for the cost of the services they are providing, right?” noted report co-author John Bowblis, PhD, a Professor and Research Fellow of the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University, in an interview with McKnight’s Long-Term Care News. “If a nursing home wants to make investments in quality improvement, whether that be [improving] staffing levels or paying workers more to lower turnover, that means they need to have adequate financial resources. And that’s not going to be feasible given the current payment models.” https://lnkd.in/gdsKyWca #UnfundedMandate #CostofCare #ScrippsGerontology

OHCA is kicking off the 2024 Photo Contest, capturing the dedication of caregiving every year. OHCA provider members are invited to submit photographs featuring daily life, activities, loving care and relationships between the people we care for, families and staff. The public will have an opportunity to vote for entries submitted by November 19 via the OHCA Facebook page. All entries will be available for viewing and voting on Facebook from November 21- November 27. To obtain an entry form and submit your photo, please contact Lisa O'Brien at lobrien@ohca.org. #PhotoContest #CaregiverStories #ohiohealthcareassociation

🦠✨ Happy International Infection Prevention Week! ✨🦠 Let’s take a moment to celebrate the incredible work of Infection Preventionists (IPs)—the unsung heroes in long-term care! 🏥 These dedicated professionals play a vital role in protecting our residents and staff by preventing and controlling the spread of infections, ensuring the safest environment possible. From developing life-saving protocols to educating teams on best practices, IPs work tirelessly behind the scenes to keep our communities safe. Their vigilance is more important than ever in safeguarding the health of vulnerable populations. 💪💙 🌟 Thank you to all Infection Preventionists! Your expertise, commitment, and compassion make a world of difference. Together, we are stronger, healthier, and safer. 🌍🧼🧴 #IIPW #InfectionControl #LongTermCare #HealthcareHeroes #ThankYouIPs 4o