In This Issue
The Secret of Life – I’m sitting on my back deck on an unusually warm January Saturday afternoon, thinking about all the New Year’s resolutions I made this year and the hundreds of others I’ve made in 58 years of life, and mostly broken.
CMS Model Payment Programs & Initiatives: The Growing Target of Quality & Care Improvement for Skilled Nursing Facilities – Like it or not, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is expanding its strong commitment to focus on quality and care improvement as the basis for payment to providers throughout the continuum of care. The Final Rule for the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) Model published by CMS in November 2015 is now in effect, with the April 1, 2016, mandatory participation date for Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) fast approaching.
It Could Happen to Anybody, and It Did Office of Civil Rights Slams Provider For Employee’s HIPAA Violation – Have you ever decided to catch up on a little paperwork after hours or on a weekend, shoved a few resident medical or billing records into your briefcase or downloaded them onto your iPad or
laptop? Sure you have. But you might want to think twice about that for yourself and your employees, or at least tread carefully.
Save the Date – Fifth Annual Jessie F. Richardson Foundation Golf Tournament – May 5 in Conover, NC – On May 5, 2016, the NC committee of the Jessie F. Richardson Foundation will host our 5th annual golf tournament to benefit indigent elders in Nicaragua. Since 2006, the NC long term care community has supported the foundation’s work in Nicaragua, raising over $300,000 for the hogare de ancionas in Jinotepe for construction of new resident rooms, rebuilding and expanding the center’s kitchen and pharmacy, adding medical clinics and training rooms, and many other projects – all part of turning the hogare into a national training center for the care of elders in Central America.
With the help of 110 North Carolina long term care providers and their state, regional and national vendors, we set a new record at last year’s tournament, raising $100,000. Our goal is to do that again this year. Proceeds from this year’s tournament will be used for further infrastructure improvements, including furnishings for the medical office and physical therapy rooms; new freezers and refrigerators for resident meals; new metal towers to support the center’s water tanks; installation of a grey water system; mattress replacement; and white board, microphone and speakers for training sessions, among others. Earlier this year, our partners at the VitaLife Foundation in Oregon completed a series of short training videos, designed to be used with staff and others coming to the center to learn about elder care.
The work continues, so we need your help. Please join your fellow providers and vendors on May 5 at the Rock Barn Golf & Spa Club in Conover, North Carolina for a day of fun, fellowship and giving.
Join us for morning libations, coffee and snacks and a 10:30 a.m. shotgun start. Mark your calendars now. Save the Date postcards and tournament registration forms are on their way to you. Also stop by our booth at the upcoming NCHCFA 2016 Trade Show to chat with Tournament Committee members Carron Suddreth (Wilkes Senior Village); Cheryl Coleman (Clapp’s Nursing Center); Denise Clapp Campbell (Clapp’s Convalescent Nursing Home); Larry Lollis, Rob Arnold and Nick Merritt of Grove Medical; Dave Whitley of Autumn Corporation; and Ken Burgess of Poyner Spruill. We’ll be sitting right by the Trade Show front door, on the right as you enter.
Thanks for your support over the years. Now, let’s play some golf and raise some money! We hope to see you on May 5.