AMITY’S NEWS
Next available CNA/HHA and Skilled Nursing Competency is Tuesday, December 8th, 2020 and Thursday, December 10th, 2020.
If you would like to register your Skilled Nurses and/or HHAs/CNAs for a competency, please follow the links below:
Skilled Nursing Competency: https://amityhealthcaregroup.com/services/nursing-competencies/
HHA/CNA Competency: https://amityhealthcaregroup.com/services/cna-hha-competency/
Let Amity Healthcare Group to assist you with staying compliant with competency and ongoing training/continued education requirements in a worry-free manner.
For more information, please call 303-690-2749 or email: ig@amityhealthcaregroup.com or schedule a meeting at https://calendly.com/ig–3/30-min-free-consultation.
If you missed an opportunity to attend the webinar “Telehealth in Home Health and Hospice: New Norm, New Opportunity” hosted by Amity Healthcare Group and ACHC University on December 2, 2020, please see attached handouts or follow https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/338541139883542543?source=achcu to watch it on-demand.
Please let us know if you need additional information or have any additional questions regarding the information presented in the webinar.
ACHC and Distinction in Telehealth
ACHC is now offering a new distinction in Telehealth that is available for organizations already accredited by ACHC in at least one of the following programs: Ambulatory Care, Behavioral Health, Home Health, Hospice, Private Duty, and Renal Dialysis.
Examples of telehealth applicable for the distinction include remote patient monitoring, biometrics, virtual visits, or health education.
According to ACHC, to earn the distinction, Agencies will be required to comply with 18 telehealth standards that are based on the American Telemedicine Association’s Home Telehealth Clinical Guidelines; undergo a one-day virtual or on-site survey during which the ACHC surveyor will review the telehealth experience of three patients. The surveyor will also observe a clinician making a telehealth visit, if one is scheduled during the survey. In addition, the surveyor will review organization’s Policies and Procedures, personnel records, and QAPI projects related to telehealth.
If you have an interest in obtaining distinction in Telehealth and have questions, please feel free to contact Amity Healthcare Group for additional support.
NATIONAL NEWS
Provider Relief Fund Post-Payment Reporting Requirements
If you were a recipient of a Provider Relief Fund (PRF) payment in the amount exceeding $10,000, it may be a good time to start preparing for upcoming reporting requirements. Providers will be required to report the use of received funds according to the following schedule:
Jan. 15, 2021: reporting portal opens for providers.
Feb. 15, 2021: first reporting deadline for all providers. All recipients will be required to report 2020 expenditures through the period of 12/31/20.
July 31, 2021: final reporting deadline for providers who did not fully expend PRF funds prior to December 31, 2020 and continued using funds in 2021.
Please note that ALL funds received must be spent by 06/30/2021
For a full set of reporting requirements and expectations, please go to: https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/post-payment-notice-of-reporting-requirements-november-2020.pdf
CDC and Options to Reduce Quarantine for Contacts of Persons with SARS-CoV-2 Infection Using Symptom Monitoring and Diagnostic Testing
On December 2, 2020, CDC introduced the following options to shorten quarantine as acceptable alternatives to a 14-day quarantine:
- Quarantine can end after Day 10 without testing and if no symptoms have been reported during daily monitoring.
- With this strategy, residual post-quarantine transmission risk is estimated to be about 1% with an upper limit of about 10%.
- When diagnostic testing resources are sufficient and available, then quarantine can end after Day 7 if a diagnostic specimen tests negative and if no symptoms were reported during daily monitoring. The specimen may be collected and tested within 48 hours before the time of planned quarantine discontinuation (e.g., in anticipation of testing delays), but quarantine cannot be discontinued earlier than after Day 7.
- With this strategy, the residual post-quarantine transmission risk is estimated to be about 5% with an upper limit of about 12%.
In both cases, additional criteria (e.g., continued symptom monitoring and masking through Day 14) must be met. CDC reiterates that a 14-day quarantine is the option that “maximally reduces risk of post-quarantine transmission risk and is the strategy with the greatest collective experience at present.”
For a complete CDC update, please follow https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/scientific-brief-options-to-reduce-quarantine.html
COLORADO NEWS
eQHealth and PARs
Earlier this year, providers were advised of the fact that the requirement for Pediatric Long-Term Home Health and Private Duty Nursing PARs has been suspended to at least November 30, 2020. As the providers have not received updates and were going past 11/30/20 deadline, Amity Healthcare Group reached out to HCPF UM Team for an update. Please see below the response that we received.
“The Department previously notified Pediatric Long- Term Home Health (PLTHH) and Private Duty Nursing Providers that Prior Authorization Requests (PARs) requirement for these services would be suspended as of July 1, 2020. After considerable evaluation, stakeholder engagement, and internal discussion, the Department has determined to keep the PAR requirement suspended through winter 2020/2021 and will resume the submission of PLTHH and PDN PARs to the UM Vendor no earlier than March 1, 2021. Upon restarting the PARs for these benefits the Department will provide sufficient and timely communication to members, Providers and other stakeholders to allow for planning and preparation purposes. The resumption of PARs submission will involve a phased-in implementation and the Department will collaborate with Providers to develop the plan for each phase of PAR submissions.
As previously communicated, Providers can, and should, continue to provide medically necessary services in compliance with 10 CCR 8.520 and 10CCR 8.540. If the services are medically necessary and in compliance with rules and regulations, Providers can submit the claims to the Departments’ fiscal agent, Gainwell Technologies.
Additional information about the resumption of PLTHH and PDN PARs will be shared with Providers via Gainwell Technologies, posted on the Department’s Project website, and on the ColoradoPAR program website.
Please Note: This PAR suspension does not affect Long Term Home Health PARs for Adults (members aged 21 and over) and for any issues regarding Adult Long Term Home Health
Amity’s Friday emails (newsletters) will be archived on Amity’s Healthcare Group website at https://amityhealthcaregroup.com/resources/ under Weekly Newsletter section.
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Thank you,
Irina Gorovaya, RN BSN, MBA
Amity Healthcare Group, LLC
Home Health Consulting, Education and Outsourcing Services
720-353-7249 (cell) 303-690-2749 (office) 720-398-6200 (fax)