News In Brief - December 11. 2014

There's still time to contact Congress about critical issues
LeadingAge Oregon members were sent an alert yesterday to encourage you to contact your Congressional representatives about issues that affect the entire aging services continuum. Although time is short during this lame duck session of Congress, your voice can still make a difference! The LeadingAge community is asking Congress to do the following:

Fire Marshal's office discontinues plan reviews and pre-certification walk-throughs
Due to workload and staffing issues, the state Fire Marshal's office will no longer conduct plan reviews or precertification walk-throughs for new construction and major remodels to ensure that the work meets Life Safety Code (LSC) requirements. New construction and remodels must still meet the LSC specifications, but the Fire Marshal's office won't check plans or actual work before initial certification or re-certification surveys. Read more.

Nursing homes to receive mandatory infection prevention program survey
The Oregon Health Authority's Healthcare Acquired Infection (HAI) Program is preparing to send out a survey to nursing homes about their infection prevention practices. The survey is mandatory (required by a law recently passed by the Oregon State Legislature) and will go out in January. Facilities will have 30 days to complete the survey, which the HAI program plans to be web-based.

State seeks information on individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in nursing homes
The State of Oregon has hired a new interim PASRR II Coordinator for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) and is asking nursing homes to send in information related to the status of PASRR Level II reviews and their IDD residents. Read more.

Volunteers of America to open evening day care program for individuals with advanced dementia
Volunteers of America is preparing to launch a twice weekly, late afternoon/evening adult day care program in Portland for individuals with advanced dementia. The program will operate Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Lambert House in Southeast Portland and will focus on two primary evidence-based interventions for this population: music therapy and a multi-sensory environment. The program will be free to participants but individuals must apply and complete an intake process to qualify. For more information, contact Allison Skidmore-Bookman at [email protected].

Tickets available for Patient Safety Breakfast and training to follow
The Oregon Patient Safety Commission is hosting its Fourth Annual Patient Safety Breakfast on Friday, Feb. 27 at the Salem Convention Center. The breakfast will be followed by a training designed to help health care facilities learn how to build or enhance a peer support program to provide support to staff after an adverse event. Learn more and purchase tickets for the breakfast and/or training.

Agency issues guidance on dealing with active shooters in long-term care, other healthcare settings
The federal Department of Health and Human Services has issued guidance for how long-term care facilities and other healthcare providers should prepare for an active shooter emergency. The guidance acknowledges the complicated realities of these types of emergencies but nonetheless offers strategies for threat assessment, actions to take during and after an emergency, and other best practices. Read more. Access the guidance.

Ziegler 150 reveals not-for-profit senior living trends
Ziegler and LeadingAge have once again partnered to produce a publication compiling data from the largest not-for-profit senior living providers in the country. The 2014 LeadingAge Ziegler 150 lists organizations by number of units and communities as well as identifying emerging trends, including home and community-based services, technology adoption and joint ventures. LeadingAge Oregon member Pacific Retirement Services made the list as the 15th largest not-for-profit multi-site organization in the country, based on the number of senior living units (independent, assisted living and nursing).

HUD memo on emergency call systems explained
U.S. Housing Consultants has posted an analysis of the new HUD memorandum on emergency call systems. The analysis also includes information about how call systems will be assessed during REAC inspections. Read the U.S. Housing Consultants newsletter.

CDC develops flu vaccine toolkit for long-term care employers
The Centers for Disease Control has developed a new toolkit specifically designed to support staff flu vaccination programs in long-term care. The toolkit includes resources for increasing flu vaccination among staff in long-term care settings; suggestions for implementing flu vaccine programs in the workplace; and data on flu vaccines and why it's important that employees receive them. Access the toolkit.

CMS to continue to push for reduction in use of antipsychotics in nursing homes
Antipsychotic use by long-stay nursing home residents has dropped 18.8 percent nationally since the second quarter of 2011, but CMS wants to see that number drop further. During a conference call this week, CMS officials said they have established a new goal of a 25 percent decrease in antipsychotic use by the end of 2015, and a 30 percent decrease by the end of 2016. In Oregon, antipsychotic use is down 20.5 percent since the initiative began. Participants during this week's call also heard about two person-centered dementia care programs that avoid the use of medications in dementia care, one based on a "habitation" model, and the other based on the Beatitudes Campus "Comfort First" program (which was featured during a session at the 2013 LeadingAge Oregon Annual Conference). An audio recording of the call will be posted on the CMS website when it is available.

It's an especially happy holiday season at LeadingAge Oregon member Quail Run
They're celebrating a bit early in the holiday season at Quail Run, the assisted living community on the campus of Mennonite Village in Albany. State surveyors who visited the community this week found no deficiencies and didn't even offer any Technical Assistance! Congratulations to Administrator Mark Diller and his team!

Mark offered a couple of tidbits that may be of interest to other assisted living and residential care facilities awaiting their surveys:

Quail Run's last survey began July 17, 2012, so the community's survey interval was about 29 months.
Make sure your staff don't put soiled laundry or linens in residential washers that don't have the chemical disinfectant or high heat to properly disinfect! Although this wasn't an issue at Quail Run, the surveyors mentioned that they have cited a number of communities lately for doing soiled laundry in residential-grade washers.