News In Brief - December 5. 2014

Governor releases 2015-17 Budget - aging services focus of budget briefing
On Monday the Governor’s Budget for 2015-2017 was released outlining his funding priorities for the upcoming biennium. On Tuesday, Mike McCormick, Director of Aging and People with Disabilities (APD) provided a verbal report to stakeholders on budget detail not available in the Governor’s budget document. He indicated that written detail would be provided in the near future, once the information was fully confirmed. Access LeadingAge Oregon’s full report on the budget.

Following are notes from the briefing (some changes may be necessary following receipt of APD’s written confirmation of the details):

Don't miss the new AgeTech West white paper on implementing Wi-Fi in senior living and long-term care
LeadingAge Oregon members will want to check out a newly-published white paper from AgeTech West, "Considerations for Implementing Wi-Fi Infrastructure in Senior Living and LTC Communities." The paper outlines the many variables that communities should consider when rolling out a Wi-Fi network. Case applications outlined in the white paper include:

Special thanks to Steve Eichen, Chief Information Officer at Pacific Retirement Services in Medford, for lending his expertise to this important project. This is just the kind of information LeadingAge Oregon members need as we move forward in an increasingly technology-focused world!

DHS to solicit proposals to fund innovative projects
At this week’s stakeholder meeting, DHS announced that they had not spent all of the $2.3 million appropriated to the Innovation Funds for 2013-15. As a result, in January they will be issuing another Request for Grant Proposal to finance innovative projects and pilots that are intended to improve the quality and cost effectiveness of services to seniors and people with disabilities. LeadingAge Oregon will let members know of the announcement.

Nursing facilities: Please watch for and respond to special state survey
Oregon nursing facilities will be receiving an e-mail next week with a link to a survey that will help legislators make decisions about the financing and delivery of long-term care services in Oregon. The survey is being conducted by Oregon State University and will ask questions about resident occupancy and characteristics. The survey will be available through January 12. Read more.

POLST champion Dr. Susan Tolle honored with prestigious ethics award
Congratulations to Dr. Susan Tolle, director of the OHSU Center for Ethics in Health Care, who recently received the University of Chicago's prestigious MacLean Center Prize in Clinical Ethics for her work on POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment). LeadingAge Oregon has served with Dr. Tolle and others on POLST committees and has witnessed her tireless dedication to this work. The MacLean prize is a well-deserved honor for a passionate and compassionate national leader in ethics and end of life.

Have you checked out free Oregon Care Partners trainings?
LeadingAge members should be receiving information about free, state-funded online and in-person trainings provided by Oregon Care Partners. Topics include geriatric medication management, Alzheimer's and related dementias, challenging behaviors in non-dementia populations, and more. These trainings are funded through June, so be sure to take advantage of them while they are available! Check out the training schedule on www.oregoncarepartners.com.

Board of Nursing offers forms to assist CNA training programs with curriculum revisions
The Oregon State Board of Nursing has developed NA and CNA 2 clinical skill checklists and a sample CNA curriculum outline to assist CNA training programs as they revise their trainings to match the board's curriculum revisions. All nursing assistant level one and level two training programs must submit revised curriculum outlines to the Board for approval prior to March 1, 2015. Outlines submitted before Feb. 1 will not pay a revision fee, but those submitted after that date must pay a $75 revision fee, and there is no guarantee the revisions will be approved by March 1. Programs not approved by March 1 will be placed on inactive status. Access the checklists and sample outline in the Board of Nursing section of the LeadingAge Oregon website.

HUD consultant offers tips on waiting list management
HUD recently issued a notice on Waiting List Administration that offers guidance on opening/closing waiting lists, placing applicants on a waiting list, and applicant outreach. Ross Business Development reviews the guidance and offers best practice tips for HUD managers in its HUDBlast Newsletter.

New online tool helps nursing facilities track status of beneficiary complaints, quality of care reviews
Nursing facilities can check on the status of Medicare beneficiary complaints and quality of care reviews using a new online tool, "Arrow," developed by Livanta, a Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO). Nursing facilities can check their case status by entering their case number on the Livanta QIO homepage.

What does the future hold for assisted living?
Will assisted living facilities go the way of the cable TV? That question is posed by a recent Forbes article that claims senior services face an environment of "enormous disruption." At the same time, a roundtable gathered by the Center for Excellence in Assisted Living (CEAL) is also deliberating the future of assisted living, and postulates that four issues will predict the field's future: Personnel, Data, State Regulations and Affordability. Read the Forbes column. Learn about the CEAL roundtable.

Wendy Lustbader is right - life does get better as you get older
This past spring LeadingAge Oregon members at our Annual Conference heard author and keynote speaker Wendy Lustbader discuss the topic of her book, "Life Gets Better: The Unexpected Pleasures of Growing Older." According to the Wall Street Journal, a growing body of scientific research supports Lustbader's theory. Read more.

LeadingAge Oregon members first to donate unused medicine under new program
Hats off to LeadingAge Oregon members Mennonite Village in Albany and Providence Benedictine Nursing Center in Mount Angel, the first long-term care facilities in Oregon to donate unused medicine under the new, nonprofit SIRUM medication donation program! George Wang, founder of SIRUM, personally visited Oregon this week to launch the program and help facilitate the initial donations. He said the pharmacists at Central City Concern were very excited to open the two donation boxes, and all of the medicines will be going to good use. Currently only nursing facilities are eligible to make these donations, but SIRUM is working with the Board of Pharmacy in the hope that assisted living/residential care facilities will also be able to do so. If your nursing home would like to learn how you can donate your unused medicines to agencies serving the low-income instead of dumping or destroying them, please contact George at [email protected] or Amy Chen at [email protected]. They would love to talk with you!