News In Brief - February 5, 2014

Have you checked out LeadingAge Insights?
Nursing home providers can benchmark themselves against other facilities to better understand their performance and market position and all members can check out local hospital data using new tools now available through LeadingAge. These LeadingAge Insights tools have been developed to improve member competitiveness, and they are free. If you haven’t already done so, sign up for a webinar to learn more!

Thank you to Dallas Retirement Village for hosting our Leadership Academy class!
A special thank you to Dallas Retirement Village Executive Director David Parrett and his team for hosting a day-long site visit by our 2013-2014 Leadership Academy class last week! Check out photos on the LeadingAge Oregon Facebook page!

Background check rules clarified for home care providers
The Health Care Regulation and Quality Improvement division has issued a memo to clarify criminal background check requirements for in-home care agencies. The memo clarifies that home care agencies must:

Perform and document a query of a subject individual with the List of Excluded Individuals and Entities (LEIE), which is available on the OIG website. Documentation of the check must be kept in each employee’s personnel file.
Complete a separate nationwide check if using the DHS Background Check Unit system or any other system that does not include a nationwide check as part of their process.
Conduct the criminal record check before orientation or training is provided to new hires.
Submit background check forms for owners/ administrators with in-home care renewal and change applications.

Read more in the HCRQI memo.

The Oregon Center for Nursing wants to hear from your nurses!
The Oregon Center for Nursing (OCN) wants to know what individual nurses think about the challenges they face in their work and their lives, so they have developed a Nursing Needs survey that is being distributed throughout Oregon to nurses in all settings. The Center will use this information to develop programming targeted to the issues that nurses identify. Survey deadline is March 31, and all respondents will be entered in a drawing for $100. Please pass this along to the nurses in your organization!

Guide offers techniques for dealing with mental illness in senior housing
Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly offers a free publication on supporting residents with mental illness in senior housing. The guide includes information and case studies as well as tips and techniques for communicating with residents who exhibit signs of anger, hoarding, depression, anxiety, dementia, personality disorders, substance abuse, bipolar disorder and paranoia. Access the guide.

Do CCRC resident assessments violate the Fair Housing Act?
The answer to that question is Yes and No, and depends on how the assessment is used, according to a discussion on the LeadingAge website. Read more.

Some Medicare beneficiaries eligible for re-review under settlement
Some Medicare beneficiaries with long-term and/or chronic conditions may be eligible for a re-review of past denied claims under the Jimmo vs. Sebelius settlement agreement. Before the settlement, Medicare beneficiaries had to show continued improvement to be able to receive coverage for skilled nursing and therapy services. Now, beneficiaries may be approved for skilled care that improves or maintains a current condition, or prevents deterioration. Read more about how to appeal past denied claims.

Dementia resources include video addressing antipsychotic reduction
One of the resources distributed during the recent CMS stakeholder call for the National Partnership to Improve Dementia Care is a 7-minute YouTube video on reducing antipsychotics, developed by the Oklahoma Quality Improvement Organization. The video tells the story of Bill, the resident of a care setting who successfully reduced his use of an antipsychotic. Access the video.

Assisted living salaries show modest gains
Salaried positions at assisted living facilities rose 1 to 3 percent in 2013, with assisted living administrators earning an average of $80,000 nationwide, according to the 2013-2014 Assisted Living Salary & Benefits Report, published by the Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service (HHCS) and LeadingAge. The report also indicates that staff turnover rates are on the decline, down almost 5 percent overall since the 2012 report. The report, which includes data from approximately 1900 respondents representing for-profit and not-for-profit providers in all regions of the United States, is available for a fee on the HHCS website.

LeadingAge Oregon News

Exhibitors – reserve your booth today for our 2014 Annual Conference!
LeadingAge Oregon business members who would like to connect with provider members at the 2014 Annual Conference will want to be sure to sign up for an exhibit space as soon as possible! Prime sponsorships are also available. Read more in our Call for Exhibitors brochure, or register online.

Don’t miss our next Best Friends dementia training February 27
Our “Best Friends Approach to Dementia Care” training offers direct care workers and all staff who work with elders an affordable opportunity to learn and practice techniques for communicating with and caring for individuals with dementia. The training is based on the nationally-acclaimed Best Friends book by Virginia Bell and David Troxel. Special thanks to our trainer Mary Scott, Administrator of Lydia’s House, Mary’s Place and In-Home Care at Mennonite Village, who is “informative, humorous, engaging and awesome” according to the training evaluations! Read more. Register online.

CCL to assume management of Juniper House in Pendleton
Congratulations to LeadingAge Oregon member Concepts in Community Living, (CCL) which will assume management of Juniper House Assisted Living Community in Pendleton as of March 1. Juniper House has 39 private studio and one-bedroom assisted living apartments. The community is quite familiar to CCL, which managed Juniper House when it first opened in 1991. CCL manages 15 communities in Oregon, Washington and California.

AgeTech West

AgeTech West Conference coming to the Northwest this fall
A date and location have been selected for the 2014 AgeTech West Conference! It will be held November 17-18 at the Hyatt Olive 8 in downtown Seattle. We are excited that the conference will be more accessible for LeadingAge Oregon and Washington members this year, after being held several years in Silicon Valley in California. Mark your calendars now and make plans to attend!