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February 12, 2019
OIG Report Finds that CMS Guidance to State Agencies on Verifying Correction of Deficiencies Needs to Be Improved
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a report stating that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) guidance to state survey agencies regarding verifying that nursing homes corrected identified deficiencies needs to be improved. The OIG report found that seven of the nine selected state agencies did not always verify nursing homes' correction of deficiencies before certifying whether the nursing homes are in compliance with Federal participation requirements for Medicare and Medicaid. In the case of less serious deficiencies, six of the seven state agencies accepted a nursing home's correction plan as confirmation of substantial compliance with Federal participation requirements. Three of these seven state agencies had technical issues with maintaining supporting documentation in the software-based system used to support the survey and certification process and therefore did not have sufficient evidence of correction of deficiencies. The OIG report warned that the health and safety of nursing home residents may be at risk when state agencies certify that nursing homes are in compliance without properly verifying that the deficiencies have been corrected. The report stated that CMS's guidance to state agencies on verifying nursing homes' correction of deficiencies and maintaining documentation to support verification needed to be improved. Read the report summary and full report here.
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Materials Available from NORC Webinar on NORS; Still Time to Register for Remaining Webinars in the Series
Materials are available from "Introduction to the Revised National Ombudsman Reporting System (NORS)," the first webinar in a series from the National Long-Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center on the revised National Ombudsman Reporting System training materials. The purpose of this webinar series is to introduce the new training materials to help long-term care ombudsman programs prepare for the transition to new codes, definitions, and activities on October 1, 2019.
The first webinar in the series introduced the revised new NORS data collection, and the following four webinars will cover each part of the revised four-part training. View the slides from the first webinar as a PDF here and as a PowerPoint with presenter notes here. Other resources referenced during the webinar include: Table 1: Case Data Components; Table 2: Complaint codes and definitions; Table 3: State Program Information; and the NORS webpage on the NORC website.
Long-Term Care Ombudsman can still register for the remaining webinars:
- Part I: Case, Complaint, Complainant and Information and Assistance February 27, 2019 3:00 – 4:30 ET
- Part II: Coding Complaints March 19, 2019 3:00 – 4:30 ET
- Part III: Closing the Case – Verification, Referral, and Disposition April 30, 2019 3:00 – 4:30 ET
- Part IV: Activities May 29, 2019 3:00 – 4:30 ET.
Register here. (You only need to register once to attend all four remaining webinars.)
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Webinar Series from Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation on Pain Medication Education
Join the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation Paralysis Resource Center for the second webinar in their three-part series on pain medication education and resources. "Understanding Opioids and Signs of Addiction" will be held Wednesday, February 20 at 12:00pm ET. The webinar will focus on understanding opioids and recognizing the signs of addiction. The topics covered in the session include a brief summary of the first webinar in the series, discussing the origin of opioids, how they work, and the causes and treatments of opioid use disorder. There will also be a brief overview of what the final webinar will feature on March 13, which includes opioid tapering options. Register for the webinars here.
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Spotlight on Resources
 Consumer Voice and the National Ombudsman Resource Center have a multitude of resources available online covering a wide range of long-term care topics. Visit the Consumer Voice and NORC websites to explore all the available resources. Check out this week's highlighted resource:
Consumer Voice & NORC Training Center - Check out courses on:
- Abuse, Neglect & Exploitation
- How to Create and Deliver Advocacy Messages
- Nursing Home Discharges
- Revised Federal Nursing Home Regulations
- Nursing Home Transitions
- Volunteer Management
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In this Issue
OIG Report Finds that CMS Guidance to State Agencies on Verifying Correction of Deficiencies Needs to Be improved
Materials Available from NORC Webinar on NORS; Still Time to Register for Remaining Webinars in the Series
Webinar Series from Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation on Pain Medication Education
Spotlight on Resources
Calendar of Events
Tuesday, March 12: Traumatic Brain Injury Stakeholder Day, Hosted by ACL in Washington, DC, RSVP to NCAPPS@acl.hhs.gov
November 3-6, 2019: Consumer Voice Annual Conference, Crystal Gateway Marriott, Arlington, Virginia
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Wednesday, February 6:
Update on Nursing Home Arbitration Rule
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New Medicare "What's Covered" app from CMS can help people easily get accurate, consistent original Medicare coverage information
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