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Tablet on a desk - Newsletter

The Home and Community Services Information System (HCSIS)/Enterprise Incident Management (EIM) Quarterly Release goes live on December 11, 2021. The Release Newsletter has been posted to the HCSIS Learning Management System (LMS). The newsletter is also here. Please log in to LMS and click on the “HCSIS Release 85.00 Newsletter” link to review this and all newsletters. If you do not have access to LMS, please contact your agency’s Business Partner Administrator (BP Admin), which would be the person that gave you HCSIS/EIM access.

If you have any questions regarding this email, please contact the OLTL EIM resource account.

The next Managed Long-Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) Subcommittee meeting has been scheduled for January 5, 2022, from 10:00 am–1:00 pm via webinar. The information to participate in this meeting is provided below:

  • Webinar Registration Link : If you have trouble accessing the webinar registration through the Internet Explorer or Safari web browsers, please try accessing it through a different web browser, such as Chrome or Edge.
  • Dial In Number: The dial-in number is1 (415) 655-0052 Access Code: 592-813-305
  • Remote Captioning and Streaming Link

Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash

The Alzheimer’s Association will be conducting a virtual dementia caregiver symposium on December 14, 2021, from 10:00 am–2:00 pm. Please refer to the information below and the link to register.


VIRTUAL DEMENTIA CAREGIVER SYMPOSIUM 
Tuesday, December 14, 2021 
10:00 am–2:00 pm

Register Today!

Register today to join the Alzheimer’s Association for a special half-day Virtual Dementia Caregiver Symposium. This program affords caregivers the opportunity to connect with peers and professionals while enhancing their caregiving skills. Attend to learn practical tips as well as how to connect to vital community-based resources.

Featured Topics:

  • PERSPECTIVES ON CAREGIVING PANEL highlighting practical strategies and tools from varying outlooks. Moderated by Amy Goyer, AARP’s national family and caregiving expert.
  • RESOURCES IN MY COMMUNITY PANEL DISCUSSION with experts from the PA Caregiver Support Program and Pennsylvania Link to Aging and Disability Resources. Moderated by Matt Trott, Division Manager for the Greater Erie Community Action Committee.

PLUS… Learn about a new state law that helps expand benefits for Pennsylvania’s unpaid caregivers, and gain strategies for managing dementia-related symptoms and behaviors.

Mark your calendar, register to join, and invite others!
To learn more, call the 24/7 Alzheimer’s Association Helpline: 800-272-3900.

In partnership with:
AARP PA
P4A
PA Department of Aging

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released an MLN Matters publication reiterating how beginning January 1, 2022, payments will be reduced for physical therapy and occupational therapy services when they are provided in whole or in part by a physical therapy assistant (PTA) or an occupational therapy assistant (OTA). Members are encouraged to review the article to learn more, including information on the changes to payments due to the Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) of 2018. The article also provides additional information on the payment reduction and the modifiers that will be required on the claims.

Effective January 1, 2022, there will be a rate increase in the OBRA Waiver and Act 150 Program for Personal Assistance Services (PAS) procedure codes W1793, W1793 TT, W1792, and W1792 TU. The new rates for the OBRA Waiver and Act 150 Program were announced in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on November 6, 2021, Volume 51, Number 45 issue and can be found on the Pennsylvania Bulletin website.

New rates are based on the participant’s county of residence. Home and Community Services Information System (HCSIS) service plans will be updated by December 31, 2021. SCs do not need to make any service plan updates for this rate change, as an HCSIS system-wide update is being deployed to make the necessary service data rate updates onto the impacted service plans.

A chart listing the OBRA Waiver and the Act 150 Program counties, categorized by fiscal region, is located here. If you have any questions related to this email, please contact the OLTL Provider Inquiry Line at 1-800-932-0939, OPTION 2, Monday–Friday from 9:00 am–12:00 pm and 1:00 pm–4:00 pm.

Beyond Silos: Highlighting Multisystem Approachesin Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has been at the forefront of developing programs and initiatives that work to meet the support and service needs of individuals with complex needs. This issue of Positive Approaches features a sample of cross-office efforts that enable individuals to succeed in their everyday lives. This issue will focus on ways that Pennsylvania has endeavored to better understand and meet the needs of people with complex needs including children with medical complexities and/or behavioral health needs. We offer an overview of cross office capacity building efforts supported in part by the Money Follows the Person (MFP) funds. Finally, this issue will provide overviews of peer support services as a viable support model and of PA Care Partnership philosophy of System of Care (SOC) as a foundation to build behavioral health supports and services for children, youth, young adults, and their families. These efforts here in Pennsylvania are worthy of highlighting as we strive to get better at supporting individuals with intellectual disability and/or autism (ID/A) and individuals with mental health conditions in Pennsylvania.

This issue of Positive Approaches Journal is in digital form, available for viewing online or for downloading. To print a copy of the PDF, online journal, or a specific article, you will find these options within your left navigation bar on any Positive Approaches Journal page. A new window will open with your selected document. In your browser, you may click the Print button in the top left corner of the page or use the Print capability within your browser.

Please submit feedback regarding your experience with the Positive Approaches Journal on MyODP by clicking the image below within this email or by clicking on the feedback image on MyODP within your left navigation bar on any Positive Approaches Journal page.