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Tags Posts tagged with "PCH"

PCH

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The Department of Human Services (DHS) released an announcement about an upcoming webinar that will focus on developing timely and acceptable Plans of Correction (POC). The webinar has been scheduled for December 12, 2022, from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm.

The webinar, led by Jeanne Parisi, Director of the Bureau of Human Services Licensing (BHSL), and Joshua Hoover of the Division of Training and Professional Development, will review DHS’ timelines for licensing activities, BHSL licensing procedures, the necessary elements for developing a quality POC, the basics of root-cause analysis, and the resources and assistance that are available. Attendees will also have the opportunity to workshop POC with fellow providers and BHSL staff.

The webinar is approved for Personal Care Home (PCH) and Assisted Living Residence (ALR) annual training hours. Members interested in participating in this webinar should register here. Questions about the webinar or the registration process can be sent electronically.

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The Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) has released a Request for Applications (RFA) for the Long-Term Care Quality Investment Pilot, which will distribute approximately $11.7 million in federal funds to long-term care facilities, including skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), personal care homes (PCHs), assisted living facilities (ALFs), and intermediate care facilities (ICFs) for the purpose of building resilience. These funds are designed to be invested in key areas such as workforce development and retention, infection prevention control, emergency preparedness, and improvements to facility infrastructure.

Please note the following:

  • Facilities must be enrolled in the LTC RISE program’s quality improvement projects in order to be considered eligible for funding.
  • Facilities in Philadelphia are not eligible for this funding.

DOH encourages facilities to apply for this opportunity. The application deadline is 1:30 pm on December 31, 2022. Additional details and information can be found by here.

Questions about this funding opportunity should be addressed by submitting questions through the formal procurement process, which is detailed in the RFA.

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The Department of Human Services (DHS) Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has announced the launch of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) Funding Reporting portal. The online portal will be available on September 30, 2022, for OLTL providers to submit costs associated with ARPA funding distributed in 2021 in order to comply with DHS reporting requirements.

Background: ARPA Funding Information 

In 2021, federal funding from ARPA was allocated by the General Assembly under Act 24 and enacted by Governor Wolf to provide funding to nursing facilities (NF), personal care homes (PCH), and assisted living residences (ALR). These ARPA funds should be used for COVID-19 relief for costs not otherwise reimbursed by federal, state, or other sources of funding.

In addition, ARPA provided a temporary 10 percent increase to the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for certain Medicaid expenditures for home and community-based services (HCBS). The funding must be used to enhance, expand, or strengthen HCBS. OLTL outlined in its plan to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) initiatives to strengthen the workforce and assist Adult Day Services (ADS) providers. The OLTL ARPA plan directed funding to Personal Assistance Service (PAS), Community Integration (CI), and Residential Habilitation (Res Hab) providers to assist with recruitment and retention of direct care workers. The plan also directed additional funding to providers to strengthen ADS.

ARPA funding must be used for things such as sign-on bonuses, retention payments, COVID-19 related leave benefits and paid time off, vaccination incentives, and/or the purchase of personal protective equipment and testing supplies. Additionally, ADS providers can use the funding for retrofitting adult daily living centers, expenses to re-open the centers, and expenses to develop alternative models to provide ADS.

Additional detailed information about the distribution of the 2021 ARPA funding can be found on the DHS Long-Term Care Providers web page.

ARPA Funding Reporting Portal
Effective September 30, 2022, providers can access the portal and begin to report ARPA 2021 costs. Providers can access the portal through the Funding Portal Login web page. The first report due date will be November 30, 2022, and should reflect two reporting periods. Providers are required to submit reports in the portal on a bi-annual basis thereafter according to their exhaustion of the funds. Please reference the chart below.

Report Period 

Due Dates 

07/01/2021 – 12/31/2021

01/01/2022 – 06/30/2022

 11/30/2022
07/01/2022 – 12/31/2022 2/28/2023
 01/01/2023 – 6/30/2023 8/30/2023
 07/01/2023 – 12/31/2023 2/28/2024

Providers must keep all documentation related to the costs reported in the final cost report for a minimum of five years.

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The Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Human Services (DHS) recently released an announcement to personal care homes (PCH) regarding an opportunity to pursue additional support with infection prevention and control, COVID-19 response readiness, and other infectious disease preparedness at no cost.

DOH, in partnership with APIC Consulting Services, has developed a specially-tailored Infection Control and Response (ICAR) tool to assist a limited number of Personal Care Homes through an on-site assessment and consultation, development of improvement action plans, and numerous options for follow-up support.

Please see the announcement for details about pursuing this opportunity. Funding for the program is limited, and access to these services will be on a first come, first served basis. This program is not available to Assisted Living Residences or Personal Care Homes in Philadelphia County.

Questions can be sent electronically.

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On August 31, 2022, the Department of Human Services (DHS) Bureau of Human Services Licensing issued written guidance on the use of voice controlled electronic devices in personal care homes (PCH) and assisted living residences (ALR).

A webinar has been scheduled for October 7, 2022, at 11:00 am that will address the implementation of this written guidance, the responsibilities of PCH and ALR in implementing policies and procedures to ensure regulatory compliance, and the procedures that will be utilized by DHS staff while conducting licensing inspections. The webinar will be conducted by Jeanne Parisi, Bureau Director; Sheila Page, Operations Director; and Joshua Hoover, Training and Professional Development. To participate in this webinar, registration is required.

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Northampton Community College is offering free online training programs in the fall 2022 for personal care homes (PCHs) and Assisted Living Residences (ALRs). There are a variety of training topics being offered, including Verbal De-escalation Redirection Techniques, Dementia Care in PCH, and Safe Medication Practices.

In the announcement, you can select the linked course titles to register. You may also visit the College’s website. If you have any questions about registering, please contact Northampton Community College via email or at (610) 332-6585.

Participation is limited for each course. If you register and later discover you are unavailable to participate, please cancel your registration to allow other individuals the opportunity to register.

If you need information about additional available training for administrators, please contact the Operator Support Hotline at (866) 503-3926 or electronically.

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The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) issued the following notice regarding the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) one-time payments for personal care homes (PCH) and Assisted Living Residences (ALR):

Background Info:

Governor Wolf signed Act 54 of 2022, which allocates $26.767 million of federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) for payments to nursing facilities (NF), personal care homes (PCH), and assisted living residences (ALR). To qualify for the one-time payment, a facility must be in operation as of July 1, 2022.

These one-time ARPA funds must be used for COVID-19 related costs not otherwise reimbursed by federal, state, or other sources of funding. OLTL will send a letter with details about the payments, including information about the approved use of and reporting on these funds. An Act 54 Facility Acceptance Form must be completed by September 2, 2022.

Additional information on Act 54, payment amounts and approved use of this funding will be available at the DHS Long-Term Care Providers page.

PCH/ALR Payments:

  • ARPA PCH/ALR Payment #1 — Licensed Occupancy
    • The total funds available for a one-time ARPA payment to PCHs and ALRs pursuant to Act 54 (ARPA PCH/ALR Payment #1) is $24,090,000. Each PCH/ALR Payment #1 is calculated by the dividing the census of the PCH or ALR, as determined by the most recent DHS inspection on or before July 1, 2022, by the total census of all PCHs and ALRs, including those with a special care designation, as determined by the most recent DHS inspection on or before July 1, 2022, to obtain a facility-specific quotient for each PCH and ALR. Each facility’s quotient is multiplied by $24,090,000 to determine its payment amount.
  • ARPA PCH/ALR Payment #2 — Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Residents Served
    • The total funds available for a one-time ARPA payment to PCHs and ALRs pursuant to Act 54 (ARPA PCH/ALR Payment #2) is $2,677,000. Each ARPA PCH/ALR Payment #2 is calculated by dividing the number of individuals for whom the PCH/ALR received a state SSI payment as in March 2022, divided by the total of all PCH’s/ALR’s individuals for whom a state SSI payment was made in March 2022, to obtain a facility-specific quotient. Each PCH’s/ALR’s quotient is multiplied by $2,677,000 to determine its payment amount.

PCHs and ALRs must complete the Facility Acceptance Form by August 26, 2022. Checks will be issued and mailed in the order in which DHS receives the Facility Acceptance Forms.

Act 54 of 2022 requires the ARPA funding to be obligated by December 31, 2024, and spent by December 31, 2026, or returned to the commonwealth. Additionally, these funds must be used for COVID-19 related expenses. Providers must keep documentation to prove that these funds were used for their response to the COVID-19 pandemic in case of an audit. Any person or entity accepting an ARPA payment agrees to provide documentation to DHS, upon request, for purposes of determining compliance with Act 24 requirements. Instructions on expenditure reporting will be provided at a later date.

The Department of Human Services (DHS) recommends that providers consult their accountants or attorneys for further clarification on acceptable uses of ARPA funding. DHS encourages providers to review guidance for eligible expenditures on the U.S. Department of the Treasury website in their Compliance and Reporting Guidance.

Any questions about this information or the Facility Acceptance Form should be sent to PW, OLTL COVID Payments.

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Message from the Bureau of Human Services Licensing (BHSL) regarding the renewals of assisted living residences (ALR) and personal care homes (PCHs) license renewals:

Due to staffing issues, BHSL Licensing Administration is currently experiencing a delay in processing renewals 130 days in advance of expiration. In most cases, Licensing Administration is issuing the license in the month that it expires.

If your license has expired and you have not yet received your renewal, please contact Licensing Administration at 717-705-0383 or via email directly so that your renewal can be expedited. Any Certificates of Compliance that have or will be expired on or before August 31, 2022, have been emailed to the email addresses we have on file. We are currently working on the September expiration dates. To expedite the process, you will be receiving your Certificate of Compliance electronically. It is being sent to the email address(es) as noted on your renewal application. If changes to your email address(es) are needed at any time throughout the year, please send a notification email here and to your regional office.

The Certificate of Compliance may also be printed from the Provider Directory, which is updated when the Certificate of Compliance is issued via email. It can be found by searching the name of your home here. Select the Certificate hyperlink in the License Status & License # column of your directory listing.

Please be reminded that if you have not received your approval letter from BEO, you will need to submit a Civil Rights Attestation electronically. You can find the form here. The Attestation may be submitted via email ONLY if you had previously submitted the CRCQ without receiving a letter of approval from the BEO. It should be emailed here. Any email correspondence sent to Licensing Administration should have this format in the subject line: LICENSE #, NAME OF HOME, DESCRIPTION OF CONTENTS, i.e.: 123450 – ABC Personal Care Home – Attestation.

When submitting the Civil Rights Compliance Attestation with the renewal application and renewal application fee, they must submitted in one mailing via physical mail to:

Via USPS:

DHS/BHSL
Room 623
PO Box 2675
Harrisburg, PA 17105-2675                               

Or via courier:

DHS/BHSL
Health & Welfare Building Rm 623
625 Forster Street
Harrisburg, PA 17120  

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Temple University Harrisburg recently announced their fall 2022 online training that is approved to meet the personal care home (PCH) and assisted living residence (ALR) annual training requirements.

Information about the online training sessions (including registration links) are provided below:

Those interested in participating only need to register for one session for each topic. Please read the training announcements in full before registering to ensure you are able to meet the participation requirements. Participation is limited for each course. If you register and later discover you are unable to participate, please cancel your registration to create space for other participants.

Questions about the online trainings or assistance with registration should be sent via email. If you would like information about additional trainings available for PCH and ALR administrators, please contact the Bureau of Human Services Licensing Operator Support Hotline.

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The Department of Human Services (DHS) has issued updated guidance on COVID-19 for Personal Care Homes (PCHs) and Assisted Living Residences (ALRs). As the Commonwealth, along with the nation, has obtained additional data and expanded their knowledge and understanding of COVID-19, guidance continues to evolve and change. The revisions to the guidance are identified in red text.

Questions on these revisions should be sent electronically or to the regional office.

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