PDPM Part 7: Changes in the Interdisciplinary Team Conversation

From an active diagnosis of endocarditis to an aphasia comorbidity, it is evident more than ever that physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech language pathologists need to thoroughly review full body systems during evaluation for identification of the patient’s underlying conditions and comorbidities.

Under PDPM these holistic assessments extend beyond the impaired system and will allow the clinicians to bring relevant, meaningful clinical information to the interdisciplinary table. This information will contribute directly to the identification of SLP related comorbidities and the non-therapy ancillary comorbidity score to ensure the patient’s clinical classification is accurate and representative of the potential resource use needs during their stay.

A breakdown in this interdisciplinary collaboration may lead to missed opportunities for proper reimbursement. However, with extensive therapy evaluations and interdisciplinary collaboration, these opportunities won’t slip through the cracks.

Begin exploring how team conversations will change under PDPM and identify areas to improve interdisciplinary communication. Be on the lookout for Reliant resources relevant to interdisciplinary team success.

Changes to Nursing Home Compare in April 2019

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced updates coming next month to Nursing Home Compare and the Five-Star Quality Rating System including:

  • Lifting the “freeze” on the health inspection star ratings
  • Automatically give one-star staffing ratings to nursing facilities that have four or more days per quarter with no registered nurse (RN) on site, down from the current threshold of seven or more.
  • Establishing separate quality ratings for short-stay and long-stay residents and revising the rating thresholds to better identify the differences in quality among nursing homes making it easier for consumers to find the right information needed to make decisions.

Read on for more information or visit the CMS Nursing Home Compare site.

Guidance Issued Regarding Immediate Jeopardy Situations

Earlier this month, Seema Verma, Administrator for CMS posted a blog entitled “Protecting the Health and Safety of All Americans”. In this blog, Seema states guidance is needed to address violations of health and safety regulations that cause serious harm or death to a patient and require immediate action to prevent further serious harm (immediate jeopardy).

In turn, CMS has issued guidance which clarifies what information is needed to identify immediate jeopardy cases across all healthcare provider types, which they believe will result in quickly identifying and ultimately preventing these situations. This new guidance can be found in Appendix Q of the State Operations Manual that federal and state inspectors use.

Access to CMS training

Revised Guidance Tools Read the full memorandum

SNF Provider Threshold Report (PTR) Now Available

The new Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Provider Threshold Report (PTR) is now available. This PTR is a user-requested, on demand report which enables users to obtain the status of their data submission completeness related to the compliance threshold required for the SNF Quality Reporting Program (QRP). For more information, click here.

SNF QRP Provider In-Person Training

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be hosting a 2-day Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) in-person ‘Train the Trainer’ event for providers on May 7 and 8, 2019. This event will be open to all SNF providers, associations, and organizations. Access more information here.

Guide to Personally Identifiable Information (PHI)

Whether at work, at home, or on the go, data that is often the top target of
cybercriminals is all around us. Protecting that data isn’t a highly technical process, but
rather one that requires common sense and a strong commitment to privacy in every
aspect our lives!


What is PII?
PII, or personally identifiable information, is sensitive data that
could be used to identify, contact, or locate an individual.


What are some examples of PII?
PII includes (but is not limited to) home addresses, personal email addresses,
national ID numbers, credit card numbers, and personal phone numbers.


What are some examples of non-PII?
Info such as business phone numbers and email addresses, race, religion,
gender, workplace, and job titles are typically not considered PII. But they
should still be treated as sensitive, linkable info because they could identify
an individual when combined with other data.


Why is PII so important?
On a personal level, our PII is necessary to acquire some goods and services, such
as medical care and utilities. But in the wrong hands, PII leads to identity theft
and other forms of fraud. On a professional level, you may store PII of customers,
clients, vendors, contractors, employees, and partners. If left unprotected, your
organization could face steep fines and your reputation could be severely damaged.


How do you protect PII at work?
Protecting PII begins and ends with following your organization’s security
policies, which were created to ensure that the data remains
private. Treat all requests for sensitive info with a high degree of scrutiny, stay
alert, think before you click, and if you have any questions, ask them!


How do you protect PII at home?
Develop a home security policy similar to those at work, which calls for common
sense practices, such as not clicking on random links and attachments, guarding
personal info online and in real life, destroying sensitive documents beyond
recognition and setting social media profiles to fully private.

The Customer Connect Webinar Series: A Collaborative Approach to Quality Outcomes

Every month on the third Thursday, Reliant’s Clinical Services offers a webinar to our partners on relevant topics within our industry.

March’s training Restoring Your Restorative Nursing Program provided participants with information regarding the importance of restorative nursing programs, reviewed the criteria for these programs, and identified strategies for successful implementation.

Join us in April for:
A Deep Dive into the PT and OT Components of the
Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM)

Virginia’s Journey Home

Regan Mclaughlin, OT and Caitlyn Boldt, SLP of Reliant Rehabilitation share Virginia Rannebarger’s journey from stroke to home. Partnering with our facilities for the success of our patients is our passion! Congratulations Virginia, it was a pleasure to be a part of your journey. We know you are enjoying being home and “crafting” again.