A new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently developed pilot project to be tested in five states (with two alternate states) for a certification survey that could take less than two days by targeting sentinel events. The abbreviated surveys, called Quality Improvement Surveys (QIS), would be for facilities whose Quality Indicators and Quality Measures were all better than national norms and who have had good compliance histories from previous surveys.

The pre-survey tasks will be similar to the current procedure of checking with the ombudsman and reviewing complaints, previous surveys, the QM and QI reports, and MDSs for both long term residents and new admissions in the past six months. These reports will guide the sample of residents to be reviewed. After the Entrance Conference, there will be a review of the kitchen, dining, and infection control procedures. There will be an interview with the Resident Council President, but not with a group of residents. The medication observation will consist of 10 residents with 50 med passes. If there are serious problems or a suspected pattern of problems discovered that warrant further investigation, the survey could then become a standard length survey, or even an extended survey. If there are no serious deficiencies found, the QIS survey is projected to last a day-and-a-half.

The five states picked for the pilot are Connecticut, California, Louisiana, Ohio and Kansas, with Florida and Illinois picked as alternate states in case any of the original states could not participate. The QIS pilot is mentioned in this newsletter because it is possible that Louisiana may choose not to participate in the pilot project at this time.

Licensed Nursing Home Administrators are responsible for obtaining 36 Continuing Education Credits during the two-year period between December 1, 2003 and November 30, 2005 in order to renew their license. To aid in that process, the Council is offering the following educational opportunities between now and November 30^th, with brochures for TWO different seminars included with this newsletter.

The New IDPH IDR Process and Fingerprinting Everyone – Tuesday morning October 11 at the Purple Hotel Lincolnwood and in the afternoon at the Oak Lawn Hilton, and Tuesday afternoon October 18 at the Springfield Crowne Plaza. Brochures for this topic are included with this newsletter. This three-CEU seminar covers the new independent IDR process available for a fee as of October 1^st (see newsletter 1083) and the new requirements that ALL NEW employees hired after January 1, 2006 be fingerprinted for a national FBI background check (see newsletter 1067). The details of both programs will be explained at these seminars. This topic replaces a tentatively scheduled topic on the New Medicaid Reimbursement Changes announced in previous newsletters. Discussions on what those changes will be are still continuing.

Finally, Definitive Answers – The Part D Medication Benefit for Nursing Home Residents – Tuesday morning November 1 at the Lincolnwood Purple Hotel and in the afternoon at the Oak Lawn Hilton, and on Thursday afternoon November 3^rd at the Springfield Crowne Plaza. This three-CEU seminar will review the new federal program for medication coverage and how it will affect nursing home operations (see newsletters 1079 and 1087). Brochures are also included with this newsletter.

The Alzheimer’s Council of the Illinois Council on Long Term Care will be hosting a session on "Encouraging Families to Become Partners in Care" on Wednesday, November 9, 8:30 to 11:30 am at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Springfield and on Thursday, November 17, 8:30 to 11:30 am at Maggiano’s Little Italy Banquets in Skokie. Speaking at this session will be Susan Gardiner, Myrtle Klauer and Kevin Kavanaugh from the Council office. They will be providing a variety of strategies for encouraging families to become partners in care to increase their level of satisfaction, facility involvement and peace of mind. In addition, they will be offering recommendations for developing successful family events, encouraging family involvement in care planning, addressing family complaints and helping families through the grieving process. Three CEUs will be offered to nursing home administrators and social workers. Brochures for this seminar will be sent in next week.

Susan Gardiner and Kevin Kavanaugh of the Council staff will also be presenting at the SIU Center for Alzheimer Disease Annual Conference on October 26 at the Northfield Conference Center in Springfield. This all-day conference is specifically designed for Nursing Assistants – Administrators cannot attend (unless you are a CNA). Administrators don’t get CEUs, but they get brownie points for sending some CNAs to the conference. Cost is $30 per person, or $25 per person if more than one nursing assistant attends from the same facility. For more information about this conference, call 217-545-7181.

Other non-Council seminars before November 30^th are:

The Illinois Pioneer Coalition is holding its 2^nd Annual Summit, entitled "The Courage to Move Beyond Can’t" at the Springfield Crowne Plaza on October 12-13. The purpose of the summit is to discuss practical culture change ideas, and their impact on team building, dining experiences, family involvement, resident centered care plans, activities and regulations. One of the presentations will include a report from facilities that have been working with the Illinois Foundation for Quality Health Care for the past year on their practical experiences in promoting culture change in their facilities, including several Council facilities. Nine CEUs will be available, with a registration fee of $75 and a CEU processing fee of $30. For more information call Janet Schenk at 217-773-3377.

The Illinois Department of Public Health will be offering a maintenance seminar developed by the National Fire Protection Agency on October 19-20 at the Sheridan Hotel in Arlington Heights. This two-day seminar will provide an overview of requirements for maintenance of life safety and fire protection systems and equipment. The seminar is FREE and offers 14 CEUs to the first 60 people who sign up. A copy of the registration form can be obtained at www.idph.state.il.us (click on the IDPH calendar on the left sidebar and then click "October") or by calling 217-785-4264. This seminar will be offered in the spring in central/southern Illinois, with the date and location to be determined at a later time.

Glantz/Richman Rehabilitation Associates is offering their two-day workshop downstate on "Ability-Centered Care for People with Dementia," which meets the IDPH requirements for the 12-hour dementia training for staff of dementia Special Care Units. Administrators of facilities with Special Care Units are required to have the 12-hours of training. Cost is $285 per person. The session is offered at Council member Sycamore Health Care in Quincy on October 18 and 20.

Glantz/Richman Rehabilitation Associates is also offering a four-hour training session on "Dementia Care Training," meeting the IDPH requirements for staff who work less than 50% of their time on a dementia Special Care Unit. Cost is $90 per person. This session is also offered at Sycamore Health Care in Quincy on October 19. For more information about these sessions call 847-945-1917.