NCAL Fourth Quarter 2007 Accomplishments



NCAL’s Third Quarter

2012 Accomplishments

Advocacy/Policy

• NCAL submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) about its most recent proposed rules defining Medicaid home- and community-based services (HCBS) settings. While the most recent definition is much improved from the previous version, NCAL honed in on key issues that still might prevent some assisted living providers from participating in Medicaid. NCAL also continued working with federal policymakers and other national organizations including the Center for Excellence in Assisting Living to find workable solutions to the outstanding issues. According to CMS staff, the agency received a large volume of comments on the proposed rule and a final rule defining Medicaid HCBS settings is not expected until spring 2013 at the earliest.

• In the wake of a June 2012 Senate Aging Committee oversight hearing on abuses of the Veterans Administration’s Aid & Attendance pension benefit, NCAL evaluated legislation that would establish a look-back period, similar to that in Medicaid, for the VA program. In doing so, NCAL staff reached out to the American Legion, one of the nation’s largest veterans groups, and other organizations. NCAL’s Finance & Policy Committee identified several issues in the legislation that would make the application process more cumbersome and complicated for veterans.

• After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that key components of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) coverage expansion provisions were constitutional, NCAL and AHCA staff stepped up efforts to educate members about the provisions and potential impacts on assisted living and nursing home providers and residents. NCAL staff gave presentations to state affiliates, created educational materials for the association’s health reform web site, and helped organize webinars on new requirements for employers either to offer coverage or pay penalties, as well as other related topics.

• In July, nearly 400 AHCA/NCAL members visited virtually every office on Capitol Hill in order to advocate on behalf of the long term care profession. During the association’s annual Congressional Briefing, NCAL held its own briefing and asked members to emphasize the need to protect the Medicaid program and to educate members of Congress and their staffs about the potentially negative impact of CMS’ proposed rules defining HCBS settings on Medicaid beneficiaries as well as federal and state budgets.

Quality

• The AHCA/NCAL Quality Initiative for Assisted Living was officially launched with its own website on September 26. Measurement summaries, business cases, and resources for each of the four goals were posted on the site which can be found at qualityinitiative..

• Developers of the INTERACT program approved the revisions made by NCAL and the American Assisted Living Nurses Association. The INTERACT tools were adapted for assisted living providers and are posted NCAL’s Quality Initiative website.

• The new Bronze assisted living criteria for the AHCA/NCAL Quality Award program was announced in August. It was created to encourage assisted living members to use the program as the foundation for their quality improvement processes. A team of experts created the assisted living specific criteria for the Bronze award. The Bronze is the first level in the AHCA/NCAL Quality Award program. The team included Immediate Past Chair Nicolette Merino, Pat Giorgio, NCAL’s vice chair, and Joanne Ryan administrator of the Orchards at Bartley, Jackson, N.J. and a 2010 Silver Quality Award recipient, and Carole Scillia, a member of the Board of Overseers and vice president of compliance and quality at Revera Health Systems, Meriden, Conn.

• NCAL’s Patient Safety Organization (PSO) Task Force received four proposals in response to the Request for Proposal that was issued to PSO’s across the nation. The PSO Task Force reviewed the responses and narrowed the field to two possible PSOs. These PSO’s will receive a questionnaire being developed by the Task Force. These two finalists will respond to the questions during a webinar hosted by the Task Force. Staff is fielding a survey of NCAL Board of Directors to determine the level of interest in using a PSO along with the costs associated with its use.

• The Performance Measures Survey Report was finished in late September. The report was released on NCAL Day and is available on the NCAL website. There were 696 respondents, which is about a 23 percent response rate. This year, more questions were added focusing on workforce issues. Some highlights from the report include:

o 91.1 percent of assisted living communities measured resident and family satisfaction

o 80.6 percent of assisted living communities measured employee satisfaction

o 96.8 percent had a licensed nurse available to the staff and residents 24 hours a day, either on-site or on-call

o 87.0 percent of assisted living communities tracked retention and turnover

• A new logo was designed for Advancing Care Excellence (ACE) that incorporated NCAL’s new logo. Components of ACE include the AHCA/NCAL Quality Initiative. The redesigned ACE logo will be placed on new Quality Initiative materials.

Workforce

• NCAL completed work on supporting the staff stability goal with the business case, measurement summary, and resources for members. Resources include a turnover calculator adapted from the Advancing Excellence Turnover Calculator and a Peer Mentoring Guide. The Workforce committee will continue to look for and develop resources that support staff stability.

• The Vacancy, Retention, and Turnover survey was finished in late September. The report was released on NCAL Day and is available on the NCAL website. There were 370 assisted living communities which responded to the survey. Highlights from the survey include:

o Overall retention rate: 71.0 percent

o Overall turnover rate: 25.0 percent

o Overall vacancy rate: 2.0 percent

Customer Relations

• NCAL promoted the new Bronze criteria for assisted living to members. NCAL created webpages, published a cover story in the August 2012 edition of Focus newsletter, and produced a video featuring Immediate Past Chair Nicolette Merino discussing the benefits of applying for the Bronze. The video was posted on NCAL’s homepage. A number of promotional articles appeared in NCAL Connections, Capitol Connections, and more editions of Focus. On Sept. 26, NCAL hosted a 60-minute webinar lead by Merino and Courtney Krier, manager of the AHCA/NCAL Quality Award Program. Thirty-six participants learned how to apply for the award.

• During National Assisted Living Week, the NALW Facebook page attracted 521 likes and reached 4,485 people who viewed the posted content. Communities from Hawaii to Maine shared their activities and joined the conversation.

• Staff initiated the Art for the Ages online display by asking members to submit their residents’ artwork. Artwork includes visual arts as well as crafts. Digital photos of the artwork have been submitted. The art collection will be displayed on NCAL’s website.

Membership

• At the end of the third quarter, NCAL member beds stood at 142,213, an increase of 6,435 net beds since the beginning of the year (4.7 percent growth year to date.) NCAL’s year-end goal is to grow by 3 percent in 2012. NCAL has surpassed its goal for the year and expects growth to continue in the fourth quarter.

• National Assisted Living Week took place in September and NCAL has received great feedback from members celebrating the event around the country. Members utilized the Planning Guide and Product Catalog created by NCAL staff and products featuring this year’s theme “Art for the Ages” sold well.

• Marketing for NCAL’s 2nd Annual Spring Conference began in the third quarter. A “Save the Date” postcard was sent to members and past attendees and ads were created that would be featured in NCAL Focus, Provider magazine, and the AHCA/NCAL 63rd Annual Convention and Expo’s final program. The design of the preliminary program for the Spring Conference has begun and NCAL hopes to have registration open by late November. The event will take place March 12 – 13, 2013 at the Westin Beach Resort and Spa in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

• In third quarter, NCAL staff presented at state affiliate conferences in Delaware, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, and Oregon.

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NCAL Staff Contact Information

Governance Issues

David Kyllo, Executive Director dkyllo@

Legislative, Regulatory and Policy Issues

Karl Polzer, Senior Director of Assisted Living Policy kpolzer@

Workforce and Quality Improvement Issues

Lindsay Schwartz, Director of Workforce and QI Programs lschwartz@

Communications, Publications, and Consumer Issues

Lisa Gluckstern, Director of Public Affairs lgluckstern@

Member Services and Programs

Martece Yates, Member & Board Relations Specialist myates@

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