Memory Loss and Brain Health Resources for Veterans and Caregivers

June is Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month. An entire section of www.va.gov/Geriatrics is devoted to Mental Health, Memory Loss and Brain Health information for Veterans, their families and caregivers:

• Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care – Care for Veterans with Alzheimer’s or dementia is provided throughout the full range of VA health care services. Learn more about resources for Veterans, families and caregivers.

• Brain Health – There are many links between brain health, physical health and mental health. VA’s booklet, Brain Health and Quality of Life in Aging: Tips on Staying Sharp and Active, lists some of the reasons for problems with memory and thinking and what you can do about them.

• Delirium – Delirium is also known as “brain failure” or “confused state” and happens rapidly. It causes problems with attention, thinking, memory, and emotion. Learn more about what causes delirium, who is at risk for delirium, what can be done about delirium and resources about delirium.

• Mental Health and Suicide Prevention – VA provides a range of mental health programs and resources for Veterans of all ages, backgrounds and service eras. Learn more about programs that focus on the needs of older Veterans.

To learn more visit www.va.gov/Geriatrics.

Free Homecare and Hospice June Webinars of Interest

Free Virtual Workshop - Rural Disability Hub for COVID-19 Vaccination Outreach

Tuesday, June 14, 2022, 11 am to 12 noon MDT

NACCHO is pleased to present a virtual workshop on the Rural Disability Hub for COVID-19 Vaccination Outreach for rural and frontier-serving local health departments and their partners in HRSA Region 8 (Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah).

Facilitated by the University of Montana Rural Institute and special guest Jason Jones, presenters will discuss the importance of including disability in outreach efforts, examine challenges and solutions unique to rural communities, share relevant educational materials tailored for rural populations and people with disabilities, and review available funding for COVID and health outreach activities.

This meeting is free and open to all. Please register by June 13^th, 2022.

Learn more about the Hub by visiting the website. You can also contact Andrew Myers ([email protected]), Project Director, with any questions.

Avoid Home Health and Hospice Conditions of Participation (CoP) deficiencies

Berry Dunn 2 Part Webinar Series

CoP Compliance Part 1: Overcoming Hospice Deficiencies
Thursday, June 23, 11:00 – 12:00 pm MT
Presenter: Carla Braveman RN, M.Ed., Senior Clinical Consultant, BerryDunn

CoP Compliance Part 2: Overcoming Home Health Deficiencies
Thursday, June 30, 11:00 – 12:00 pm MT
Presenter: Incy Muir, RN, MPA, NEA-BC, Accredited Provider Program Director, BerryDunn

Register For Free

Additional Documentation Requests: Avoid Panic and Mitigate Denials

Tuesday, June 28 at 12:00 MT

Now that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has resumed issuing Additional Documentation Requests (ADRs) after pushing pause during the public health emergency (PHE), it is important to ensure your agency can respond to ADR requests efficiently while decreasing your risk of denial or payment delays.

In this webinar, McBee experts Arrica Canty and Dee Geray will discuss the best approach to proactively plan and have processes in place that make the ADR process seamless to expedite payment or avoid repayment. Additionally, attendees will learn recent denial reasons, share best practices to prepare for ADRs, and how to tackle/manage denials.

Register For Free

The Case For and Against Home Care Provider-Medicare Advantage Relationships

Home Health Care News | By Andrew Donlan
 
Shifting health care payer trends have home-based care providers stuck between two battling business decisions: “adapt or die,” or sustainability.
 
Those two decisions may look like one in the same to outsiders, but for home care operators grappling with whether to engage with Medicare Advantage (MA), they sometimes posit providers on different sides of the aisle.
 
The tense relationship between the home health care industry and MA has been covered extensively on Home Health Care News. Providers are trying to fight back – as MA grows its market share among Medicare beneficiaries – against what they feel are unfair reimbursement rates from plans for home health services.
 
Conversely, we’ve often written about MA involvement as an opportunity in non-medical home care for providers in that industry. To some extent, it still is. Primarily health-related benefits and Special Supplemental Benefits for the Chronically Ill (SSBCI) offer a new revenue stream and client base for providers.
 
But not all home care agencies view MA as just another opportunity or revenue stream. After all, they deal with similar issues to the home health care world when it comes to working with MA: rates are meager and, additionally, the resources it takes to staff those cases is sometimes not worth the yield.
 
On the other hand, some providers think that engaging with MA now will be worth the return on investment down the line.
  
Read Full Article

Despite Vaccines, Omicron Variant Puts Older Adults at Risk

Last winter's COVID-19 wave, driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant, killed almost as many Americans ages 65 and older as last summer's Delta variant wave, despite high vaccination rates among older people. Health experts cited the ability of the Omicron variant and its mutations to get around immune defenses and lackluster efforts to get booster shots to older adults as reasons for the elevated risk.

Read Full Story: The New York Times