Founded in 1963, The Ohio Academy of Nursing Homes, Inc. is a statewide trade association representing the interests of the long-term care industry. Our membership represents a true cross-section of the skilled nursing facility profession, from small sole proprietorships to larger Ohio-based multi-facility companies, as well as those businesses that service our membership. The Academy brings the collective influences of the members together into a single voice on vital issues affecting our profession.

What's New: 9/3/10

Far out! Convention registration materials are headed your way  — Keep an eye on your mailbox, as the registration materials for the 70s-themed 2010 OANH Annual Convention & Trade Show are headed your way. This annual gathering of Academy members will help you to "get down" with long-term care through great educational sessions and plenty of opportunities to "boogie." The Hilton Columbus at Easton always sells out quickly, so if you haven't reserved your sleeping room, do so today. The Academy has negotiated a special discounted rate for a limited number of sleeping rooms. To make a reservation, call the Hilton at 614/414-5000 and mention the group code NUR, or you can reserve your rooms online. Just a reminder that the convention is "going green" this year. Instead of receiving paper handouts at the individual educational sessions, you will receive a flash drive with handouts for the entire convention. It's a win for both the environment and attendees! Paper handouts will still be available for an additional charge. If you have questions about the convention, please contact Dawn Kennedy. Balance and Funding Subcommittee continue work on budget recommendations  — The Balance and Funding Subcommittee of the Unified Long-Term Care Services Workgroup met this week to continue to work on recommendations for the upcoming biennial budget. The subcommittee discussed creating benchmarks or goals of balancing the system such as equal expenditures on home based services and facility services. The group concluded that the recommendation should at least continue the current progress made towards balancing the system with a goal of an even split between home and facility based care recipients over the age of 60 within three years. The current split is 60/40. At the request of the Academy, the subcommittee discussed creating a workgroup to investigate changes to the current provider tax structure used to fund Medicaid. The subcommittee felt that this was better accomplished outside of the ULTCS workgroup because it involved many other providers of Medicaid services such as hospitals and managed care companies. Please contact Chris Murray for more information on the ULTCS workgroup. CMS holds last teleconference heading into MDS 3.0 implementation  — The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) held its last question and answer teleconference this week before the MDS 3.0 implementation date of October 1. At the start of the call, CMS noted that some of the issues raised will require changes to the MDS 3.0 manual. Although these changes are being made close to the implementation date, CMS felt the changes are necessary and in the end would benefit everyone by removing as many issues as possible in the initial stages of the transition to MDS 3.0. The call reviewed payment issues including the transition from RUG-III to RUG-IV and the additional changes needed to install a hybrid RUG-III grouper (HR-III) mandated by statute. Slides from the presentation, along with other information, can be downloaded here in a zip file. A transcript and mp3 file of the call will be posted on the CMS website on or around September 15. Click Here to read The Academy Weekly in PDF format.