Category: All News & Events

During National Nurses Week, we would like to thank all the nurses we have the privilege to work with including our Affinity Clinical team for their professionalism, expertise and commitment to ensuring quality care, training to lead others in the Nursing field. Learn more about our Clinical team at AffinityHealthServices.net/Staff-Profiles/ 

National Nurses Week is a time for everyone – individuals, employers, other health care professionals, community leaders, and nurses – to recognize the vast contributions and positive impact of America’s 4 million registered nurses. Each year, the celebration ends on May 12, Florence Nightingale’s birthday. Learn more about the history and celebration of Nurses Week at The American Nurses Association Web Page.

 

 

 

 

Denise McQuown-Hatter, President and CEO of Affinity Health Services, will be presenting with Jamie Aurand, NHA, Administrator at Susque-View Home Nursing & Rehabilitation/Premier Healthcare Resources, Inc. and Erica Mulberger, Executive Director at Central Pennsylvania Workforce Development Corporation (CPWDC) at the Pennsylvania Coalition of Affiliated Healthcare & Living Communities (PACAH) Spring Conference, to be held at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center from April 23rd to April 26th.

 

Date and Time of Presentation:
Thursday, April 25 from 1:15 – 2:45 p.m.   Room 207

 

Presentation:
Quantity, Quality, and Advocacy to Support the Direct Care Workforce Crisis

 

Overview:
We are in the eye of the storm whether you are in Skilled Nursing, Personal Care, Continuing Care Retirement Communities,
Home Health or Acute Care. Sufficient staff resources are plaguing healthcare but other industries in the Commonwealth also
have serious challenges. Labor shortages are no longer only a health care crisis but don’t second guess that there is indeed an
access to care crisis. Survival techniques are in full swing dealing with an aging workforce, increased wages and benefits and
a lack of a qualified workforce. This coupled with declining reimbursement, staffing star ratings and increased competencies is
and will continue to be the number ONE (#1) challenge we face.

The reality is that no one has all the answers. There is no silver bullet. There is however best practices in areas of recruitment and
retention. There are also people that are making things happen when it comes to putting forth creative methods of infiltrating
people into the workforce. Add to the equation that there are advocacy initiatives in which we need everyone to support
aggressively.

At the end of the program participants will be able to identify:

• Trends and statistics regarding staffing that impact our planning and daily operations in long-term care

• The basics of recruitment and retention that are often overlooked

• Strategies for recruitment and retention with analysis of success and challenges

• Initiatives currently taking place both in and out of the long term care arena

• The advocacy efforts that need immediate and swift action and support from the associations and individuals

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About PACAH:
PACAH was formed in 1951 to represent county nursing facilities. Now, PACAH represents over 143 diverse long-term living and supports providers and associated businesses, including both county, veterans, private, and non-profit nursing facilities.

Learn more about the PACAH Spring Conference

A Look Ahead to Affinity Days 2019

The date is quickly approaching for Affinity Days 2019. This annual training and development conference features various speakers who aim to provide motivation and inspiration to Affinity communities who continue in their goal of delivering excellent services.

 

This year’s keynote speaker, Clint Maun, CSP, will aim to help in this inspiration. Clint is nationally recognized for his innovative expertise in healthcare consulting, speaking and research. Clint is a co-founder of Maun-Lemke Speaker and Consulting LCC  and his entire career experience has been in healthcare operations, management, leadership, quality enhancement and self-development programs. Clint has the proven ability to motivate individuals to positive action and implement results-oriented change and his dedication to our profession is evident as he brings advocacy for positive self-esteem and motivation to a new level. See Clint’s full bio here, or you can listen to his free daily audio podcast at www.clintcast.com.

 

Among other training presentations featuring Affinity staff members, we are excited to welcome Clint and look forward to learning from his experiences.

 

 

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Resources

Clint Maun, CSP Official Website
Maun-Lemke LLC
ClintCast.com

 

We are pleased to welcome Cheryl Metrick, RN, NHA, WCC, LNC, Clinical Consultant to the Affinity team.

Cheryl brings 30 years of experience in senior community management to Affinity Health Services, Inc.  Cheryl was a Director of Nursing and Nursing Home Administrator for a large non-profit continuing care retirement community early in her career.  After achieving many successes in facility based management, Cheryl joined a large nationwide for profit provider as a Clinical Services Consultant.  As a Clinical Services Consultant, Cheryl had oversite of multiple post-acute living centers in various states including PA, OH, WV, TN and CA.  After seven years as a Clinical Consultant, Cheryl was asked to serve as the Area Vice President for the same organization in which she had operational oversight of financial, clinical, budget development, compliance, HR and environment of care.  Most recently Cheryl had briefly relocated and had the experience of serving as an interim Director of Nursing and subsequently training her replacement.

 

In addition to Cheryl’s credentials, she achieved her Certification as a Legal Nurse Consultant from the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants.

 

Tammy Coleman, Angela Huffman and Dana Heitzenrater, three Clinical Consultants at Affinity Health Services, have obtained their Certificates of Training in Infection Prevention in Long-Term Care. As managers and consultants, our team can best serve our clients by staying current in facility level requirements.

 

 

The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), which provides this customized training, explains that “Newly published federal regulations will have a significant impact on how long-term care facilities address infection prevention and control.”

The APIC certificate program requires education on topics such as Microbiology 101 for Infection Preventionists, State and federal regulations for infections prevention and control, Environmental services’ roles in infection prevention, and additional topics.

To learn more about this organization and training, visit  https://apic.org/Education-and-Events/LTC-certificate 

2019 PADONA Spring Conference

Angela Huffman, Clinical Services Coordinator at Affinity Health Services, will be presenting at the 31st Pennsylvania Association of Directors of Nursing Administration (PADONA) Spring Conference in 2019. The annual conference will be held at the Hershey Hotel from April 3rd to April 5th.

 

Date of Event:
Wednesday, April 3rd, 12:45 PM  to 1:45 PM

Presentation:
Defensive Documentation

Overview:
The PADONA conference title is “Educating, Engaging, Inspiring: Enhancing Clinical & Leadership Practice.” Angela’s presentation will focus on Defensive Documentation for the clinical educational track held in the Castilian Room.

 

About Angela:

Angela brings over 20 years of experience in the healthcare and long-term care field. She began her career as a Quality Assurance State Surveyor and moved on to focus on ensuring quality resident care and overseeing clinical operations as a Director of Nursing and Nurse Manager. Following her work as Nursing Manager, Angela gained over 10 years of experience as a Clinical Services Consultant providing regulatory compliance services and clinical training. She then served a region of 68 long term care facilities spanning 8 states as a Compliance Field Investigator. Prior to joining Affinity, Angela’s most recent position was as a specialized paralegal, conducting comprehensive medical record reviews and analysis. In addition to meriting the philosophy of providing quality care, Angela is passionate about education and strives to develop problem solving leaders who are confident in their skills, enabling them to provide excellent customer service in a high stress environment.

We would to thank PADONA for the opportunity to be a part of their annual conference.

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Learn more about PADONA

 

The Pennsylvania Association of Directors of Nursing Administration (PADONA) is an approved provider of continuing nursing education by the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association Approver Unit, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. Learn more at the official PADONA website

 

Convention Information

 

 

Denise McQuown-Hatter, President and CEO of Affinity Health Services, will be presenting at this year’s County Commissioner Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP) Conference and Trade Show, to be held at the Wyndham Gettysburg and Gateway Campus of Adams County from August 5th- 8th.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date of Event:
Wednesday, August 8th, 8:30am to 9:45am

Presentation:
County Nursing Home Issues and Solutions

Overview:
Long-term Care in Pennsylvania has changed significantly over the past few years impacting our county nursing facilities. The implementation of long-term care managed care (Community HealthChoices); increased scrutiny by the Department of Health and CMS; work force issues; stagnant reimbursement rates; the movement towards value based care; the implementation of Medicare network standards; new survey guidelines; and many other changes have impacted the way skilled nursing facilities are doing business. This session will explore these changes and other factors impacting county nursing facilities, and offer suggestions and real life examples of how nursing facilities and their staff can continue to run a successful nursing facility, with panelists including nursing facility management companies and a county nursing facility administrator.

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Learn more about the CCAP conference

 

Denise McQuown-Hatter, President and CEO of Affinity Health Services, and Sheila Capitosti, Vice President of Compliance Services with Functional Pathways, will be presenting at the 2018 LeadingAge PA “Focus on the Future” Annual Conference, held at the Hershey Lodge from June 20th to June 22nd.

 

Date of Event:
Wednesday, June 20^th 2018

Presentation:
“Opportunity In A Fog Of Uncertainty”

Education Track:
Leadership & Strategic Positioning

Objectives include:

1) Identify common threads among alternative payment models

2) Evaluate impact of implementation of new models and the challenges facing providers and beneficiaries

3) Explore next steps for all providers to prepare for implementation of new models of reimbursement

 

Program Overview:

Skilled nursing facilities have experienced the effects of numerous alternative payment models in the past couple of years including but not limited to ACOs, Bundle Initiatives and Medicare Advantage organizations all of which have led to an emphasis on preferred providers and narrowing of networks to include those who can demonstrate the best financial and clinical outcomes for Medicare beneficiaries. But the fog of uncertainty is not over by any means. CMS has issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rule-Making announcing that it plans to propose payment reform effective October 2018 (FY 2019). The proposed payment reform model, known as Resident Classification System Version 1 (RCS-1) eliminates therapy minutes as a driver of reimbursement rates and has the support of MedPAC and the OIG. The Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014, required MedPAC to develop a unified pay system spanning the four post-acute care settings, and MedPAC’s June 2017 report recommended that Congress direct Health and Human Services (HHS) to implement a system for post-acute care beginning in 2021 with a three-year transition. In their December public meeting, MedPAC recommended that Congress should direct HHS to begin to base Medicare payment to post-acute care providers on a blend of the setting specific relative weights and unified post-acute care prospective payment system relative weights in fiscal year (FY) 2019. MedPAC staff suggested that a blended system could be used in 2019 and 2020 until a transition to a unified post-acute care pay system begins in 2021. Regardless of what the reformed payment model will look like, it is clear that reform is indeed not an uncertainty. The opportunity lies in identification of common threads among all the payment models and preparation for success in a new era of care delivery and reimbursement.

Learn more about LeadingAge PA’s 2018 Annual Conference.

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Following National Nurses Week, the American Health Care Association (AHCA) founded National Skilled Nursing Care Week (NSNCW) as a time to recognize skilled nursing care centers across the country, who provide dedicated services and care for seniors and individuals with disabilities.

National Skilled Nursing Care Week began on Mother’s Day, May 13th, and ends on Saturday, May 19th.  The theme selected by AHCA for 2018 is “Celebrating Life’s Stories”, which “serves as

a tribute to life’s most significant events, relationships and experiences that shape the unique perspectives of residents, families, staff, and volunteers in long term and post-acute care. “

 

As you celebrate National Skilled Nursing Care Week, take some time to Celebrate Life’s Stories with your loved ones.

 

Resources

For National Skilled Nursing Care Week resources- including a press release toolkit, logo graphics, and more- visit the official American Healthcare Association website.