Third DOH LHCSA Statistical Workgroup Meeting
LeadingAge NY, along with other stakeholders, participated in another Department of Health (DOH) Licensed Home Care Services Agencies (LHCSA) Statistical Report (SR) Workgroup meeting on July 10th. As we previously reported, the goal of the workgroup is to redesign and restructure the report to increase the timely and accurate submission of information by identifying areas of reporting that can be streamlined to increase compliance and accuracy in data reporting.
DOH staff recapped the first two meetings, which over 30-35 stakeholders attended. The workgroup discussion has included ways to increase compliance, changes with licensure, and changes to the eight LSR forms. DOH again provided an update on enforcement activities. On June 12th, 29 enforcement letters were sent to LHCSAs. To date, only three of the 29 agencies have requested to have the survey reopened, five of the 29 have closed, and stipulations and orders for enforcement are being posted on the Profiles webpage on the “Inspections” tab.
DOH did share that they are developing a training webinar for the 2016 LSR, and it will be recorded. LeadingAge NY has consistently requested that DOH programs be recorded for a multitude of reasons.
DOH reviewed the written recommendations from LeadingAge NY and other stakeholders on the eight forms. The recommendations were divided into three categories: streamlining forms, clarifying terms and definitions, and adding or deleting questions. Most of the meeting centered on the five pages of recommendations. DOH will be sending out the PowerPoint presentation and five pages of recommendations within the next week. LeadingAge NY will be reaching out to LHCSA members on several outstanding issues.
Two other agenda items included the Minimum Data Set for the Direct Care Worker and a Universal Data Collection System. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), through its National Direct Service Workgroup Resource Center, developed a recommended Minimum Data Set for the Direct Care Worker to measure and analyze workforce trends and assist in developing policy. The other agenda item included a presentation from Sandie DeLorenzo and staff, who discussed the Universal Data Collection System shell that could be used to capture data for the LSR. The Universal Data Collection System is the system for anyone doing Medicaid business in the state. It is free software, accessible through the Health Commerce System (HCS), and looks like a user-friendly Excel spreadsheet. A provider could retrieve previous files, copy and paste from similar formats, and generate graphical PDFs. It would also allow for running edits before submission, so a provider would receive an error message if something had been inputted incorrectly or not included. The proposed October meeting will focus on a dry run of the Universal Data Collection System developed for the LSR.
The focus of these efforts is currently on the SR for LHCSAs serving the community, and not on the ALP LHCSA Statistical Report.
Members who are interested in participating in the development of a newer streamlined LSR or participating in the draft Universal Data Collection System for the LSR should contact Cheryl Udell.
Contact: Cheryl Udell, cudell@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8871 or Diane Darbyshire, ddarbyshire@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8828