— From the news alert page:
The Five Star Preview Reports were available beginning December 11th. To access these reports, select the Certification and Survey Provider Enhanced Reports (CASPER) Reporting link located at the top of your MDS State Welcome page. For Texas, this web page is at: https://158.73.90.242:81/home.html (Staff might get a warning message, but should be able to select “proceed”).
Once in the CASPER Reporting system, click on the ‘Folders’ button and access the Five Star Report in your ‘st LTC facid’ folder, where “st” is the 2-character postal code of the state in which your facility is located and “facid” is the state-assigned Facility ID of your facility.
Nursing Home Compare will update with November’s Five Star data on December 19, 2013.
Important Note: The Five Star Help line (800-839-9290) will be available from December 16 through December 20, 2013. Provider preview reports will continue to be available on a monthly basis in advance of public posting and will include the dates of helpline availability. Texas Minimum Data Set (MDS) staff will redirect your Nursing Home Compare or Five Star Preview Report inquiries to the help line until it closes. Afterwards, MDS staff will redirect provider staff to email these types of questions to BetterCare@cms.hhs.gov.
— Effective January 1, 2014, the CDS option employers will be required to pay at least $7.50 per hour to people providing the following services:
- habilitation in the CLASS Program;
- residential habilitation in the DBMD;
- supported home living in the HSC Program; and
- community support in the TxHmL.
For more information about these and other entries, see the news alert page.
— “Policymakers should freeze Medicare hospice reimbursements for 2015, according to recommendations supported by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. – McKnight’s
— The two-year budget deal approved by the Senate on Wednesday is aimed at preventing another government shutdown…t also includes a familiar annual rider — language to avert a steep pay cut to doctors who treat Medicare patients.” – NPR
