TOPIC: SPECIALIZED SERVICES

This session opens a provocative conversation on the impact of the changing demographics in long term care on quality of life for those being served. The nursing home environment is fast becoming an uncomfortable mix of ages, circumstances, and medical and psychiatric needs. The development and implementation of practical, non-pharmacological interventions for addressing behavioral health issues is a focus of this conversation. This session offers practical guidance for effecting true culture change: not simply a project, but a positive and lasting change in the thinking and behavior of those who live and work in the environment.

This webinar will provide an overview of the process resulting in the first CMS-approved PASRR State Plan Amendment.

During this webinar, participants will learn how the existing PASRR tools are applied in a nursing facility. Individuals who need specialized services as prompted by the PASRR process require a unique approach to delivering care, supports, and services in an integrated approach while in a nursing facility. There are some providers that are more successful than others in rendering these services within a nursing facility. Participants will be taken through a 'day in the life' of a nursing home and will be offered case studies that highlight the components of a successful outcome from pre-admission to after discharge to the community. Participants will engage in a dialogue of innovative ideas of what the future might be in order to meet the needs of this expanding population within the framework of providing 'the right care, at the right time, at the right place.

Federal regulations relating to the Preadmission Screening and Resident Review (PASRR) program require states to provide for or arrange "specialized services" for nursing home residents with serious mental illness or intellectual/developmental disabilities who need disability-specific services beyond what nursing homes must provide under their daily rate. Owing to an ambiguity in federal regulations, states vary considerably in how specialized services are defined, provided, and paid for.

The June webinar clarified long-standing issues related to "specialized services" in PASRR.

Ms. Williams and Ms. Burbick presented information concerning the Massachusetts PASRR process, including a detailed review of the standard of specialized services used in the state and specific case examples.