Kevin Lightle's Blog

News on a new Waiver continues. The latest news is it is morphing into a different authority but the design of managed care remains. There is a new Power Point distributed to those attending the MSC Supervisors Video Conference. I have provided a link here for you to review this power point. Enjoy.

Waiver Power Point

Here it is, our first ever Regional Conference in Elmira New York. I just checked the roster and we are going to have a full house. Can’t wait to see everyone. Here is how I prepare for our conferences.

Ever since I first heard of the YAI International Conference I had wanted to attend. This was in the 80’s and I  was working in Virginia. At that time it was the most progressive and thorough conference to attend, especially for someone relatively new in the field of special education.  Here it is over 30 years later and not only am I attending but am presenting on a topic that is very relevant for today’s support services. I am fortunate to be presenting with Stephen Flannigan, our New York support specialist. Our topic will be using technology in the workplace in order to prevent abuse and neglect. Using the technology of Therap Services agencies are improving their ability for communication at all levels, as well as creating an environment of transparency and honesty. The train ride into the city gives me these last few moments to contemplate how in my short career span how much has changed in documentation standards and methodologies to achieve this. Therap is the leader in this new standard and it is a pleasure to bring this to others.

I realize CHOICES is making headway and is quickly becoming a mandated item. Yes, CHOICES is being mandated for DDP forms, and in fact that is a good thing. What is not being explained properly is the ISP portion of CHOICES is exempt from the mandate.  The State is working on code for an upload feature so as soon as that is made available to us we will then be able to upload your ISP information into CHOICES. I will let everyone know of any timelines I hear and as always I welcome your feedback.

The next chapter of our waiver saga has been released. It is quite a read and I am wading through it now but I do not want to travel this alone so here is a link for you to read yourself, New York Waiver Response . Please email me with any thoughts or questions.

CHOICE or choice? Do you have a choice? No, it is time to get on board and get used to using OPWDD CHOICE for DDP, and TAB’s. Everyone has heard by now that that this is another system that will be mandated to use statewide. Therap would love to help providers with this process but this is one area where the state will not be building an interface. However, in this package is an ISP. Do not be alarmed, this is one part of CHOICES that is exempt from the mandated use. Microsoft will be building software that will allow Therap to upload your ISP into the CHOICES ISP. Once that software comes available to us, like we have done before, we will drop everything and build this upload ability.

We are also evaluating form 149, and the new Hab. Plan. Please contact me if you would like to share your thoughts on these new developments.

Just a quick note of thanks to our latest host for our March User Group Meeting, Genesee ARC in Batavia. We had 6 different agencies attending and a room full of people speaking Therap. Our agenda has been full as we have discussed a wide range of topics such as: 1115 Waiver, CHOICES, IRMA, Investigation Report formats, Hab. Plan updates, GER’s and on and on. If you would like to host a user group meeting in your area simply give me a call. Also, sign up now for any of these upcoming events;

April 4th – user group meeting – Center for Family Support, 333 7th Ave. 9th floor, NY 10001

April 17-20 – NYSACRA Annual Conference

April 25th – user group meeting – Community Services for the Developmentally Disabled, 1845 Kenmore Avenue, Kenmore, NY

May 15-16 – New York Regional Conference – Elmira

Here is one that got past me. There are new guidelines for incident reporting that require a revised form that must be in place and in use by March 15th, 2012.  Here is the letter announcing the news. http://www.opwdd.ny.gov/wt/memoranda/required_investigation_format_memo.pdf

Here are the instructions: http://www.opwdd.ny.gov/wt/memoranda/form_opwdd_149_instructions.pdf

The form is a word document and can be found here:  http://www.opwdd.ny.gov/wt/manuals/part624/incident_management.jsp

Something we have all been waiting for has now arrived. Click here for a link to the Assessment Tool to be used in conjunction with the 1115 Waiver. Click here for a link to the fact sheet. interRAI Integrated Assessment Suite

Analysis of incidents is a major responsibility of an agency. Using the General Event Reporter (GER) in Therap provides administration with a great deal of information and its’ value is in the analysis of that data. Analysis is an on going project in order to be responsive to events and take actions prior to them developing into repeated or more serious incidents. OPWDD has provided guidelines for what elements are basic for a trend analysis and I have provided those here.

Elements of an Acceptable Incident Trend Report

An acceptable incident trend report must:
 Include the agency’s approach and commitment to incident management.
 Include the make‐ up of the agency’s Incident Review committee(s) and subcommittee(s), if
applicable, and schedule of meetings and summary of activities for the period of time included
in the report.
 Include that the committee, in accordance with agency policy, will report periodically (monthly,quarterly, etc.) but no less than annually to the CEO, Governing Body, and (if voluntary provider) to the DDSO on the committee’s:
1. general monitoring functions;
2. general identified trends in reportable incidents, deaths, serious reportable incidents,
allegations of abuse and other incidents which do not meet the definition for a reportable
incident (commonly referred to as occurrences, minor events, agency reportable, etc.)
and also medication errors if managed through the agency’s incident management process;
3. general identified trends in injuries of unknown origin regardless of category and
classification including occurrences (this may be done by the full committee or a member of
a subcommittee reporting to the full committee);
4. recommendations on corrective, preventative and/or disciplinary action pertaining to
identified trends; and,
5. recommendations to the CEO or designee to prevent recurrence of incidents presenting a
trend.

 Include aggregated data and information and not individual case specifics unless egregious or
identifying a trend across the agency operations.

 Include a trend analysis which contains examination of information including:
1. a comparison of incident types and number over a period of time;
2. identified trends by site, time, location, staff involved, individual involved, circumstances and any other pertinent information;
3. identified reasons for the trends and increases/decreases in incidents;
4. identified systemic changes implemented based on incidents reported and an analysis of
whether these changes were effective; and,
5. recommendations for future actions.