Richter ShareSource Blog

It’s the ninth inning…the last minute of play in the third period…we have 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter…

Hopefully, these sports analogies speak for themselves—we don’t have much time left to deal with and prepare for Windows 7 “end of life.”

In January 2020, Microsoft, the maker of the Windows 7 operating system, will stop providing free security updates and support for Windows 7. (For some kiosks, you might have until October 2020—but the time to plan is now!) Without those updates, your system will be left unsupported, making your organization and its data vulnerable to security threats. To put it plainly: This is a cybersecurity and compliance risk.What does this mean?

With flu season now upon us, it’s more important than ever to keep your hands clean and free of germs to the extent possible. In that respect, many people turn to hand sanitizers to get the job done. But are they the safest and most effective means of accomplishing that?

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the best strategy is also the most time-tested one: washing hands with soap and water. Hand-washing has been proven to reduce the amounts of all types of germs and chemicals on hands. Moreover, hand-washing with soap and water is a more effective way than hand sanitizers to remove germs such as Cryptosporidium, norovirus, and Clostridium difficile. Hand-washing with soap and water also removes debris that hand sanitizer leaves behind (including allergens like peanut proteins)—and it does so with the fewest side effects.

PointClickCare, the leading electronic health record (EHR) technology partner to North America’s long-term post-acute care and senior care industry, has named Richter as its 2019 Marketing Partner of the Year. The award recognizes the close collaboration between Richter and PointClickCare on targeted training activities related to Medicare Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM).

This blog is co-authored by Jennifer Leatherbarrow, RN BSN RAC-CT IPCO QCP CIC, Manager of Clinical Consulting Services with Richter, and David LeCours, National Director of CareerStaff Unlimited

Considerable research supports the direct relationship between nursing home staffing levels and resident outcomes.  Research also has found a clear association between nurse staffing ratios and nursing home overall quality of care.

Extra…extra…read all about it: Therapists are being laid off across the nation!

Despite the alarming nature of this fictitious headline, the truth is, not all therapy companies have elected to cut staff in light of PDPM.

Yes, it is true—incentives for reimbursement have realigned under PDPM. The new payment model no longer gears reimbursement toward optimizing therapy minutes. But keep in mind: The therapy profession has never been about providing optimal minutes; rather, it has been about providing optimal outcomes. Trinity Rehab has been set up for success under PDPM since its creation in 2013, focusing on its employees, partners and the patients we are privileged to serve every day. Therapy companies now must allow that unproductive time for communication and collaboration will ultimately lead to more success for the provider and themselves.

In the months leading up to October 1, 2019, providers across the long-term post-acute care (LTPAC) spectrum have been very busy preparing for PDPM for Medicare A residents. We at Richter have as well, as we’ve been training, updating software, adjusting processes and planning our strategy for the biggest change in reimbursement in over 20 years. The good news: It’s finally here! The bad news: There is no real direction on what to do about Medicare Advantage plans.

As we all know, no matter how hard we try, payer information can be wrong. If you think that a resident is on a Medicare Advantage Plan upon admission and a month down the road, you find out they are classified under Traditional Medicare A, you will be in a world of hurt if you did not complete the Medicare A assessments. This is why we recommend that you complete the PDPM 5-day assessment on all Medicare and Medicare Advantage skilled residents. Although this will be a PDPM 5-day assessment, you will still be able to see the RUG-IV at the top of each assessment if needed by the Medicare Advantage Plan. If you are not using PointClickCare^®, call your software vendor to see if you have this option available.

The final RAI Manual for October 1, 2019 was released on September 18. The good news is that there are no surprises! I have to say I was really happy with the examples that have been added throughout the various sections. This was definitely a much needed update. I have highlighted below the items I found to be the most noteworthy.

Richter is pleased to announce the appointment of Kenneth Voll, RHIT, as Director of Revenue Cycle Management.

In this position, Ken is responsible for overseeing Richter’s global revenue cycle management process and evaluating its impact on clients and staff through process improvement, relationship management and revenue cycle metrics. Richter’s customized revenue cycle management solutions are designed to help clients maintain a positive financial position by managing the entire accounts receivable process, from intake through collection of revenue.