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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEI Provider Meeting Minutes 07-21-17Early Intervention Provider Meeting Friday, July 21, 2017 EI Provider Meeting 1 7/21/17 Staff Present: Jenn Hawbecker, Ashley McCartney, Steve Nevada, Dan Rhodes Providers Present: Holly Whiteside and Linda Hess (Service Access & Management, Inc.), Krista Miracle, Phillip Miracle and Ramona Torres (Pediatric Therapy Specialists of South Central PA), Lauren Everetts (Fulton County Medical Center), Adam Rowland (Advanta Therapy), Elida Murray (Keystone Autism Services), Cynthia Bosserman and Lori Beam (UCP of South Central PA) Providers Present by Phone: Faith Blee and Kitiara Bolden(Invo HealthCare Associates), Megan Lesko (Building Blocks Therapy), Rachel Bechtel (Aspirations, LLC) Providers Absent: Lincoln Intermediate Unit #12, Tuscarora Intermediate Unit #11, Early Intervention Technical Assistance (EITA), BOPIC, Inc. MEETING MINUTES 1. Welcome & Introductions Everyone introduced themselves and their agency affiliation. 2. Fiscal Update  FY 17-18 projection sheets have been sent to all providers. Please plan to submit each month’s projection sheet to both Ashley and Jenn by the 15th of the following month. It was noted that certain providers are not able to complete final billing by the 15th but will nevertheless submit their projection sheet by the end of the month. Ashley continues to appreciate providers’ efforts to include specific details and explanations on projections sheets as this has been very helpful.  Ashley informed providers that she is sometimes unsure of their intent when adjustments and voids are made to County billing. This often occurs when MH/ID/EI receives multiple records pertaining to the same adjustment. Although voids are less of an issue, there have been situations when it is unclear whether a billing error has occurred. Ashley advised providers to send her a secure e-mail whenever they make an adjustment or void which explains their action and mentions what the correct billing should be. In response to Adam Rowland’s question of whether he should be doing adjustments or voids, Linda Hess observed that the former is often preferable because changes can be entered in the system with relative ease.  A statement letter which will list the remittance advice, date, amount, and check number for any Federal sub-recipient funds received during FY 16-17 will soon be sent to providers. Providers should retain this statement for their records and reference it in the event of an audit. 3. Review: Compliance with MA Bulletin 99-11-05 Jenn Hawbecker reviewed the 2011 bulletin’s requirement that providers perform a monthly exclusion and debarment check on all employees or contractors providing MA services. Providers must check the databases listed and described on page six (6) of the bulletin (see handout): PA Medicheck, LEIE, and EPLS. Early Intervention Provider Meeting Friday, July 21, 2017 EI Provider Meeting 2 7/21/17  Jenn is requesting that providers submit a “Screening for Exclusion from Participation in Federal Health Care Program” form (see handout) by the 15th of each month which will list each employee’s name, position, and the date their status was checked in the required databases. 4. Review: Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) Specific sections of the QEP (see handout) which was approved by OCDEL/Bureau of EI Services on May 17, 2017 was reviewed. It details noncompliance and local goals that were identified during self-verification and describes measurable outcomes to address these areas.  Providers and Service Coordinators should focus on meeting all deadlines (monthly, annual, transition, fourteen (14) day service delivery) in order to achieve Outcome #2’s aim to “ . . . improve the timeliness and accuracy of forms and paperwork for effective child/family centered delivery of services.” She stressed that Service Coordinators must be mindful of therapists’ schedules and availability when making referrals to ensure the fourteen (14) day deadline is always met. Holly Whiteside stated that SAM’s goal is to meet this deadline one- hundred percent (100%) of the time in FY 17-18 so that it will not be cited for noncompliance on the next QEP.  Holly discussed how she and Service Coordinators will make every effort to avoid extending annual IFSP renewal dates by sixty (60) days. Previously, these extensions had been done when a family could not attend their child’s annual IFSP meeting within a 364 day period from the initial service or last renewal date. Due to changes in PELICAN, extending the renewal date will now cause an irreversible late status. OCDEL has asked that Service Coordinators start scheduling annual IFSP meetings about a month prior to the child’s renewal date and enter it in PELICAN as an “Other Update.” Other providers are not required to attend these meetings because only progress monitoring, not testing or scores, is discussed. This method should prevent extensions and late statuses.  Jenn and Holly discussed how parents’ knowledge of Procedural Safeguards such as due process and remediation continues to be a noncompliance issue because of “Disagree” responses to questions on the annual Family Survey. Despite the survey’s weaknesses (i.e. wording that is easily misunderstood and limited response options), Service Coordinators must continue to raise parents’ awareness of their rights in regard to their child’s EI services and encourage participation in the Survey.  Jenn briefly reviewed Service Delivery goals and requested that providers verify all employees have completed ECO 101 in their Training Logs. ECO 202 is only offered as an in-person training session; the online version has yet to be released.  Jenn discussed development and implementation of the “Franklin/Fulton Early Intervention 2017-2018 Parent Survey” (see handout) as a measurement of progress toward the QEP’s Locally Identified goal. This five (5) question survey was adapted from the Coaching Model’s evidence-based practice and methodology. Service Coordinators will survey a random sampling of families during visits from August to October 2017. Jenn Early Intervention Provider Meeting Friday, July 21, 2017 EI Provider Meeting 3 7/21/17 requested that providers contact her with any feedback on the wording/clarity of survey questions by Friday, July 28, 2017. She informed providers that trainings related to the Coaching Model are available to view on the EITA Portal under Topics of Interest: Coaching and Collaborative Partnerships.  An update on the next series of Community of Practice Meetings was provided; which are referenced within “Activities/Steps to Achieve Outcome” related to the QEP’s Locally Identified goal. Jenn would like to invite speakers to present on EI-relevant topics during the meetings such as foster parenting (Children’s Aid Society) and infant massage Lauren Everetts. The bi-monthly meetings are tentatively planned to start in September with early morning and late afternoon times being considered. Providers may contact Jenn if they would like to present on a specialty or suggest a topic. 5. Training Logs The “Early Intervention Staff Development Log” (see handouts) for FY 17-18 was reviewed.  There are different versions of the log for new and current employees. Jenn has added three (3) additional required trainings available through the EITA Portal for new employees and current employees if not completed during a prior fiscal year.  Jenn clarified the following details related to training logs: o Only a “refresher” on Mandated Reporting is required annually. For example, this can be satisfied by a fifteen (15) minute staff meeting discussion explaining employees’ status as Mandated Reporters and reviewing topics such as completing the CY-47 form or online reporting for ChildLine. o Electronic versions of the log are preferred (either emailed to Jenn or faxed to MH/ID/EI office). o An original signature is not required. Typing the employee’s name is acceptable. o Submitting training certificates is not required. Jenn will contact the employee if there is any question as to whether a training satisfies the requirement. o Providers may pro-rate the required twenty-four (24) training hours for new employees who were not employed for the entire fiscal year. o Providers are encouraged to contact Jenn at any time if they have additional questions. 6. Document Assign for New Referrals Providers were asked for feedback on the Document Assign process for new referrals that went into effect about a month ago. Service Coordinators will now send providers a referral email containing the child’s name only. In the past, these emails had included additional background, contact, and demographic information. Providers should then access all relevant information through PELICAN.  The process has been generally well-received because it has streamlined the acceptance of referrals: providers and Service Coordinators spend less time Early Intervention Provider Meeting Friday, July 21, 2017 EI Provider Meeting 4 7/21/17 writing/exchanging emails. Also, it greatly minimizes the extent to which confidential content is shared outside of PELICAN.  Krista Miracle expressed her concern that the process could potentially result in “lost time” near the end of the fourteen (14) day deadline period. She gave the example of a referral being received late on a Friday afternoon and the therapist not being able to contact the family until Monday morning due to not having PELICAN access. Holly responded to Krista’s concern by noting that PELICAN is a secure system that can be accessed at any time by any device with an internet connection. Lori Beam suggested that Krista could establish a backup to access PELICAN and communicate referral information to other staff over the weekend if she is not available. At the conclusion of the discussion, Jenn recommended that Krista develop an internal procedure to address her concern and continue to monitor for any issues. 7. Miscellaneous The following updates and information were provided:  Occupational Therapist licenses were renewed in June. Providers should submit their Occupational Therapists’ updated licenses to Jenn if they haven’t done so already.  Coaching books were distributed to providers in attendance (excluding evaluators). Jenn will coordinate delivery of the books to other providers at a later date. Jenn, Trish Elliott, and Beth Fairchild had worked together to select these books as a resource for coaching and activity-based approaches in EI. Providers were also encouraged to take available copies of the Early Childhood Coaching Handbook (Rush/Shelden). This handbook is especially helpful for employees and families who are new to EI.  There are several PA Early Learning Standards booklets (infant and toddler editions) that are available for distribution to providers. Jenn would like providers to distribute booklets to current and new employees if they haven’t done so already.  Jenn will send out an updated provider staff roster with the minutes. Providers should verify the accuracy of employee names/positions/contact information and inform Jenn if any corrections are necessary. 8. Provider Reports The following reports are due prior to the next EI Provider Meeting:  Staffing Training Logs (due by July 31st)  Progress Reports on Outcomes in Appendix A (due by July 31st)  Schedule of Revenues/Expenditures (January – July; for non-state-set rates)  Salary Review (FY ending June 30th)  Property Purchased Report (FY ending June 30th)  Property Leased Report (FY ending June 30th)  Fixed Assets Purchased with MH/ID/EI Funds (FY ending June 30th) Early Intervention Provider Meeting Friday, July 21, 2017 EI Provider Meeting 5 7/21/17 Please see procedure statement MHIDEI-416 Contract Required Reports and Due Dates for additional information. As always, providers may contact Jenn and/or Ashley if they have any questions. 9. Provider Updates  Fulton County Medical Center: Lauren Everetts knows of a contact who is interested in doing in-home nutrition visits for EI. It is unlikely that FCMC will hire the individual at this time so Lauren would be willing to pass along their information to other providers.  Keystone Autism Services: Elida Murray shared that Dauphin County EI and Keystone will participate in a UC Davis research study on the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM). ESDM is an evidence-based, best practice intervention that could potentially lead to significant advancements in the field of EI services for children with Autism. Training related to ESDM will be made available to Dauphin County after the study concludes.  UCP of South Central PA: Cynthia Bosserman shared that the Child Development Group will have a few openings in the fall and that the Pre- School Program is currently full. Also, UCP and the Franklin County Library System have discussed hosting a Sensory Storytime when the remodeled Coyle Free Library opens in the fall.  Pediatric Therapy Specialist of South Central PA: Krista introduced Ramona Torres as her new Office Manager. . Ramona will be running the “Service Coordinators” tent at Project Big Love on Saturday, July 29, 2017. Krista also mentioned that Occupational Therapists Jennifer Morgan and Amy Spade-Elias are working to raise funds to construct a special needs playground in the Warfordsburg area of Fulton County. Funding for playground project will be placed on the agenda for discussion at upcoming Fulton LICC meetings.  Invo HealthCare Associates: Faith Blee shared that Invo has recently developed brochures and giveaways to promote the Child Find. This effort will continue in the current fiscal year.  Aspirations, LLC: Rachel Bechtel shared that she recently hired Licensed Social Worker Amy Shaffer Post who has previous experience in Franklin/Fulton’s EI system as a Special Instructor. She also expressed optimism that the Dauphin County ESDM study will yield findings that benefit EI systems in all counties. Four (4) Aspirations Special Instructors are currently receiving the ESDM training.  Building Blocks Therapy: Megan Lesko shared that Building Blocks has hired an Occupational Therapist who will exclusively serve Fulton County. Next Meeting: Friday, October 20, 2017 starting at 10:00 a.m. Located at the Human Services Building (425 Franklin Farm Lane) Remaining 2017 Meetings October 20th Minutes by Dan Rhodes