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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEI Provider Meeting Minutes 10-16-19Early Intervention Provider Meeting Wednesday, October 16, 2019 EI Provider Meeting 1 10/16/19 Staff Present: Stacey Brookens, Jenn Hawbecker, Ashley McCartney, Dan Rhodes Providers Present: Holly Whiteside & Matt Yingling (Service Access & Management, Inc.), Adam Rowland (Advanta Therapy), Cynthia Bosserman & Lori Beam (PennCares Support Services), Lauren Everetts (Fulton County Medical Center) Providers Present by Phone: Stefany Messina (Invo HealthCare Associates) MEETING MINUTES 1. Welcome & Introductions Everyone introduced themselves and their agency affiliation. Stacey Brookens, MH/IDD/EI Administrator, introduced herself to the providers present that she had not previously met in person. 2. Fiscal – County Process and Timelines Ashley McCartney explained the County’s process for billing and how it affects the timing of payments to providers:  The Controller’s Office processes all billing on a two (2) week cycle which consists of alternating “big” and “small” warrant weeks that are identified by a Thursday check date. Providers are always paid on “big” weeks.  Providers will be paid next on the October 17, 2019 check date because the current week is “big.” Providers with an electronic funds transfer (EFT) should receive payment to their account on the following Monday. These payments will include all invoices that the Controller’s Office received by October 9, 2019.  Ashley typically begins working on the previous week’s billing every Monday and attempts to submit it to the Controller’s Office by Wednesday. Providers that bill weekly will be paid biweekly since their invoices are received during every “big” week. Providers that bill monthly on a “small” week will wait three (3) weeks to receive payment. The timing of payments may also be affected if Ashley is out of the office, MH/IDD/EI is closed due to a County holiday, or the PROMISe system is down.  Ashley recommended that providers bill either biweekly or monthly on “big” weeks in order to ensure efficient and accurate payments. Although billing weekly is still acceptable, it may not allow adequate time to finalize plans, enter medical necessity or resolve issues that occur due to voids, adjustments, and denials. By submitting their invoices to coincide with “big” weeks, providers will stay on a regular biweekly payment schedule. The Warrant Process Schedule for calendar years 2019 and 2020 will be sent out with this meeting’s minutes.  Providers may contact Ashley at any time if they have questions about the County billing process. Early Intervention Provider Meeting Wednesday, October 16, 2019 EI Provider Meeting 2 10/16/19 3. Update on State Budget Jenn Hawbecker received updates at the September EI Leadership Meeting regarding the State budget that was passed.  The budget includes a supplemental to cover FY 18-19 expenses. However, this supplemental amount was larger than expected so a portion of it is being taken from the state’s FY 19-20 EI budget. The FY 19-20 allocation would usually be based on how FY 18-19 ended but because of the larger supplemental this is not currently possible. Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) is working with the Department of Human Services (DHS) to figure out how to prevent taking any FY 19-20 supplemental from the FY 20-21 EI budget.  The FY 19-20 Primary Allocation Letter is expected to be sent no later than January 2020. Based on current projections, Ashley anticipates that certain providers will need contract amendments by December. EI will be working with the Commissioners to secure the funds necessary to prevent any lapses in payments for services prior to the Primary Allocation being received. The Commissioners are aware of EI’s projected funding needs and the state has indicated that it is willing to send a certified letter to guarantee the reimbursement of payments for services. 4. Franklin/Fulton Verification Jenn, Stacey, Holly Whiteside, and Matt Yingling recently attended a pre-Verification Meeting with current EI Advisor Ellen Castagneto, incoming EI Advisor Wendy Tucker and EI Technical Assistance (EITA) Consultant Liz Wagner-Simmons. This meeting outlined the next steps of the Verification process.  Jenn, Holly, Ellen and Wendy will meet on November 4th to complete the following: o Review of three (3) children’s billing records o Review of internal EI policies and procedures o Finalization of the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) o Fiscal interview with Ashley o Review of provider monitorings, staff training records, and new hire information for Fulton County Medical Center, PennCares Support Services, Pediatric Therapy Specialists of South Central PA, and Invo HealthCare Associates  Jenn and Holly will be reaching out to providers to gather the records of an additional fifteen (15) children that must be received by December 4th. These records will cover a six (6) month period of session notes and progress monitoring information. After all records have been received, the Verification Team will begin reviewing records of the selected children in PELICAN.  The full records review of eighteen (18) children will focus on documents such as session notes, intake/fourteen (14) day deadline forms, and evaluations/reevaluations. A targeted records review of between four (4) to six (6) children will also occur for specific categories (i.e. waiver, eligibility/ineligibility, and transition). Early Intervention Provider Meeting Wednesday, October 16, 2019 EI Provider Meeting 3 10/16/19  In the weeks prior to Verification, Wendy and Liz will be visiting with providers to observe sessions, intake meetings, and evaluations/reevaluations. Holly will be contacting providers to schedule these visits.  The dates for Verification are January 28th, 29th, and 30th. In addition to the records review, there will be interviews with service coordinators and their supervisor. It is not currently known whether the Verification Team will also request to interview therapists and provider administrators. Jenn will share more details about the Final Verification Meeting when they become available so that all providers have an opportunity to be present when the findings are discussed. 5. Special Instruction – Vision Services There is still a need for Vision Services in Franklin County. Providers may contact Jenn if they are aware of any teachers of the visually impaired who may be interested. 6. Validation of Medical Assistance (MA) Numbers Providers were reminded to check PROMISe to confirm that validation of their MA number has occurred. This must be done for each staff member and the agency as a whole. If a staff or agency MA number lapses, the service cannot be provided because the County will not pay for it without a valid MA number. Providers should plan accordingly due to the wait time for validation which can take several months. 7. Referrals and Availability of Providers/Families Meeting participants discussed the ongoing challenges that service coordinators encounter with making referrals that satisfy the restricted availability of both providers and families. Jenn recommended that providers should always be up front with the service coordinators regarding referrals by stating that the therapist’s availability has been given to multiple service coordinators if they receive more than one referral for the same service and have not heard back regarding a previous referral. Generally speaking, service coordinators attempt to fill referral spots based on therapist/family availability as they come in and usually within one (1) day. Holly expressed appreciation for the flexibility of therapists to accept referrals that require evening availability or longer travel distance. She will continue to work with service coordinators to ensure that referral information is being consistently communicated to providers including notification that a particular spot has been filled. 8. Family Survey This year’s Family Survey has closed. OCDEL is trying to determine why fewer survey responses were received with an online only version compared to prior years when a paper version was also used. Along with analyzing the current year results, OCDEL is looking to reduce the overall number of questions and add more Early Intervention Provider Meeting Wednesday, October 16, 2019 EI Provider Meeting 4 10/16/19 “family friendly” language to next year’s survey. There is no update on the potential plan to limit survey participation to families exiting the EI Program. 9. LICC Updates Fulton County  The LICC will be distributing early learning bags during the Fulton County Medical Center’s Trunk or Treat event on October 31st from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.  The LICC’s Holiday Festival will be on December 3rd from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Fulton County Library. Any providers that are interested in setting up an activity for families at this event may contact Jenn.  The next LICC Meeting is on November 19th from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Fulton County Library. Franklin County  Early learning bags will be distributed to local pediatrician and doctor’s offices in the near future.  The LICC’s Family Movie Night will be on January 23rd from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Coyle Free Library. Activities will be scheduled between the screenings of the short movies. Any providers that are interested in setting up an activity for families at this event may contact Jenn.  The next LICC Meeting is on November 19th from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Coyle Free Library. 10. Review Provider Roster The provider roster was not circulated at today’s meeting because it was last updated and sent out in September. Providers should contact Jenn to report any staff updates or changes. The roster is not typically sent out to all providers unless there is a large amount of changes. 11. New Trainings Jenn recently emailed providers to share two (2) new training opportunities.  EITA’s Portal to Practice monthly newsletter featured the “Autism Focused Intervention Resources & Modules” (AFIRM) training. It covers twenty-seven (27) evidence-based practices for supporting learners with Autism from birth to twenty-two (22) years and may be of interest to therapists.  Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance (PaTTAN) will be hosting the “Prevent, Teach and Reinforce for Young Children (PTR-YC): Engage, Assess and Summarize” training on November 20th from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at its Harrisburg office. This training is free but requires the purchase of a textbook. EI can reimburse providers for this expense with training funds. Provider staff should contact Jenn soon if they are interested in attending. 12. Provider Updates and Announcements PennCares Support Services  There are still openings for the Child Development and Preschool Groups. Positive peer models, such as siblings, are especially needed. Early Intervention Provider Meeting Wednesday, October 16, 2019 EI Provider Meeting 5 10/16/19 Service Access & Management, Inc.  Holly reminded providers that therapists should be writing new, specific, and targeted goals, teaching strategies, and outcomes if the original ones have been met in advance of the Annual Review. Ideally, this should be done at the Nine (9) Month Review when the therapist is present. Holly will follow up with service coordinators about sending notification emails to therapists whenever a child’s goal has been updated during progress monitoring or their plan has been finalized. Invo HealthCare Associates  Invo is looking to hire a new speech therapist due to the current high volume of referrals. 13. Provider Reports due prior to the next meeting  Audited Financial Report (for fiscal year ending June 30th) – December 31  Audit Engagement/Extension Letter for calendar year ending December 31st – January 10  Monthly Billing – due 15th of each month  Employee Debarment and Exclusion – due 15th of each month Reminders of these reports are sent out 3-4 weeks prior to their due date. You can also review the reports/due dates in procedure statement MHIDDEI-416 Contract Required Reports and Due Dates. Next Meeting: Wednesday, January 15, 2020 starting at 10:00 a.m. Located at the Human Services Building (425 Franklin Farm Lane) 2020 Meeting dates: January 15 April 15 July 15 October 21 Minutes by Dan Rhodes