Nursing Home News

CMS Releases a National Provider Comparative Billing Report –The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a national provider comparative billing report for skilled nursing facilities (SNF) on Aug. 31. For details, please go to: http://www.safeguard-servicesllc.com/cbr/default.asp. The report compares facilities' billing and payment patterns to those of their peers, both within their states and nationwide. The reports will be released only to providers and are intended to increase understanding of Medicare payment rules and quality of care. CMS has contracted with Safeguard Services to produce the reports.

DOH Announces New License Renewal Process – The Department of Health, Division of Medical Quality Assurance recently announced a new approach to license renewal.  

In an effort to streamline processes, MQA will now verify a practitioner’s continuing education record in the electronic tracking system at the time of renewal. Practitioners will be able to view their course history in the continuing education tracking system free of charge. The continuing education tracking system is now integrated with the Department's licensure and renewal system. 

The DOH is at the early stages of this project. They expect to test the new online renewal system in November and the projected release date will be January 2013. 

To learn more, please go to: http://www.ceatrenewal.com 

Nursing Home Administrators: Licenses Must Renew Before Midnight EST on September 30, 2012 – Florida Nursing Home Administrators must renew license before midnight EST on September 30, 2012. The process of renewing a license may take two to three weeks. Delinquent licenses that expired on September 30, 2010 become null and void on October 1, 2012.  

Renewal Instructions

1. Visit http://www.FLHealthsource.com

2. Click on the “Renew My License” link.

3. Select the correct profession.

4. Enter your user name and password.

• Please note your user ID and password were mailed with your physical license.
• If you are having trouble accessing your account, please try the alternate login process, located at the bottom of the login screen.
• If you require further assistance, please contact the MQA Communication Center at 850-488-0595.

5. Click “Renew License” from the column on the left hand side of the page.

You may RENEW ONLINE if:

• You do not need to change the status of your license.
• You have a credit card/debit card to complete the transaction.
• Your license status is not 'Military, Active'.
• If your license was ‘Clear/Active’ or ‘Clear/Inactive’ before the deadline and you do not need to change your status, you will be assessed a delinquency fee. The delinquency fee will be inaddition to your renewal fees, if you renew after the deadline.
• If your license was ‘Delinquent, Active’ or ‘Delinquent, Inactive’ before the renewal deadline, it will be moved to ‘Null and Void’ status after the renewal deadline and you should contact your Board office for instruction.

You may RENEW BY MAIL if:

• You need to change the status of your license.
• You need to pay using a cashier check or money order.
• You do NOT have a credit card/debit card to complete the transaction.
• Your license is in 'Military, Active' status.

Senior Housing Report for CCRC, Nursing Home, AL, ILU Members Now Available – LeadingAge Florida has collaborated with CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA) to bring you a special Florida-specific analysis of operations and compensation information for senior housing members (CCRC, nursing home, AL, ILU). We know you look for specific information from Florida and it can be difficult to find. Now it is available! The reports have been compiled from data collected from Florida communities and include component costs, staffing ratios, full-time equivalents (FTEs), and other key indicators. Now you can have the data, including medians and averages of all respondents.

The first-year pricing for Senior Housing Report for CCRC/NH/AL is $250 for Single Community; Multi-site Corporations pay $250 for the first site, $175 for the second site, and $150 for the third and additional sites. Discounted pricing is available for survey participants; contact LeadingAge Florida for more details. To purchase the report, please click here. Please contact Sue Ann Bunevich at (407) 802-1226 or Jon Hansen at (704) 998-5249 with questions or comments on the reports.