New Transition for CMS

CMS, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, is a federal agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services. It administers the Medicare program and works in partnership with state governments to administer Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and health insurance portability standards. It was founded on July 30th, 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson to protect the health and well-being of millions of Americans all while saving lives and improving the economic security of the nation. 

CMS recently announced the transition of CMS to iQIES (Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System) on April 17th for MDS record submissions and reports. According to cms.gov providers are expected to take into account all requirements provided by CMS. To properly prepare for this transition, submissions will be turned off on April 13. Providers need to submit completed MDS records before this Thursday. CMS will be providing more information on what to expect in the coming days through email. Failure to obtain access to iQIES before April 17th will impact your ability to submit MDS records moving forward. For information and instructions to register for an iQIES account, please visit: https://qtso.cms.gov/news-and-updates/action-required-register-iqies-account  

For those in question about iQIES, cms.gov provided key highlights for providers on what to expect in the upcoming days with the new shift. 

Key Highlights of iQIES

• Users will be able to securely access iQIES at any time, from any location (provided there is an internet connection).
• Users will log in once to iQIES. No longer will users be required to log into CMSNet and then into separate applications to upload MDS records or access reports.
• Users will have access to tips and information to guide them throughout the MDS submission process and accessing reports. 
• Users will be allowed to upload MDS assessments similarly as was done in the QIES.
• MDS reports will be similar to those in the Certification and Survey Provider Enhanced Reporting (CASPER) application, with some new functionality built in.
• Users can initially view the report information on the screen and if desired, can then download the report to a Portable Document Format (PDF) or Comma-Separated Values (CSV) file.
• Users can schedule reports to run at their desired intervals and frequency.

In a November press release, UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group) calls out Prime Care Technologies as one of its technology partners helping to simplify the technology experience for healthcare employees. By integrating senior care data from our primeVIEW intelligence app into the UKG Dimensions dashboard, we save overburdened administrators from logging into multiple places to evaluate how they can staff enough nurses to meet both census and Five Star rating requirements.

Prime Care is pleased to be among the nearly two-dozen technology partners added to the UKG Marketplace and to in the company of industry leaders like Microsoft. To read more, see UKG Marketplace Partners Keep People at Center of Everyday Experiences.

To learn more about integrating critical KPI data from primeVIEW to UKG Dimensions, visit our UKG Technical Services page and check out this snapshot from the UKG Dimensions dashboard.

Join executive advisors from Health Dimensions Group (HDG) for an exciting Fall webinar series to help senior care/living operators with a 2022 strategy.

Our first session, Resizing operations based on your data is on October 21 at 2PM ET and will include HDG's CEO Erin Shvetzoff Hennessey and consulting EVP Darrin Hull. They'll discuss the importance of evaluating operational areas and strategies for realigning to impact your financial success and improve quality.

Additional sessions include:

• November 18: Interim staffing when the well runs dry
• December 2: The value of data beyond acquisition
• Jan TBD: Looking back at top trends in 2021

After each session, we'll offer a brief demo of how technology can help. So, save your seat(s) and invite some colleagues!