The webinar focuses on PASRR screening as an important tool for states to use in implementing the Olmstead case, particularly when PASRR is tied to other federal and state initiatives.

In late 2009, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) created the PASRR Technical Assistance Center (PTAC), to help states improve their PASRR programs, and to help CMS acquire better knowledge about how state PASRR programs operate. In the roughly five years it has operated, PTAC has developed two arms: a technical assistance arm, and a research arm. The goal of this presentation will be to review PTAC's accomplishments in these areas; to explain how all of these efforts are fundamentally connected; and to preview the goals that PTAC hopes to accomplish over the next few years. The webinar will also ask states to contribute what they would like to see PTAC do in the future.

During this webinar, participants will learn how the existing PASRR tools are applied in a nursing facility. Individuals who need specialized services as prompted by the PASRR process require a unique approach to delivering care, supports, and services in an integrated approach while in a nursing facility. There are some providers that are more successful than others in rendering these services within a nursing facility. Participants will be taken through a 'day in the life' of a nursing home and will be offered case studies that highlight the components of a successful outcome from pre-admission to after discharge to the community. Participants will engage in a dialogue of innovative ideas of what the future might be in order to meet the needs of this expanding population within the framework of providing 'the right care, at the right time, at the right place.

Like many PASRR systems, the PASRR system in Ohio involves many different players and roles. In order to have an effective PASRR system, Ohio has worked to create a collaborative, multi-agency approach. Program leads from several state agencies will discuss different challenges they have encountered in collaboration, and strategies to work around these challenges.

West Virginia will present on their Level I screening tool developed to help eliminate false positives and to more accurately identify those individuals with a serious mental illness and/or an intellectual disability/ developmental delay. For West Virginia, a systems approach meant that all entities involved in the process must be trained extensively and frequently Representatives from West Virginia will discuss WV’s current definition of specialized services as well as anticipated changes. The presenter will also discuss the importance of automation to allow reviews to shorten the timeframes for Level I and Level II reviews.

This presentation will touch on background information on dementia diagnosis and treatment as well as the interface of dementia with mental illness and intellectual disability. The presentation will also discuss when dementia warrants placement in a skilled nursing facility.

The benefits of respite will be discussed as well as challenges families face in accessing respite. Solutions to addressing these challenges will be discussed, with a focus on the role of federally funded Lifespan Respite programs designed to develop statewide coordinated systems of respite services for family caregivers of children or adults with disabilities or chronic conditions, or the aging. Participants will also learn how they can get involved in state Lifespan Respite activities. In terms of PASRR, respite may be considered as a diversion tactic to avoid unnecessary nursing home admissions.

This presentation will review the expanding role of MCO’s in managing LTSS, how their roles changes the PASRR partnership in states, and describe how Delaware engaged MCO’s in the state’s PASRR system. The presentation will highlight specific efforts Delaware made to engage MCO’s in their PASRR program and review some of the lessons learned to date.

The PASRR Technical Assistance Center has recently reviewed the tools states use for their preliminary Level I PASRR screens, and has analyzed PASRR-related items in the Minimum Data Set (MDS). In this webinar, the Director of PTAC, Ed Kako, will review some of those findings and describe the next steps PTAC will take in the research it conducts in partnership with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and with states.