What’s new: Virginia’s Advisory Board on Nursing Home Oversight and Accountability held its second meeting today, October 23.

• The agenda included updates from DMAS, the Office of Licensure and Certification (OLC), and VDH Chief Operating Officer Christopher Lindsay on the progress the agency has made in recruitment and hiring for medical facility inspectors and OLC leaders.
• Advisory board members will split into workstreams to review key areas including Quality of Care Initiatives/Data; Systems and Processes; and Family and Resident Engagement/Advocacy before their next meeting.
• Presentation materials from the meeting are included on the Secretary of Health and Human Resources’s Long-Term Care webpage.

Provider voices: Advisory Board members who work in long term care shared their thoughts on how the board can help providers.

• Administrator Todd Barnes with the Department of Veterans Services encouraged the group to not paint all nursing homes with a broad stroke because many nursing facilities provide excellent care. He recommended the advisory board find ways to help facilities with quality improvement efforts.
• Lifespire President and CEO Johnathan Cook emphasized that the vast majority of individuals who work in long term care are compassionate people who want to care for others.
• LPN Candace Gilliam discussed the hands on work nurses and CNAs provide and the need to address workforce capacity.

More details: The subtopics to be discussed by each workstream group and team leaders are listed below.

Workstream One: Quality of Care Initiatives/ Data

• Ownership
• Transparency
• Cost Reporting
• Quality Indicators
• Workforce Capacity
• Community Transitions

Team Lead: Sara Stowe, Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services

Workstream Two: Systems and Processes

• Utilization Management
• Vetting and Standards for Licensing and Medicaid Participation
• Data Exchange

Team Lead: Christopher Lindsay, VDH

Workstream Three: Family and Resident Engagement/ Advocacy

• Resources/ Widely Available Guide
• Dashboard
• Education, Training, and Awareness
• Ombudsman Awareness
• Complaint Assistance

Team Lead: July Traylor, DMAS

What’s next: Each workstream will hold at least one virtual meeting before the next advisory board meeting on November 14.