State Announces Rest of SNF Testing Schedule. By means of a post to the Enhanced Information Dissemination and Collection (EIDC) System, the Department of Health (ODH) supplied the SNF employee testing schedule (Excel download) for the remainder of the first round of repeat testing. The accompanying notice states:

All facilities that opted in should now be on the schedule. If you opted in through the survey and your facility is not on the schedule below, please contact CCURT@odh.ohio.gov. All facilities that opted out should also be listed on the schedule with their opt-out noted. Facilities that opted out can opt-in at any time by contacting CCURT@odh.ohio.gov and by filling out a new survey. If you notice incorrect information on the schedule, please immediately email CCURT@odh.ohio.gov with updated information and fill out a new survey at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/OHNFEmployeeRetesting.

Also via the EIDC post, ODH provided a quick reference guide for the testing process. We highly recommend reviewing the guide and using it as a checklist to make sure the process is completed properly.

POC Testing Machines Begin to Arrive. We heard this afternoon from SNF members that point-of-care (POC) COVID-19 testing devices and test kits were delivered to their buildings. If you are one of the 51 Ohio centers (Excel download) scheduled to receive a machine, you should have received it today, or perhaps you will tomorrow. Although all SNFs in the country eventually are to get testing devices made by one of the two Food and Drug Administration-approved antigen test manufacturers, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has not posted the next allocation yet. If you received a unit, please watch our COVID-19 Updates for training opportunities for your new device and direction from the state on how the POC machine can be used in the staff surveillance testing program.

Ohio Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) Payment List. This list, up to date as of today, shows not only the providers who are slated to receive payments from the Office of Budget and Management but also the amount of each payment. Not all providers on the list have applied. OHCA's understanding is payments to providers who have applied will be made next week, those by electronic funds transfer earlier in the week and those by paper check later in the week. Please note that for SNFs eligible for both the Skilled Nursing Facility and Infection Control payments, the two payments may be listed under different provider names. The Infection Control payments often are listed under "doing business as" names if they differ from the facility's common name.

CRF Payments to DD Waiver Providers. As OHCA members who provide Medicaid waiver services to individuals with intellectual and development disabilities are painfully aware, the orginal CRF allocations did not include them. The state convened a meeting late tomorrow afternoon at which we believe a solution to this oversight will be announced. We do not know the details relative to the formula for payments, the amounts, or which providers are eligible, but we will inform members as soon as we receive the information. A Controlling Board meeting is scheduled for August 24, at which time the waiver provider allocation could be approved.

Recording of AHCA SNF PRF Webinar Available. In case you missed it, AHCA provided a recording and the slides from this afternoon's webinar on the latest SNF allocation from the HHS Provider Relief Fund. The webinar featured AHCA/NCAL President/CEO Mark Parkinson's comments on the most recent information on how these dollars will be allocated. The following are AHCA's instructions for downloading this material:

1. Go to https://educate.ahcancal.org/products/all-member-call-with-mark-parkinson-hhs-provider-relief-funds?force_login=1 and log in using your username and password.

2. Once the page opens, click on the “View Archived Recording" button on the right hand side of the page. The presentation will open in a new window for you to view and hear the program.

3. Click on the Handout tab to download your copy of the handouts and other available materials.

Most of the information presented in the webinar corresponded to what we previously reported in COVID-19 Updates, but there were a few new wrinkles, which are not definitive but are possible:

• HHS may choose not to give lower per-bed allocations to SNFs that have received or soon will receive POC testing devices but instead to use a flat, per-bed amount.
  
• HHS may consider a facility's COVID-19 mortality rate, along with the number of cases, when comparing it to its peers in the value-based purchasing component that will start in September. This comparison will be refreshed each month from September to December.
  
• The peer comparison may be not only within the facility's own county but also with buildings in other counties across the country that have similar community COVID-19 prevalence.
• The value-based payments to centers in hot spot areas likely will be substantially higher than those to other centers.
  

Department of Medicaid Communication Device Grants. In a meeting today with representatives of the Department of Medicaid (ODM), we received an update on the civil money penalty-funded grant program to reimburse SNFs for purchasing equipment for patients to communicate with friends and family outside the facility. ODM's Amy Hogan said the agency has approved 494 applications (some for multiple SNFs) totaling $1.3 million. She added that these numbers far and away lead the nation. Unfortunately, Medicaid has paid only 45 centers a total of $107,137, mostly because approved providers have not submitted receipts. Ms. Hogan asked OHCA to urge members to submit the receipts so they can receive payment. ODM's Julie Davis pointed out that when a provider company submits receipts for multiple centers, it can be very difficult for ODM to sort out how much each building should receive unless the receipts are organized properly. Ms. Davis suggested noting on each receipt the Medicaid provider number of the facility to which it applies. The provider number also should go on any correspondence. Ms. Hogan commented that it is enormously helpful to include a list of the amounts that should go to each facility.