LTSS Consulting & Management
Creating Financially & Environmentally SustainableLong-term Care Systems
“Change to believe in” – Conscious Care Systems / CCS (a division of Conscious Health Network, LLC)
CCS Quality-of-Life Centric In an era of increasing competition and limited resources, showcasing visibly superior quality-of-life and care services becomes indispensable for sustained growth and recognition within a fast-evolving field of care.
Consultation & Management Conscious Care Systems consultation and management services provide a wellness-oriented and person-centric approach to care delivery resulting in tangible and transformative outcomes, that meet and exceed federal and state regulatory requirements.
More for Less CCS is steadfast in its mission to substantially decrease expenses associated with the cost of long-term care (LTC) while enriching the quality of-life and overall well-being for every individual, including caregivers.
Holistic / Pragmatic / 21st Century CHN affiliates understand the significant potential of the Conscious Health Network models and are committed to achieving the humanistic, social, environmental and economic results that are expected with implementation of a holistic system that is pragmatic and 21st century savvy.
Discernable Culture Change Significantly improved care and lifestyle are foundational to CCS objectives, and the Company is devoted to achieving real “Culture Change” in the long-term services & supports (LTSS) market. Discernibly apparent and federally documented results (including metric outcomes as mandated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid/CMS) will ensure benchmark status in LTC that is expected to be recognized and embraced by LTSS service providers who will benefit financially and operationally as CHN clients.
Time for Transformation In crisis there is often real opportunity to foster change. Now is the time for new and better systems that will be win-win in terms of expenditures, efficacy, and truly compassionate care.
“Never let a crisis go to waste!” – Rahm Emmanuel
Concierge Care & Revenues Implementation of truly affordable CCS models for all tiers of LTSS, in any locale, will be integral to providing concierge care and establishing many new revenue streams.
Social / Wellness Models CHN wellness and social models are designed to provide maximum quality and productive lifestyles to individuals throughout their waking hours – across the care continuum.
Caring Collective The CCS model for LTSS is based on implementation of a self-renewing, sustainable, and evolving system that greatly improves the loyalty and productivity of current employees, especially direct service staff.
Innovative Models CCS considers itself fortunate to be positioned to deliver new and better models for the care of our most vulnerable populations, and together with other innovators, to help stabilize and improve our healthcare systems for everyone.
Demanding Boomers Programs are designed around truly progressive concepts that reflect the kinds of superior services and environments that “baby boomers” already expect for their parents – and are now coming to demand for themselves.
“CCS-Certified”
CCS Consulting Services will determine specific baselines for outcome measurements during weeks 1-2 to be agreed upon with client communities. CCS will quickly be able to predict a reasonable range of outcomes, revenue enhancements, and savings for a number of its introductory programs.
Only Viable Option Demonstrably enhanced care quality at greatly reduced rates is the only viable option for a sustainable future in LTC – and healthcare itself. The following CCS services outcomes will quantify and verify financial benefits including new revenue streams:
- Increased census
- Reduction in staff turnover
- Improving cognitive and physiological status of many residents
- Improved MDS / RAI / OASIS scores (CMS metrics) and decelerated client deterioration
- Achieving / maintaining regulatory compliance re quality measures and indicators – especially as associated with MDS 3.0, Quality First Initiative, and Medicare 5 Star Ratings System
- Wellness-oriented, preventative care
- Improving employee productivity / performance
- Department specific, reduced expenditures / increased efficiencies and revenues
- Creation of additional funding streams, e.g. Cottage industries, B2B, B2C, C2C
- Value added of CCS multi-media marketing, public relations strategies, and branding
- Broadly expanding familial and volunteer involvement
- Mutually beneficial business and neighborhood relationships
- Environmentally progressive and economically sustainable / profitable use of open and community space
- LTC communities as de facto Community Centers / Business Hubs serving all
- Adjunct program options, Adult Day Services, Elder Citizen Center, Childcare, After School, Teen Programs, etc.
Wellness / Prevention / Lifestyle Much of the CCS action plan is related to achieving an expeditious roll-out of core Wellness, Prevention, and Lifestyle programs. These proven programs will be further documented in a rigorous beta pilot employing strict federal metrics and resulting in the accreditation of CCS-Certified.
CCS Managed / Owned CCS will go beyond current regulatory standards for all its managed or owned locations, as well as those client sites that become CCS-Certified through CHN’s Conscious Care Systems consulting division.
Tech-Critical LTC seriously lags in the use of technology, however the current capacities of Information Technology/IT are extraordinary and can be utilized and adapted for the humanitarian and fiscal imperatives of LTSS, and of CHN/CCS/I-WELL.
AI / IoT / CHN Software CCS will further develop and proliferate IoT and AI-enabled IT and software solutions that will be adaptable to all market segments, and expects strong demand in Skilled Nursing, Assisted Living, Continuing Care Retirement Communities, and Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) sectors, as well as in secondary and tertiary markets, such as hospitals, board & care, mental health facilities, and even prisons where a majority of inmates are mentally challenged.
Robots Rule Robotics will also be important to facilitating optimal LTC services and reducing overhead. Several countries such as Japan, China, and India are eagerly adopting robots in care delivery while designing increasingly sophisticated models, spawning many new start-ups and mergers in the process. Once again however, the U.S. is well behind the times in the LTSS space.
CCS Wellness & Lifestyle Care Libraries All CCS programs and protocols are packaged as system models to be implemented by CCS-trained personnel, and software deployed through CCS Wellness and Lifestyle Care Libraries. This will enable the Company to simultaneously serve many entities and to quickly move into ripe, yet currently underserved and undervalued, market segments.
CCS Software Libraries CCS has created, and continues to develop, its module-oriented Management / Wellness / Prevention and Lifestyle software libraries that are custom formatted to dovetail with any LTSS software vendor product and those of other healthcare sectors as well.
eHealth CCS will maximize the systemic use of eHealth in all facets of company endeavors, including protocol deployment, metric analysis, and documentation. (See-CHN Advanced Technology, Telehealth, & eHealth)
Cloud-Based Hub The CHN/CCS technology infrastructure will provide end-users with advanced: information, training, marketing, distribution, finance, security, quality and regulatory control features, and documentation capacities. The CCS Software as a Service cloud-based system will be integrated and cross-referencing, with all information and data filtered to, from, and through this central hub.
CCS Benefits & Incentives CCS programs and staff training protocols provide a new dimension in long-term care with benefits and incentives for all participants, e.g. LTSS clients/residents, caregivers (paid and volunteer), professional staff, management, client families, payers and local communities. (See: CCS Benefits for overview of who benefits and how.)
Profit & Human Motive CCS objectives include ensuring that clients enjoy their lives to the fullest regardless of cognitive or physical frailty. Employers will also be incented to offer personnel the high impact benefits of CCS-supported menu options, and these providers will be highly compensated for choosing this most efficient and compassionate system of care – and community.
CHN Strategy & Metrics As with all CHN programs, verifiable multi-media analytics (including government LTSS metrics such as the MDS/RAI [Minimum Data Set/Resident Assessment Instrument] and OASIS [Outcome Assessment and Information Set]) will be used to verify sweeping protocol results.
Competitive Advantage This scrupulous attention to these LTC and other metrics will be particularly useful to CHN/CCS in maintaining competitive advantage and attaining government and other contracts going forward.
Well-Defined Strategies CHN/CCS has ambitious strategies with well-defined action plans, including specific milestones and resource requirements for such. A selection of these materials is available on this CHNCares.com website. In-depth business plans, financials, manuals, etc. may be requested.
Potential for CCS Initiatives There is tremendous potential for CCS and its affiliates in current ventures and beyond. This is why ramp-up development is of such importance. The Company expects and welcomes significant industry, government, and media scrutiny, and will use this to full advantage.
Rapid Rollout It is important to be positioned to provide CCS Life Enrichment programs to many LTC communities and Home Health Agencies once they are introduced to government and market segment leaders, multi-media outlets, and at industry conventions and other events. However, more demand is anticipated than the Company can initially supply, even with its aggressive rollout timetable.
Funding Requirements CHN/CCS may accommodate significantly more clients in its timeline if additional funding, i.e., beyond the current assumptions in CCS Financials, may be secured. (Projected demand reflects multiple healthcare segments including Nursing & Rehab Facilities, Independent & Assisted Living, Home Health Agencies, Adult Day Centers, Continuing Care Retirement Communities, Hospitals, Hospice, Mental Health Residences, and more – in the U.S. and abroad.)
CCS Libraries & Vendors Conscious Care Systems Software Libraries will function cohesively with any independent software vendor’s (ISV) product and has purposely oriented its protocols to the same format, content, and criteria used by long-term care ISVs.
CCS / CMS / ISVs LTC vendor content mirrors that of the federal government (through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid / CMS) which monitors, regulates, and provides reimbursement based on information provided through federal and state assessment tools, (especially the Minimum Data Set [MDS] / Resident Assessment Instrument [RAI] for Skilled Nursing Facilities [SNFs] and OASIS [Outcome Assessment and Information Set] for Homecare Agencies and Hospice).
CCS Certification is expected to be endorsed (and ideally, CMS-mandated), by private, corporate, and non-profit interests with emphasis on Quality-of-Life / Lifestyle, Wellness and Personal Fulfillment. Multi-level support systems for clients, families, and staff will help ensure effective adoption and quality assurance from the start – and going forward.
Software Deployment CCS will ensure that its client-customized software systems are data secure and will offer one 3-month module to over 500 clients in the first year with approximately a tenfold increase in year two. CCS software systems incorporate exclusive ISV IP and formatting that will enable the Company to meet this target.
Technology-Assisted Implementation Broad use of advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Telehealth, and Streaming services will factor in all program deployment modules.
Bronze Certification Full implementation of CCS consulting programs resulting in CCS-Certified Bronze (Modules 2 & 3 completion) will be available to approximately 100 communities in year one, rising fivefold in the following twelve months, with significant increases expected to catch up to demand in the subsequent two years.
Projections are per current financials and may be adjusted pursuant to increased funding.
Medicare Five-Star Quality Measures (QM)
Improve Standing Through its codified and easily replicable systems, CCS provides consulting and implementation services that will improve a community’s standing in the next CMS survey cycle, especially related to the all-important Medicare Five-Star Quality Measures (QM).
Client Improvement This upside “significant change” will represent compelling proof of the efficacy of CHN programs and services, especially considering that significant change is usually triggered by cognitive or physiological deterioration. Such decline is often markedly rapid upon nursing home placement.
QA / QM / PR CCS programs will also positively impact federal Minimum Data Set (MDS) / Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) scores in many sections and will improve the Medicare Quality Measure (QM) rating results in all three assessment areas including physical and clinical measurements. CCS will also provide Public Relations (PR) services to clients to ensure that community upgrades are publicized and promoted.
SNF / HHA Client Status The federal MDS/RAI for skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), and OASIS-E (Outcome & Assessment Information Set) for home healthcare agencies (HHAs) and Hospice provide detailed determinations of the mental and physical status of each individual on a quarterly basis (per 60 days for OASIS) or when there is “significant change” triggered – and are used to develop patient care plans, track compliance, regulate reimbursement, provide public accountability, and more.
Significant Change SNF providers may anticipate positive “significant change” status for many of the all-important Quality Indicators (QIs) which factor significantly in the MDS/RAI tracking data. OASIS tracking and compliance data for Home Health Agencies / HHAs and Hospice care is also reflected in the Outcome-based Quality Improvement measures (OBQI) and Outcome-based Quality Monitoring (OBQM) assessment instruments.
Quality Indicators These QI and OBQI/OBQM “triggers” necessitate the preparation of new MDS/RAI or OASIS documentation where significant change has occurred – in addition to regularly scheduled assessments.
Rigorous CCS Standards Implementation of CCS models will yield substantial results to be verified, in part, through data sets such as above and multiple consumer and provider satisfaction indicators. In addition, adherence to rigorous CHN/CCS certification standards will further verify the merits of the CCS system.
Digital Documentation CCS programs, data collection, outcome analysis, and documentation protocols will be oriented to federal assessment, regulatory, and compensation tools, that are digitally compiled and submitted online, on a per resident and cumulative basis.
Prospective Payment System / PPS CCS programming will result in resident improvement status in these critical reports which encompass complex regulations and compliance evaluations, and factor in provider compensation, per the Prospective Payment System (PPS) as administered using the federal Resource Utilization Groups (RUGS). This information is critical to the cumbersome, but limited, compliance process as executed annually by state/federal surveyors.
CHN Software Systems
Wellness / Prevention / Lifestyle CHN will install its codified, yet individually customized, software programs for each Individual LTSS client, Homecare Agency, and Adult Day Program / Services provider. These interactive and flexible programs, and their associated Wellness, Prevention, & Lifestyle virtual libraries, will be very beneficial to all elder living residences, as well as intergenerational communities.
CHN / CCS Software 1.0 / 2.0 CCS 1.0 software programs are well fledged and will be expanded to include post-beta 2.0 material. The CCS 1.0 training and documentation software materials complement on-line curriculum protocols and support systems for employees for use during initial beta phases.
Big Data & 2.0+ Subsequent materials and training, i.e., 2.0+, will be substantial and sophisticated, reflecting additional and multi-tiered data gathered during initial consulting and management implementation phases.
CCS Phase 2 CCS’s continuously expanding 2.0+ software libraries will be integral to the Company’s Phase 2 rollout and will incorporate interactive, customizable software programs for all LTSS and Intergenerational CHN Conscious Communities.
Supervisor / Trainer / Coordinators (STCs) On-deck software support will also be important to CHN/CCS personnel responsible for client program implementation.
On-going analysis, periodic re-training, quality assurance protocols, and new product and service introduction will be built into software and supported by STCs (Supervisor / Trainer / Coordinators).
Personalized Support for All Option-based programs will be generally uniform yet tailored to each client community, and to each person, with various programs to include caregivers. Personalization of certain features of CCS programs will focus attention on the input of every resident and relevant LTSS staff member, as well as that of client family members and loved ones, whose own status and concerns may also be considered, and addressed as viable, (e.g., family/loved ones support and education programs).
QA & Membership Maintenance Package (QA/MM) All CCS services, programs, and products will be licensed to providers who remain in good standing (e.g. quarterly review, periodic re-training, upgrades, IT advancements, QA protocols) in order to maintain: certification status, CHN/CCS marketing inclusion, and multi-level support services, (e.g. the CCS requisite QA & Membership Maintenance Package or QA/MM).
CHN Hybrid Software
Telehealth Partner CHN/CCS will partner with an existing Telehealth company in order to introduce and implement its programs and services to many clients quickly and effectively, and to maximize advanced technologies, platforms, and market segments. CHN principals are well acquainted with leading LTSS telehealth vendors and anticipate affiliation with a particular U.S.-based company, and a prominent vendor serving Canada.
Scaled IT Solutions for LTSS Conscious Health Network will also co-develop all-inclusive IT solutions for LTSS communities, homecare agencies, and hospice (through its Conscious Care Systems / CCS division) and for the Integrative/Alternative Medicine ecosystem (through its I-WELL division). CHN’s Telehealth partners may, in fact, meet the necessary criteria for these broad services, which is the preference of the Company.
Compatible Software Existing software systems and programs that are compatible to CHN and its objectives may also be purchased or licensed by client sites and will be recommended by CHN as needed or desired.
LTC Software Vendor CHN has negotiated the purchase of an existing and revenue-producing (although greatly undervalued) LTC software company that is a natural fit for embedding and supporting CCS protocols, and has conducted an in-depth review of this company and established rapport with its principal members. CHN/CCS will assume proprietary use of this Independent Software Vendor’s (ISV) IP upon purchase.
Best Products / Lowest Costs The unique and varied competencies of these IT-based connections will also mean significant cost savings for client communities who already use an ISV (especially those that are still on-premise in LTSS) and will ensure that potential clients who are not currently subscribed to top shelf software ISVs can now afford even better products with much greater functionality.
MDS/RAIs & ISVs ISVs serving the LTSS industry format their applications to mirror the MDS/RAI, as does CCS. The above-referenced CHN/CCS/ISV software integration will create a truly comprehensive and marketable product currently lacking, yet sought after, in the LTC space.
IT Development 1.0 & 2.0+ Not only will merging these Intellectual Properties allow CCS to offer strong 1.0 software solutions for its Wellness, Lifestyle & Management Systems and Libraries, but will expand to accommodate further IT development of the systems and services of 2.0 and beyond.
The following are section titles of the MDS/RAI that will be influenced by CCS protocols.
Taken from MDS 2.0 & 3.0 (2.0 includes certain life enrichment sections eliminated in 3.0, October 2010). Quality of Life compliance measures have generally not been met since the inception of MDS/RAI in 1990 and a number of these were unfortunately deleted from the current 3.0 version, due, in-part, to non-compliance and pressure from LTC providers.
-psycho-social well-being
-mood and behavior patterns
-cognitive patterns
-activity pursuit patterns
-recreation therapy administration for Medicare PPS
-health conditions
-communication/healing patterns
-special treatments and procedures
-physical functioning and structural problems
-oral/nutritional status
-vision problems
-medications
-discharge potential and overall status
-assessment information
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Geriatric Care Managers –
Geriatric care managers are licensed professionals, usually nurses, social workers, gerontologists, or psychologists, who specialize in geriatrics and senior care. They can help you and your family to assess needs, find resources, handle crises, make recommendations, and create a long-term care plan for older adults. They can also act as advocates, guides, and counselors for seniors and their families, especially when they have other commitments or disputes.
Geriatric care managers:
- 1. Discuss difficult topics and complex issues
- 2. Make home visits and suggest needed services
- 3. Address emotional concerns
- 4. Make short- and long-term plans
- 5. Evaluate in-home care needs
- 6. Select care personnel
- 7. Coordinate medical services
- 8. Evaluate other living arrangements
- 9. Provide caregiver stress relief. The cost of an initial evaluation varies and may be expensive, but depending on your family circumstances, geriatric care managers might offer a useful service to help family members stay in touch. Geriatric care managers charge by the hour. Most insurance plans don’t cover these costs, and Medicare does not pay for this service. See more on www.nia.nih.gov
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