Good Afternoon,
QUICK NOTES
ICF/DD DAY PROGRAM SUPPORT
The Division worked with Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) to issue guidance for our ICF/DD providers to allow them to temporarily provide Day Program services to their residents in the event they are unable to allow their residents to go off-site or a Community Day Services program (CDS) AND the CDS provider cannot go to the site of the ICF/DD. You can find the HFS notice here: https://www.illinois.gov/hfs/MedicalProviders/notices/Pages/prn201124a.aspx.
We want to clarify the following components:
- The ICF/DD is required to work with their regular offsite CDS to provide onsite support PRIOR to a movement to providing their own Day Program.
- ICF/DD providers are only able to provide Day Program services if they are providing a Day Program that is of the same quality, focus and breadth of the regular CDS program; including goal attainment and structured activities. ICF/DD providers should not bill as a Day Program if they are merely providing supervision and personal care.
We hope this provides some support to our ICF/DD providers under Tier 3 mitigations.
WAIVER AMENDMENT
The Division is in the process of amending our Adult with Developmental Disabilities waiver and it was posted last week for public comments by Healthcare and Family Services (HFS). This amendment includes the addition of the legislatively mandated Remote Supports service, an increase in the rate for Adult Day Services (to match the rate allowed under the Department of Aging's waiver) and will allow Personal Support Worker reimbursement for support while an individual receiving Home Based Support Services is in the hospital (which is currently allowed under our Appendix K but would expire with the Appendix K). HFS posted the waiver amendment for public comment:
https://www.illinois.gov/hfs/SiteCollectionDocuments/ProposedAmendment04012021AdultsWithDevelopmentalDisabilitiesWaiver.pdf
IDPH DRAFT MASS VACCINATION PLANNING GUIDE 2.0
I've received a lot of questions regarding vaccination plans for Illinois. The Illinois Department of Public Health released the following DRAFT plan in October. With that being said, the current planning guide is being revised with an expected release soon. You can find the current plan here: https://www.dph.illinois.gov/covid19/vaccination-plan
ENTRUST UPDATE
Back in September we sent out a notification to over 300 providers that they are required to encrypt all emails which contain confidential client information and requiring them to identify at least one individual who will maintain Entrust encryption software on their computer within their organization. This was necessary as we continue to provide remote support and surveying of providers.
While we are still problem spotting and testing the new system, I'm incredibly pleased to announce that thank to the good work of Janene VanBebber within the Division, we have been able to successfully get the vast majority of our providers signed up with Entrust. We will continue to test the system to ensure communication is seamless and that providers know both know how to open an encrypted document and how to encrypt a document to send to others.
We've been in contact with the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and the Bureau of Accreditation, Licensure and Certification (BALC)and will be communicating our list of provider contacts that use Entrust. They will also begin using Entrust to send encrypted communications.
This has been a HUGE undertaking for the Division (much larger than we expected), and we appreciate your participation and support.
Thank you for all you do.
Warmly,
Allison
Allison V. Stark
Director, Division of Developmental Disabilities
Illinois Department of Human Services
600 East Ash-Building 400, Springfield, IL 62703
Tel: (217) 782 -6803
The information contained herein should not be considered a substitute for the appropriate official statutes, rules, regulations, or the advice of legal counsel.
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