Assessments

The majority of public funding in the US for home and community-based care comes from Medicaid. Yet we know relatively little about how and in what ways Medicaid HCBS waiver programs support family caregivers or how such waiver services coordinate with other federal or state-funded caregiver programs. This descriptive study is the first to characterize and analyze the role of Medicaid HCBS waiver programs in supporting family and informal caregivers of frail elders and adults with disabilities.

The Ohio Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (ODMR/DD), a 2003 Real Choice Systems Change QA/QI in HCBS grantee, has begun to develop with initial stakeholder input, a Quality Framework to guide what data is collected. Ohio's QA/QI in HCBS grant application was written specifically to fund the design, development and implementation of all aspects of a quality information management system. Review the chart listing their domain, outcomes & core indicators.

The Wisconsin Department of Health & Family Services is designing an integrated state-local quality management system for the state’s HCBS long-term care programs. The Long Term Care Functional Screen (LTCFS) is a key element of their program, used for eligibility determination and rate settings. This paper explores ways to discover accuracy in the Level of Care determination process and describes an approach to LTC FS building on enhancements of current efforts and incorporating new activities.

The Minnesota ADRC utilizes the following two screening tools to assess the long term care needs of individuals and persons with developmental disabilities. Questions include general information, an assessment section, history and professional conclusions.

The Delaware Passport to Independence goals are to: identify residents of nursing homes who may want to move to a new home; interview and assess residents for possible community living; explore if it’s feasible for some residents to transition; create an Individualized Service Plan for those choosing to be considered. They have created a number of tools during the project development including an education outreach presentation, assessment form and survey tool.

The South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs has produced a flowchart for the Quality Assurance Review Process. The process is performed by First Health and relates to the overview of the contract.

Consistency with the Quality Framework created by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services<br>The Council on Quality and Leadership in Supports for People with Disabilities has an established protocol for collection of all data and information during accreditation reviews. The data and information content are described in Personal Outcome Measures (2002). This data and information are found in three sections:organizing principles, organizational assurances, personal outcome measures.

The ADRC Pilot Site in Broward County Flordia shared a plan used to measure the agency's goals, strategies, and progress towards provision of culturally competent services. The plan offers guiding principles: responsibilities, implementation period:and outcomes for each of the strategies.

The South Carolina ADRC also known as South Carolina Access Plus has developed a number of tools for assessment. The evaluation team uses this protocol to interview ADRC staff members and partners for the first time and then later after an initial baseline interview has been performed.

This new assessment tool is currently being piloted within the MA Real Choice Pilot Project & will undergo formal evaluation over the course of the next year. A full report will follow. The core of the instrument is 7 pages, with an estimated average completion time of 15-20 minutes. The tool is designed to be web-based with a variety of modules, the entire tool is much longer. Please note that this instrument is intended for REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY and is not to be implemented for actual use.