
Connie Guinn
By Connie Guinn
Director of Education, Care Providers Oklahoma
When CMS adopted the 2012 Life Safety Code and the Healthcare Facilities Code more than three years ago, it created new expectations for inspection, testing and maintenance of fire protection features in long term care facilities.
So, Care Providers Oklahoma is offering an intensive 2-day training on Dec. 5 & 6 especially for facility and maintenance managers, environmental services directors, administrators and long term care safety consultants.
The class will be held on the OSU/Tulsa campus and led by Kenn Daily, LNHA, president of Ohio-based Elder Care Systems Group. Kenn presents the training under the title, "Don't Get Burned: Your Next Life Safety Code Survey.”
The training focuses on the requirements of NFPA 101 Life Safety Code and NFPA 99 Healthcare Facilities Code and the tightening of requirements through stricter implementation that their adoption by CMS brought.
"This is Life Safety Code training for skilled nursing facilities, with a comprehensive review of the current Life Safety Code requirements, as well as a discussion of step-by-step ways to Life Safety Code compliance, the most common deficiencies, and ways a facility can identify and correct items in advance," Kenn said.
The Life Safety Code established minimum criteria for many protective features and systems, including fire protection, generators, doors, building services and maintenance activities.
Under Kenn's leadership, our unique Boot Camp helps you understand practical applications of the Life Safety Code and learn from a life safety expert on what to prepare for during survey. The comprehensive program examines all sections of the LSC applicable to skilled nursing and providers formers, policies and best practice guides for use by healthcare organizations.
"Life Safety Code Compliance and preparation are critical for skilled nursing, and I'll highlight some lessons learned from other facilities across the country and some of the missteps facilities have experience and ways that you all can be better compliant," he said.
Here's a sample of some of the topics covered: LSC origins and organization; construction types, operating features, door locks, hazardous areas, fire protection systems, smoke compartments, fire barriers, building services and many others.
We hope to see you there.
Registration closes at 11 pm, Sunday, Dec. 3. Register here.

Christine Twombly
Earlier this year CMS transitioned from QIES to IQIES for MDS submission and CASPER reporting access. This transition left some MDS coordinators confused about how to access reports that were previously made available through QIES.

Brandy Hayes
By Brandy Hayes, RN
Clinical Consultant, Proactive LTC Consulting
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Education: Staff should be well-versed in proper medication administration techniques and the adverse effects of medications. This knowledge equips them to be observant and proactive in recognizing adverse effects of medications promptly.
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System Implementation: Establish a systematic approach to ensure that each resident’s medication usage is evaluated upon admission and on an ongoing basis. This system should identify risks and problems and take appropriate actions. Use the critical element pathway 20082 Unnecessary Medications to guide QA efforts.
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Medication Reconciliation (N2001): “Clinically significant medication issue is a potential or actual issue that, in the clinician’s professional judgment, warrants physician (or physician-designee) communication and completion of prescribed/recommended actions by midnight of the next calendar day at the latest. ‘Clinically significant’ means effects, results, or consequences that materially affect or are likely to affect an individual’s mental, physical, or psychosocial well-being, either positively, by preventing a condition or reducing a risk, or negatively, by exacerbating, causing, or contributing to a symptom, illness, or decline in status. Any circumstance that does not require this immediate attention is not considered a potential or actual clinically significant medication issue for the purpose of the drug regimen review items.”
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Medication Follow-up (N02003): The process of contacting a physician to communicate an identified medication issue and completing all physician- prescribed/recommended actions by midnight of the next calendar day at the latest.
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Medication Intervention (N02005): Every time a potential or actual clinically significant medication issue is identified throughout the resident’s stay, it must be communicated to a physician, and the physician-prescribed/-recommended actions must be completed by the clinician in a time frame that maximizes the reduction in risk for medication errors and resident harm.

Champions of Health Awards Presentations were held in massive ballroom at the OKC Convention Center
By Jim Stafford
CPO Content Creator
I was privileged to be part of the Care Providers Oklahoma team that attended the 2023 Champions of Care Awards Presentations recently at the OKC Convention Center.
The Champions of Health awards program was launched in 2004 to recognized organizations and individuals working to improve health outcomes across Oklahoma. Proceeds from the Awards Presentations ceremony benefits the Oklahoma Caring Foundation, a not-for-profit that provides preventative health services to underserved Oklahomans.
The Champions of Health Awards were presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma.
CPO is one of 11 member organizations that comprise the Champions of Health Coalition Partners, and Steven Buck, CPO President/CEO is part of the Coalition Leadership team.
"Champions of Health is a celebration of innovation in health delivery to vulnerable populations in our state,” Steve said. “I have been involved in Champions for over 15 years and am always amazed by the quality of emerging approaches to providing care. It is an honor to stand with colleague organizations like Oklahoma Hospital Association and the Oklahoma State Medical Association to showcase these accomplishments."
Awards were presented in five categories to organizations that are pursuing innovative health related programs that can be replicated in other communities. Several CPO team members, including me, were among the judges who helped determine this year's winners.
Recipients recognized at the ceremony were:
Tulsa Public Schools as Champion of Children's Health for its student wellness progam.
Calm Waters as Champion of Senior Health for its grief support groups that are offered to seniors 55-plus who have experienced loss of a loved one.
Grand Mental Health as Champion of the Uninsured for providing health care services to under insured/uninsured Oklahomans.
Tulsa CARES as Champion of Community Health for being a provider of prevention and care programs for low income individuals living with HIV or Hepatitis C.
Neighborhood Services Organization as the Dr. Rodney L. Huey Memorial Champion of Oklahoma Health for its program to provide transitional and permanent housing for the unhoused to build stability, security and restore health.

NFL star Damar Hamlin participated in a fireside chat with Robin Marsh at the Champions of Health Awards Presentations
There were probably 1,000 folks or more at the Champions of Health Awards Presentation, and I'm sure that for some (me included) the big draw was the presence of NFL star Damar Hamlin, a defensive back with the Buffalo Bills.
If you're not familiar with Damar, he was the young man who collapsed on the field last January after a hard tackle. His heart stopped and it took heroic efforts by the team's training staff and medical personnel to revive him before transporting him to the hospital, where he spent 9 days.
Hamlin eventually was cleared to resume his NFL career and played in his first game of the 2023 season this past weekend.
In his OKC appearance, Damar participated in a 'fireside chat' facilitated by TV news personality Robin Marsh. He spoke about his past and the hard work it took to become an NFL player, and then his new mission of ensuring emergency technology like that which saved his own life is available to teams and organizations nationwide.
"‘It’s kind of like a calling, and we don’t get to choose our calling." he told the audience.
It was a touching presentation that showed a side of a professional athlete that we rarely get to see. For more on Damar's brush with death and his chat with Robin Marsh, read the post I wrote at Jim Stafford's BlogOKC.
Damar's presentation capped an important evening to organizations like CPO and our counterparts who support better health outcomes for all Oklahomans.
I'm glad I attended.

My CPO colleagues and I took a selfie outside the OKC Convention Center with Champions of Health emcee Robin Marsh
BONUS! My CPO colleagues -- Tanecia Davis, Juliet Williams and Shanna Reece -- and I happened to come across Robin Marsh just outside the convention center as we were leaving after the presentations concluded, and someone asked Robin if she would do a group 'selfie' with us.
Of course, she gladly accommodated us, and the result is the souvenir photo to the left.

By Linda Farrar, RN
Do you ever feel like you are on an island and no one else knows or cares what you are going through in your long term care profession?
CPO provides educational opportunities, both virtually and in person all
year long through webinars and through in-person attendance at specific trainings, convention, Fall Fair and the Leadership Conference.
They are wonderful learning and networking opportunities, but the providers reported they wanted something closer to home so more staff could attend, smaller venues so sharing could be more comfortable, and still able to offer CEUs for a reasonable price.
Ta-Da!
Thus came the CPO Road Shows.
The agenda is planned completely based on the needs and wants of the providers. In our last trip, we spent the morning session talking about survey trends, and digging deeper into the tag numbers to talk about specific findings and apparent expectations of surveyors. During this session, attendees can share their own experiences. And believe me, there is plenty of “venting” going on also, which we all need sometimes. We also try to provide some tools and resources for facility use as appropriate.
Also discussed in this last trip included: Advance Directives: the expectations, evidence-based best practices, and tools, including INTERACT 4.0 and other tools; the need and importance of appropriate
Scheduled Drug Reconciliation; and expectations for a thorough and complete ANE investigation.
I would be remiss if there was no discussion about the sponsorship of PharmCare. WHAT A TEAM OF EXPERTS! They provided the venues in all three locations along with meals and snacks in all three locations. But as important, they shared experiences from their practices and their expertise.
The subject matter of the next Road Trip, which is scheduled for October 24, 25 and 26 with locations yet to be determined, is whatever you want it to be. Discussion of survey trends and findings will likely be included. Beyond that, what information would you like to have or discuss? It is an honor and a pleasure for me to be working in Oklahoma.
We are here to help … just tell us how.