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CEO of AHCA/NCAL Mark Parkinson on Changing Long Term Care for the Better<p> Mark Parkinson, the president and CEO of the American Health Care Association (AHCA) and the National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL), recently joined the <a href="https&#58;//ltcheroes.com/" target="_blank">LTC Heroes</a> podcast to discuss the work that he and his team are doing to improve the lives of seniors. </p><p>“We want to create great experiences and a great setting for our residents while they're alive,” he said. He shared with <a href="https&#58;//experience.care/" target="_blank">Experience Care</a>’s Peter Murphy Lewis the innovative measures AHCA has taken to help make care more accessible. Parkinson also told how AHCA is advocating for fairer wages for long term care employees. You can watch the entire interview below&#58;<br><br> </p><center><iframe src="https&#58;//www.youtube.com/embed/4RGLVZNvJSw?enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https&#58;//www.providermagazine.com" title="&quot;Advocacy for LTC&quot; Mark Parkinson - President &amp; CEO at AHCA" allowfullscreen="" data-gtm-yt-inspected-32388671_20="true" id="772703113" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0"></iframe></center> <br><br>One important step to fulfilling those goals is pushing for reasonable regulations. “We're advocating against negative regulatory proposals, like the idea of requiring 4.1 hours of direct care per resident, whether the money is provided or not,” he said. “At the same time, we're trying to help states so they can continue to receive Medicaid increases by maximizing provider recovery at the state level.”<p></p><p>Still, there is much to be done in terms of filling out long term care teams. That is why Parkinson embraced an innovative idea that came from AHCA’s director of clinical and regulatory services, Pamela Truscott. She proposed developing a temporary nursing aide program in which individuals could be trained in eight to twelve hours. “We put the program together under Pam's leadership, took it to CMS, they approved it, and put the training up on our website for free, even for non-members,” he said. “Over 300,000 people have taken the training and over 200,000 are working in buildings.”</p><p>Lastly, AHCA works hard to ensure that caregivers are compensated fairly. So when the CMS proposed a 2 percent payment cut, Parkinson and his team got to work. “We went to our members and told them that we need to pull together to fight this,” he said. “We submitted 6,920 unique comments and changed their minds.” The result? “They went from a 2 percent cut to starting this October with a 2.7 percent increase. And it’s just a beautiful example of what can happen when we all pull together and get our message out.” It is that sort of collaborative spirit that drives AHCA forward everyday as part of a mission to improve the lives of America’s older adults and those who care for them.<em><br></em></p><p> <em>Cameron Zargar, Ph.D., is the director of content and editor-in-chief of the Experience Care website.</em><br></p>2022-11-16T05:00:00Z<img alt="Mark Parkinson" src="/PublishingImages/Headshots/MarkParkinson.jpg" style="BORDER&#58;0px solid;" />QualityCameron Zargar, Ph.D.Parkinson recently joined the LTC Heroes podcast to discuss the work that he and his team are doing to improve the lives of seniors.
AHCA Announces PointClickCare as New Partner of the Long Term Care Data Cooperative<p>The American Health Care Association (AHCA) announced today that <a href="http&#58;//www.pointclickcare.com/" target="_blank">PointClickCare</a>, a leading health care technology platform enabling meaningful collaboration and access to real‐time insights, has joined the Long Term Care Data Cooperative, a collective of leading long term care providers, working together to develop the most comprehensive health records system in the nation to monitor the impact of care treatments among nursing home residents and conduct robust public health surveillance of infections. The Cooperative is the first of its kind where providers oversee how their data is used, particularly by academic researchers and public health specialists.&#160;&#160;</p><p>PointClickCare joins MatrixCare, American HealthTech, Inc., Brown University, and Exponent Inc. in aggregating electronic medical records (EMR) and associated data representing geographically and structurally diverse nursing facilities to create comprehensive health records to monitor the needs and outcomes of residents. The innovative system will allow providers to receive targeted data reports that can help improve care. It will also support public health surveillance and academic research to generate real-world evidence on the effectiveness of different treatments and care practices.&#160;</p><p>“We are extremely excited to have PointClickCare, a company committed to improving resident’s outcomes with data, join the Cooperative to help us continue to protect and care for our most vulnerable resident population in an ever-changing environment,” said Dr. David Gifford, chief medical officer at AHCA and a board-certified gerontologist. “Before we started this effort, we found little academic research or evidence on what clinical treatments work in elderly nursing home residents because they are often excluded from federally funded research due to lack of data. Today’s announcement opens the door for research to help understand how best to treat our residents.”&#160;</p><p>“The pandemic has driven long term and post-acute care providers as well as life sciences companies to leverage longitudinal patient data to alleviate challenges with site based clinical trials, and we can expect this collaboration to pave the way for future health care innovation,” said <a href="https&#58;//www.linkedin.com/in/jeffwessinger/" target="_blank" title="https&#58;//www.linkedin.com/in/jeffwessinger/">Jeff Wessinger</a>, vice president and general manager of Life Sciences at PointClickCare. “We have a pulse on the majority of aging patients in North America, and we’re proud to share that data, when authorized, with health care organizations, government agencies, and life sciences companies to help unearth cures and improve outcomes.”&#160;</p><p>A barrier to developing appropriate clinical and operational responses to the novel coronavirus has been the lack of comprehensive data. In fact, most clinical guidelines are based on studies among younger and healthier individuals, with little known on what works for older individuals living in nursing homes, often with multiple chronic diseases. While the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have data reporting systems, they do not provide sufficient clinical information to understand and evaluate the impact treatments such as vaccines and antivirals have on the lives of residents. The Cooperative will attempt to address these challenges and was recently featured in an <a href="https&#58;//www.jamda.com/article/S1525-8610%2822%2900729-0/fulltext" target="_blank">article</a> in <em>JAMDA</em> outlining its potential.&#160;&#160;</p><p>Visit <a href="http&#58;//www.ahcancal.org/datacooperative" target="_blank" title="http&#58;//www.ahcancal.org/datacooperative">ahcancal.org/datacooperative</a> to learn more.&#160;</p><p><br></p><p style="text-align&#58;center;"><img src="/SiteCollectionImages/logos/ahca_ncal_cobrand.jpg" alt="" style="margin&#58;5px;width&#58;250px;height&#58;30px;" /><br></p><p>​</p>2022-10-27T04:00:00Z<img alt="" src="/Breaking-News/PublishingImages/740%20x%20740/handshake.jpg" style="BORDER&#58;0px solid;" />QualityAHCA/NCAL StaffThe partners work together to develop the most comprehensive health records system in the nation to monitor the impact of care treatments among nursing home residents and conduct robust public health surveillance of infections.
VOTE NOW! AHCA/NCAL's Mark Parkinson a Finalist for Modern Healthcare's Most Influential People <p><em>​Modern Healthcare</em> recently published the&#160;<a data-linkto="http&#58;//" href="https&#58;//cl.exct.net/?qs=a425a1d0112b62ce8bac54265f8bafe0172664e307c495db39bc2d90197c1e88b8442d9e22fa34adba4cea43c5fab3b77a1f653db69cf232" title="finalists" target="_blank">finalists</a>&#160;for its annual listing of the&#160;100 Most Influential People in Healthcare.</p><p>Among this year's list of finalists includes AHCA/NCAL's Mark Parkinson.&#160;He has received this recognition in previous years which continues to elevate the voice of AHCA/NCAL.</p><p>Voting&#160;is open to the public and members are encouraged to vote&#160;before the deadline on&#160;<strong>S</strong><strong>eptember 27, 2022. &#160; </strong><br></p>2022-09-20T04:00:00Z<img alt="" src="/PublishingImages/Headshots/MarkParkinson.jpg" style="BORDER&#58;0px solid;" />QualityHe has received this recognition in previous years which continues to elevate the voice of AHCA/NCAL.
Associate Business Members<p>Preview this year’s exhibiting <a href="/Monthly-Issue/2022/SeptOct/Documents/Prv0922_ABM_links.pdf" title="ABMs" target="_blank">Associate Business Members</a> (ABMs) that will be showcasing proven solutions on the expo hall floor. Plan your expo hall time by viewing companies by category and their corresponding booth number ahead of your Nashville arrival.</p>2022-09-01T04:00:00Z<img alt="" src="/Monthly-Issue/2022/SeptOct/PublishingImages/ABM.jpg" style="BORDER&#58;0px solid;" />QualityAllison FrankelPlan your expo hall time by viewing companies by category and their corresponding booth number ahead of your Nashville arrival.