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February 10, 2026
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Attend the special Advocacy in Action on Monday, February 16, at 10 a.m. to learn how you can take action on QIP rates and back payments.
Last week, we provided information on the Ohio Department of Medicaid’s intent to release recalculated rates and back payment information once the legislature issues appropriations. While LeadingAge Ohio is actively educating lawmakers on the urgent need for accurate and timely appropriations, member action is also crucial.
This webinar is a training for members on ways you can make an impact through coordinated grassroots action. The LeadingAge Ohio policy team will lead the call with education and a toolkit for effective engagement with policymakers. If you’re interested in learning how you can make an impact, register here. Top You Asked: What form is required to be completed after conducting a full-scale exercise of the emergency plan?
We Answered: CMS does not require the use of a specific form following a full-scale emergency preparedness exercise. CMS does provide an optional After Action Report template that may be used; however, facilities may use their own format as long as all requirements outlined in the Emergency Preparedness State Operations Manual (SOM) Appendix Z are met.
CMS provides the following guidance:
Each facility is responsible for documenting their compliance and ensuring that this information is available for review at any time for a period of no less than three (3) years. Facilities should also document the lessons learned following their tabletop and full-scale exercises and real-life emergencies and demonstrate that they have incorporated any necessary improvements in their emergency preparedness program. Facilities may complete an after-action review process to help them develop an actionable after-action report (AAR). The process includes a roundtable discussion that includes leadership, department leaders and critical staff who can identify, and document lessons learned and necessary improvements in an official AAR. The AAR, at a minimum, should determine 1) what was supposed to happen; 2) what occurred; 3) what went well; 4) what the facility can do differently or improve upon; and 5) a plan with timelines for incorporating necessary improvement. Lastly, facilities that are a part of a healthcare system can elect to participate in their system’s integrated and unified emergency preparedness program and exercises. However, those that do will still be responsible for documenting and demonstrating their individual facility’s compliance with the exercise and training requirements. Top Senior living organizations are operating amid changing insurance and financing models, with growing pressure to adjust long-term financial assumptions. This one-day program convenes finance leaders from Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky for focused discussion of national senior living trends and their implications for nonprofit providers. Designed for finance professionals, the session centers on concrete approaches to long-range planning in an increasingly complex operating environment, including new cybersecurity threats, strategies for containing construction costs, and case studies in mergers/acquisitions.
For complete details, including the agenda for the day, click here. Workforce pressures continue to land squarely on HR—turnover, uneven performance, leadership gaps, and the ongoing weight of compliance. Too often, that leaves HR teams managing risk instead of contributing to decisions that drive organizational stability and culture.
Beginning March 10, the Strategic HR Leadership Series offers a structured, three-part approach to repositioning HR as a strategic partner. Led by CoreStrategy HR Solutions, the series uses the Transform. Align. Achieve. framework to help HR leaders demonstrate value in ways senior leadership recognizes and trusts. The opening session, From Compliance to Strategic Partner: Transforming HR’s Value, focuses on elevating HR’s role beyond administrative demands and into long-term decision-making. Subsequent sessions address leading multi-generational teams and building sustainable leadership and talent capacity. Each one-hour webinar offers NAB and HRCI credit, with discounted pricing for LeadingAge Ohio members.
Complete details and registration information are available here. LeadingAge Ohio is launching a new Technology Network this February 11 at 9:30 a.m., and members who regularly use AI, or are interested in AI in the aging sector, are encouraged to be part of the conversation from the very beginning. This inaugural meeting is an opportunity to connect with peers across Ohio who are experimenting, implementing, and problem-solving with AI. The session will explore why the group is forming now, how LeadingAge Ohio is approaching AI governance in the first quarter of the year, and what members are already doing with AI in real-world settings. Information and a meeting link for the inaugural Technology Network is available here. There is still time to register for the upcoming Career Fair with Hondros College of Nursing, offering face-to-face recruiting with nursing candidates across the care continuum.
LeadingAge Ohio members can highlight an added recruitment benefit: candidates affiliated with member organizations may be eligible for Hondros partner pricing—an 11% tuition reduction (16% for alumni) for select programs.
Ohio Career Fair
Akron Campus — Tuesday, February 17 | 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.
Toledo/Maumee Campus — Tuesday, February 17 | 12–5 p.m.
Cleveland/Independence Campus — Wednesday, February 18 | 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.
Columbus Campus — Thursday, February 19 | 4–5:30 p.m.
Indiana & Michigan Career Fairs
Indianapolis Campus — Thursday, February 12 | 10:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m
Detroit Campus — Tuesday, February 18 | 11 a.m.–1 p.m.
Participation is limited to one session and one slot per session. Questions may be directed to CareerServices@hondros.edu. There's always something happening at LeadingAge Ohio, view all upcoming events here and mark your calendar today!
- February 6, 8:30 a.m. - LeadingAge Ohio Budget and Finance Committee
- February 11, 9:30 a.m. - Technology Network Inaugural Meeting
- February 11, 11 a.m. - Survey Tips and Tactics 2026: Infection Control Surveillance
- February 12, 10 a.m. - Board of Directors Meeting
- February 13, 12 p.m. - LeadingAge Ohio Foundation Board Orientation & Meeting
- February 16, 10 a.m. - Advocacy in Action
- February 18, 2 p.m. - Making Sense of the Budget: Skills for Leaders at Every Level
- February 18, 2.p.m. - Home Health & Hospice Subcommittee
- February 19, 1 p.m. - 2026 Reimbursement Collaborative: Evaluating Your QIP & PDPM Outcomes
- February 26, 1 p.m. - Managing Food, Cost, and Waste in Long-Term Care with LeadingAge Dakota
Top Do you know a leader who’s making a real impact? Nominations are open for the 2026 LeadingAge Leadership Award, recognizing exceptional leadership at every level within member provider organizations. Help LeadingAge honor individuals who strengthen their communities and drive meaningful, measurable change. Submit nominations by February 27. Top This week, LeadingAge Ohio had the opportunity to preview new reports generated by the Department of Aging (AGE) as a part of their ongoing work stemming from Ohio Nursing Home Quality & Accountability Task Force. Other initiatives that arose from the work of the Task Force include the LTC Quality Navigator, AGE’s Internal Command Center, reforms to the Ombudsman Program, as well as the PREP Program.
According to the Department, it plans to make quality reports available to nursing homes via the Care Center Portal (CCP) on a quarterly basis to support providers’ improvement efforts. All Ohio nursing homes are invited to a webinar on February 19. Lines are limited, so providers are encouraged to share lines to ensure all nursing homes can join the webinar. Administrators, Directors of Nursing and other clinical leadership are invited. More information is available on this flyer distributed today via the EIDC system. Top A federal judge in California has temporarily blocked the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian immigrants, preserving work authorization while a legal challenge moves forward. This pause comes amid concerns about increased immigration enforcement in Ohio, particularly in Springfield.
During the pause, individuals covered by Haiti TPS remain authorized to work under existing USCIS guidance. However, the court’s decision is not permanent and could change quickly depending on future rulings in the case.
Even with the pause in place, fear of immigration enforcement—separate from TPS eligibility—is already affecting staffing in some states in light of increased deportations in Minnesota. Providers have reported increased call-outs and employee reluctance to commute to work, even without confirmed ICE activity inside facilities, according to a February 5th report from McKnight’s Senior Living.
Looking ahead, the lawsuit challenging the TPS termination will continue in federal court, and a future decision could reinstate the termination with little notice. Employers should expect additional updates or clarifications through USCIS policy alerts or DHS announcements as the case progresses.
While ICE raids in long-term care facilities have been rare, it's important to note that the Trump administration rescinded the 'Protected Areas' policy in January 2025, originally established in 2011, which had limited immigration enforcement in sensitive locations such as hospitals and healthcare facilities.
What to Do
- Communicate clearly with employees about what the court order does—and does not—do, using plain-language USCIS guidance.
- Review Form I-9 practices now to ensure compliance and check that I-9s are properly completed and stored.
- Connect employees to legal help, not legal advice, by sharing recognized nonprofit immigration legal services.
Additional resources for employers are available through the National Immigration Law Center, and guidance on creating an Immigration Enforcement policy is available here. If your organization is experiencing similar workforce disruptions or would like additional information, please contact LeadingAge Ohio’s Director of Workforce Development, Randi Hamill, at rhamill@leadingageohio.org The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its annual Medicare Fee-for-Service supplemental improper payment data on January 24, identifying skilled nursing facilities and hospice providers as key drivers of improper payments.
What You Need To Know
- Skilled nursing facilities recorded an improper payment rate of 15%, representing approximately $4.5 billion, most often tied to insufficient documentation.
- Hospice providers saw about 6% of payments deemed improper, totaling roughly $2 billion, with unsupported medical necessity cited as the primary issue.
- Home health agencies had lower overall improper payments—about $1.1 billion—but documentation gaps remained the leading cause.
- CMS data showed California with the highest combined improper payment rate for home health and hospice at 12%.
What Happens Next
- The report reinforces CMS’ continued focus on fraud, waste, and abuse, with program integrity efforts expected to intensify across post-acute and long-term care settings.
- Providers should anticipate ongoing scrutiny of clinical documentation and eligibility determinations, particularly in SNF and hospice.
What to Do
- Review internal documentation practices to ensure records fully support coverage criteria and medical necessity.
- Strengthen interdisciplinary communication so assessments, care plans, and physician documentation align.
- Conduct focused audits in high-risk areas identified by CMS, especially admissions and recertifications.
The full findings are detailed in the CMS Medicare Fee-for-Service supplemental improper payment report. Attorneys general in eighteen states have asked the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to reconsider its recent repeal of the federal nursing home staffing mandate and instead advance a narrower rule aimed at for-profit operators. In formal comments submitted this week, the group argued that minimum staffing standards remain important for resident safety but should apply only to for-profit nursing homes with complex ownership, related-party transactions, or private equity ties, asserting that nonprofit and government-owned homes generally maintain higher staffing levels without the same financial incentives for self-dealing.
Full coverage is available from McKnight’s in its original reporting on the issue. What You Need To Know
- The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reminds providers that data for the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF), Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH), and Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Quality Reporting Programs are due by 11:59 p.m. on February 17, 2026.
- The deadline covers Q3 CY 2025 (July 1–Sept. 30) data, including IRF-PAI assessments, LTCH CARE Data Set (LCDS) assessments, and SNF Minimum Data Set (MDS) assessments, along with required submissions to CMS through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Healthcare Safety Network.
- Required measures and submission details are posted on the CMS QRP pages for IRF Quality Reporting, LTCH Quality Reporting, and the SNF Quality Reporting Program.
The list of measures required for this deadline can be found on the CMS QRP websites:
What Happens Next
- CMS contractors will review submissions against Annual Payment Update thresholds.
- Swingtech will continue sending quarterly notifications to IRFs, LTCHs, and SNFs that are not meeting APU requirements ahead of each deadline.
What to Do
- Run applicable iQIES/NHSN analysis reports before submitting to confirm all required data are complete and accepted.
- Submit all data no later than February 17, 2026, at 11:59 p.m.
- Update notification contacts, if needed, by emailing QRPHelp@swingtech.com with your facility name and CMS Certification Number.
What You Need To Know
- The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is transitioning the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) program to electronic fee coupons and electronic CLIA certificates only.
- After March 1, 2026, CMS will stop mailing paper fee coupons and CLIA certificates, and online payment will be required; checks will no longer be accepted.
- The change applies to eligible laboratories and providers that perform laboratory testing; CLIA-exempt states are excluded.
What Happens Next
- Laboratories that do not enroll in electronic notifications risk billing delays and certification issues once paper notices end.
- CMS will rely on email notifications to deliver fee coupons and certificates.
What to Do
- Enroll in CMS electronic notifications or update your email address before March 1, 2026.
- Email your state agency or contact your Accreditation Organization if you are an accredited laboratory to complete the update.
- Prepare to pay all CLIA certification and survey fees online going forward.
Top Recent Ohio Department of Health (ODH) surveys have cited facilities for significant medication errors involving insulin administration, including instances where a resident received rapid-acting insulin instead of long-acting insulin resulting in hospitalization, and situations where insulin was administered despite blood glucose levels that required the medication to be held. These errors place residents at risk for serious harm and are frequently cited under F760. According to the State Operations Manual (SOM) Appendix PP, a significant medication error is one that causes resident discomfort or jeopardizes the resident’s health or safety. Determination of significance is based on the resident’s clinical condition and the circumstances of the error, including the medication involved, dose, route, timing, and the duration or frequency of the error. Surveyors consider not only whether harm occurred, but also whether there was the potential for serious harm, particularly when high-risk medications such as insulin, anticoagulants, opioids, or antipsychotics are involved.
CMS notes that medication errors may appear minor in isolation but become significant based on duration or cumulative impact. For example, omission of a laxative for one day may result in minimal discomfort; however, repeated omissions leading to constipation lasting more than three days may be considered significant if the condition progresses to fecal impaction or bowel obstruction. Surveyors evaluate whether the error contributed to unresolved symptoms, clinical decline, or increased risk to resident health and safety.
Surveyors will review whether facilities have systems in place to ensure medications are administered in accordance with physician orders, including insulin administration practices, blood glucose monitoring and parameter clarity, MAR accuracy, and communication between nursing staff and pharmacy providers. Surveyors will trace clinical decision-making related to medication administration, evaluate staff competency with high-risk medications, and assess whether medication errors are identified, investigated, and addressed through the QAPI program.
Medication errors do not need to result in permanent harm to be cited as significant. When an error creates risk, causes discomfort, or jeopardizes resident health or safety, CMS may determine the error is significant, particularly when high-risk medications are involved. What You Need To Know
- The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued updated nursing home surveyor direction through a revised CMS surveyor memo and updates to the State Operations Manual, reinforcing expectations around after-hours surveys, survey team composition, and enforcement practices. CMS publishes this guidance within the State Operations Manual Appendix PP for nursing homes, which surveyors use when assessing compliance.
- CMS is standardizing the use of evening, overnight, and weekend survey starts so surveyors can observe real-world staffing and care delivery. While off-hours surveys have long been permitted, CMS is now emphasizing more consistent application across states, including Ohio.
- The guidance reaffirms that an RN must be included on all initial and recertification survey teams and that surveyors must meet minimum qualification requirements before conducting surveys independently, as outlined in CMS surveyor qualification standards within the State Operations Manual.
- CMS is also strengthening expectations for plans of correction, citing recommendations from the HHS Office of Inspector General related to inadequate corrective actions following serious deficiencies.
What Happens Next
- CMS is reorganizing surveyor instructions by moving Immediate Jeopardy definitions, decision-making criteria, and examples into Chapter 7 of the State Operations Manual, consolidating guidance that was previously spread across multiple sections. This includes clearer examples tied to unsafe discharges and failures in care transitions.
- In Ohio, the Ohio Department of Health conducts federal nursing home surveys under this CMS guidance, meaning Ohio facilities should expect more uniform survey processes and less flexibility around survey timing.
- Survey team composition will increasingly reflect a facility’s complaint history and prior noncompliance, with clinical or specialty expertise added as CMS deems necessary.
- All changes take effect March 30, 2026, and will apply to standard, complaint, and revisit surveys conducted in Ohio.
What to Do
- Prepare leadership and clinical teams for unannounced off-hours survey entry, including weekends and overnight shifts, ensuring documentation, staffing plans, and supervisory coverage are consistent at all times.
- Reevaluate discharge planning and transition practices, particularly where residents move to community settings, as CMS has indicated unsafe discharges may trigger Immediate Jeopardy investigations under the revised guidance.
- Strengthen plans of correction to clearly document root causes, system-level fixes, measurable timelines, and monitoring processes, aligning with CMS expectations described in the State Operations Manual plan-of-correction requirements.
- Confirm alignment with both federal CMS requirements and applicable Ohio Administrative Code nursing home staffing and operational rules, recognizing that Ohio surveyors will apply CMS guidance more consistently moving forward.
Top CareAxis has completed its first live customer deployment with Genacross Lutheran Services, marking a milestone for housing-first service coordination infrastructure designed specifically for affordable and senior housing providers. The platform was built and tested within Genacross communities, grounding its design in the operational, documentation, and compliance realities housing organizations manage every day.
Developed through a partnership with Link-age Group, CareAxis supports service coordinators with structured workflows, defensible documentation, and reporting aligned with HUD requirements—without shifting housing providers into clinical roles. Genacross has implemented the platform across its communities to support teams navigating increasing resident complexity, regulatory pressure, and cross-system coordination while maintaining a clear housing-first focus.
Read the original MarketWatch announcement for additional details. Ohio-based Hospice of the Western Reserve has rebranded as Reserve Care, a change intended to reflect the organization’s expanded scope beyond hospice services to include palliative and pediatric care, grief and caregiver support, expressive therapies, and community resale shops, all now unified under one name. Headquartered in Cleveland, the nonprofit serves fifteen counties across northern Ohio, maintains an average daily census of more than 1,200 people, and is a subsidiary of Western Reserve Care Solutions; it also expanded its reach in 2024 through an affiliation with Hospice of North Central Ohio. Organizational leaders emphasized that the rebrand does not alter the mission, which remains centered on providing compassionate, person-centered care and guidance to individuals and families throughout serious illness and end of life. Top LeadingAge Ohio Partner, Sedgwick, has exciting news to share! Sedgwick Ohio is rebranding effective February 2, 2026.
What’s changing is how the brand looks, sounds, and feels—reflecting Sedgwick’s expanded global reach, broader solutions, and continued investment in technology. These updates support how they work today and positions them to better support you as risk grows more complex.
What isn’t changing is Sedgwick’s commitment to helping you succeed through consistent service and strong results. You can expect the same trusted relationships and continuity—your Sedgwick contacts remain the same.
If you have any questions, contact Kathy Redmond, at 614-376-5409 or Kathy.Redmond@sedgwick.com. Top
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Upcoming Events
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February 11, 2026
9:30AM - 10:30AM | | Virtual |
| February 11, 2026
11:00AM - 12:00PM | Webinar Series |
| February 12, 2026
10:00AM - 2:00PM | | LeadingAge Ohio Office |
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