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Starting this year, we will publish MnCHOICES Matters every other
month, instead of monthly. You may expect the newsletter in your inbox around
the first week of every other month. To read previous issues of MnCHOICES
Matters, please visit our CountyLink
page.
Lead agencies are now required to have each home and
community-based services (HCBS) provider sign the recipient’s HCBS support
plan. This change applies regardless of plan format, including:
- MnCHOICES Coordinated Services and Supports Plan
(DHS-6791B)
- Community Support Plans (DHS-4166)
- Collaborative Care Plans
- Other health plan support plan formats.
If you use the eDoc 6791 series, please document signatures
on the Coordinated
Services and Supports Plan Signature Sheet, DHS-6791D (PDF). This required change brings Minnesota into
compliance with the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare (CMS) expectations. The
CMS requirements apply to when and how lead agencies inform providers of their
role in a person’s plan. The provider’s signature indicates its acknowledgement
and agreement to deliver the specified services and supports as outlined in the
recipient’s plan.
For additional guidance on this change, review the new
provider signature section of the CBSM
— Assessment applicability and timelines page.
All lead agencies must assure the
county of residence (COR) for a person who receives long-term services and
supports by Jan. 1, 2018. People on a disability waiver who need reassessments and
are your county’s CFR (County of Financial Responsibility) but reside in
another county (COR) must have their reassessment completed in MnCHOICES.
Your use of the MnCHOICES
assessment to complete 2017 reassessments is not only important for the people
served, but also affects the internal resources (such as staff time) in other
lead agencies in the state. We appreciate everyone’s strong effort and
partnership as we continue to work toward this common goal.
A3 is the code that assessors enter
as one of the service codes in field 108 on the LTC screening document and in
MMIS to indicate the assessment was completed utilizing the MnCHOICES
application.
Indicating A3 when entering the LTC
screening document in MMIS allows lead agencies to easily see all of the
assessments completed in MnCHOICES within their COR and CFR in the LTSS
Reassessment Report, which is sent to designated recipients at lead agencies
monthly. The column labeled “LtcMnChoices” in the LTSS Reassessment Report will
have an A3 in the row of the person who has received a MnCHOICES assessment and
for whom A3 was entered into MMIS. This helps lead agencies to plan their
resources strategically. It also helps lead agencies to plan for the Jan. 1,
2018, change in which the COR becomes responsible for completing reassessments
in MnCHOICES.
After a lead agency completes a MnCHOICES assessment and
related activities, the assessor should close the assessment in the MnCHOICES
application. Please regularly review the assessments that have been open for
longer than 90 days and follow up with assessors to close the assessments in a timely
manner.
Data in the demographic information or other fields within
the person information domain in the MnCHOICES tool might become switched with
inaccurate information. If you notice a switch in demographic information,
please go to the person maintenance screen and click the “Update Person”
button. The demographic information will repopulate correctly. Then, carefully
check the rest of the person information domain and correct any inaccuracies.
To prevent this error, check the person information domain
before closing the assessment to ensure information is accurate.
Lead agencies may offer the Family Support Grant (FSG) to
families without requiring that the family first complete a MnCHOICES assessment.
While a MnCHOICES assessment is not required to access FSG, lead agencies must
offer families the opportunity to have a MnCHOICES assessment.
We have had excellent attendance at MnCHOICES Mentors
Alliance (MMA) meetings! Our last meeting had the largest attendance to date. Please
remember to register before the meeting date to ensure there is enough room for
everyone. The next date for MMA will be announced soon!
Certified assessors must be recertified every three years from
original certification according to statute. Within those three years, assessors
must complete 45 hours of continued learning units (CLUs). At least 12 of the
45 hours must link to improving the assessor’s person-centered practice. Please visit the MnCHOICES
CountyLink page for more information about CLU requirements.
When it is time to complete recertification, you will find
two recertification courses in TrainLink:
- FIRST MnCAT STEP 4: RECERTIFICATION (MNCH8012): Use
this recertification course to document CLUs when recertifying for the first
time
- SECOND MnCAT STEP 4: RECERTIFICATION (MNCH8015):
Use this recertification course to document CLUs in subsequent re-certifications
(after the first recertification was done using MNCH8012).
Thank you for your diligent efforts to help us in cleaning
up inactive users. One way we suggest for infrequent users (such as
supervisors) to stay active in MnCHOICES is to log in to the application at
least once every 28 days, navigate to the assessment queue, then log out.
We have updated the following Community-Based
Services Manual (CBSM) pages related to the MnCHOICES Assessment:
We have updated the following eDocs related to the MnCHOICES
assessment:
-
Community Support Plan with the Coordinated
Services and Supports Plan, DHS-6791B
(PDF)
-
Instructions for Completing the Community
Support Plan with the Coordinated Services and Supports Plan, DHS-6791C
(PDF)
-
Coordinated Services and Supports Plan Signature
Sheet, DHS-6791D
(PDF)
We have added a number of new PolicyQuest
questions recently. To search for MnCHOICES questions and responses
specifically, enter “MnCHOICES” into the “search for” box, then click “search.”
It is good practice to check PolicyQuest routinely for new responses that might
be relevant to your work.
If your lead agency is interested in, or would like more
information about, assisting DHS in piloting MnCHOICES 17.1, please email Betsy Taplin by Jan. 12,
2017.
When a lead agency participates in a pilot, it has access to
the new features of the most updated version of MnCHOICES before others in the
state. This allows a smaller population of users to test the new features
before they are available to all users statewide. A pilot is an important part
of testing new versions of an application to ensure that when it is launched to
the larger audience, it is functioning as intended.
During a pilot, the lead agency will receive additional DHS
support to address any questions or needs. We value our partnership with lead
agencies during these pilots before we launch new versions of the application statewide.
When entering
social security numbers into the MnCHOICES assessment, please verify that the
number being entered is correct. We have recently become aware of
instances where the social security number entered into the MnCHOICES
assessment does not match with the MAXIS record. In these instances, the
social security number in the MnCHOICES assessment that does not match to the
MAXIS record will be deleted from the MnCHOICES record.
When entering
social security numbers into the MnCHOICES assessment, please ensure that it
has first been entered into MAXIS to verify the number. This will avoid
wrong data being accidentally entered and ultimately being deleted from the
MnCHOICES assessment.
DHS will be
sending spreadsheets to lead agencies in the coming weeks identifying instances
where this has occurred with instructions on what to do in response.
For more information about MnCHOICES, visit us on the DHS
website. For technical assistance about MnCHOICES, visit us on CountyLink.
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