Minnesota Human Services Advances, Faxes Out, Digital Systems In For Home Care And Waiver Services

As the digital era continues to phase out old methods of communication, the Aging and Adult Services Division (AASD) and the Disability Services Division (DSD) have announced that, effective May 1, faxes are old news. According to their recent bulletin, the DHS Service Agreement and Screening Document (SASD) Support Team's fax number is biting the dust. Instead, all home care, Alternative Care, and waiver service agreements will need to go through the Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS).

Looking to revamp disability services, the Department of Human Services (DHS) is hitting up Minnesotans for their take. There's a "Waiver Reimagine" survey floating around out there, targeting people who receive waiver services, their families, and any interested folks. They've got until May 30 to weigh in on possible reforms. Toddlers to teens with autism and related conditions are also on DHS's radar. Through focus groups and surveys, the agency aims to pick the brains of families, caregivers, and self-advocates, aiming to refine the Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) services.

In an effort to ramp up expertise, disability waiver case managers are hitting the books. DHS is keeping a tally of who's completing the new "Getting to Work: A Case Manager's Guide to Supporting Employment" training. All case managers have a homework deadline of August 1, to polish off their studies. Educating the educators, you could say.

Finally, the DHS is bringing tech to the table for family providers knee-deep in the Disability Waiver Rate System (DWRS) services. They're playing show-and-tell with cost reporting in a June 4 webinar, complete with a question-and-answer sandwich. The buzz is that this digital demo could cut through the red tape, helping family providers keep their ledgers straight.

SOURCE: hoodline