Elsevier's DirectCourse Can Help States Meet and Exceed New CMS Requirements for Home and Community-Based Services

PHILADELPHIA, March 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Elsevier's DirectCourse online curricula provides states and agencies with tools for implementing competency-based training to comply with new CMS requirements  

Elsevier's DirectCourse is offering a new crosswalk tool to help providers of Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) implement competency-based training for direct service workers as a means to comply with new Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations.

CMS amended the regulations, effective March 17, 2015, to enhance the quality of services and provide additional protections for Medicaid beneficiaries receiving services at home or in the community - people with mental illnesses, intellectual or developmental disabilities, and physical disabilities. Those individuals are often supported by agencies that employ a workforce who need competency-based training to help persons with disabilities to remain in home and community settings.

"The new regulations are an indication of ongoing efforts by CMS to encourage Home and Community-Based Waiver state and providers to support individuals in ways that maximize their autonomy, independence and personhood," said Valerie Bradley, President of the Human Services Research Institute. "To that end, it is extremely important that states and providers take advantage of progressive training tools, such as DirectCourse, to improve the capacity of organizations and their staff to operate in ways that align with the strong person-centered values in the new regulations."

The Research and Training Center on Community Living (RTC/CL) at the University of Minnesota created the crosswalk tool to show how DirectCourse's College of Direct Support (CDS) aligns with these new regulations. This easy-to-follow crosswalk demonstrates how CDS, which provides competency-based training for direct support professionals, maps to the new HCBS requirements, helping state agencies to demonstrate compliance. The new requirements call for direct support professionals to support the development and implementation of person-centered service plans; ensure an individual's basic rights, such as rights of privacy, dignity and respect; and informed choices regarding their services and supports.

"States need to develop a transition plan that will bring them into compliance," said Hajo Oltmanns, Senior Vice President, Performance Management & Services, Elsevier Clinical Solutions. "As states and agencies seek to meet and exceed these new standards, DirectCourse is an excellent resource to help them achieve this new level of quality service delivery."

The new regulations also define a more advanced concept of "community life" and the role and value of people with disabilities in their communities. The regulations serve to advance the quality of services to all people and raise the bar for community supports, which also is the mission of DirectCourse.

Other curricula within the DirectCourse suite offer training to community mental health practitioners and physical disabilities (College of Recovery and Community Inclusion and College of Personal Assistance and Caregiving, respectively), which also support the new HCBS Regulations. To learn more about DirectCourse, please visit http://www.directcourseonline.com.

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About Elsevier 

Elsevier is a world-leading provider of information solutions that enhance the performance of science, health, and technology professionals, empowering them to make better decisions, deliver better care, and sometimes make groundbreaking discoveries that advance the boundaries of knowledge and human progress. Elsevier provides web-based, digital solutions - among them ScienceDirect, Scopus, Elsevier Research Intelligence and ClinicalKey - and publishes nearly 2,200 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and over 33,000 book titles, including a number of iconic reference works. Elsevier is part of RELX Group plc, a world-leading provider of information solutions for professional customers across industries.

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Elsevier
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