Residents have been impacted in a variety of ways over the last three-plus years going through the pandemic and even as we emerge from the pandemic.  Residents endured moments of isolation, loneliness, and decreased socialization.  The pandemic offered opportunities to engage in innovative technology to fill the gaps left from staffing shortages.  As we continue to navigate the ongoing staffing crisis, technology plays a key role in helping to support resident self-care.  Learn from providers across the country as they discuss innovative ideas and concepts, they have engaged to empower residents and support their self-care.

Objectives: After attending this session, participants will be able to:

• Describe innovative methods of engaging residents in self-care.
• Identify innovative concepts that can be implemented in assisted living.
• Discuss how to motivate self-care in residents through innovative technology. 

Speaker Panel:

• Lisa Williams – Maplewood Senior Living
• Sheri Easton-Garrett – Belmont Senior Village
• Gwen Wilburn – The Aspenwood Company
• Lisa Zeis – LifeSpark
• Pamela Truscott – NCAL

Moderator: Calvin Groeneweg - AALNA

This webinar is available to AHCA/NCAL members and non-members. The webinar will be recorded and available for access after the live event. 

Follow the Instructions Below to Register: 

• To avoid technical problems, use Google Chrome. 
• Members will need to log in using their existing email and password first. 
• Once you are logged in to the website you will be able to register by clicking the green register button at the top of the page. 
• If you have forgotten your password click here. 
• If you are new to the site, you can create an account here. Answer all fields on the create an account page- especially locating your company name. You can search by name or zip code. After creating an account, you will be able to register for the webinar. 

Email educate@ahca.org if you need assistance with registering. 

© 2023 American Health Care Association. All rights reserved. All Promoting Resident Self-Care through Innovation materials subject to this copyright may be photocopied or distributed for the purpose of nonprofit or educational advancement. The use, photocopying, and distribution for commercial purposes of any of these materials is expressly prohibited without the prior written permission of American Health Care Association.

Assisted Living organizations have faced numerous challenges over the past decade.  Long term care has shifted to providing care and services to more acutely ill residents than ever before.  Assisted Living Administrators and nurses have the task of knowing and understanding state specific regulations, standards of practice, and how to implement them effectively.  Leaders must balance the technical skills of running an assisted living community with the essential soft skills of being a team leader.  Technical skills and leadership skills are necessary to effectively run a successful organization. It is time to level up your leadership skills.  This course is designed to help you take your leadership skills to the next level by adopting the right mindset and communication practices.  In addition, you will learn the critical role you play in mission, vision, and values for your team and your organization.  Learners will build their knowledge about emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, relationships navigation, and the power that data holds. 

Course Objectives: After viewing this course, learners will be able to:

• Discuss how mindset plays an important role on leadership style.
• Describe the essentials to leadership development.
• Discuss how mission, vision, and values are conducted by the organizational leadership team through their actions.
• Explain how emotional intelligence plays a role in leading and understanding team dynamics.
• Identify strategies for conflict resolution and relationship navigation with employees and other leaders.
• Describe the importance of data in leading successful organizations.

Audience: This course is appropriate for administrators, nurses, and department managers working in assisted living. 

Presenter: Pamela Truscott, DNP/HSL, MSN/Ed, RN, QCP, DNS-CT, RAC-CT, CDP, Director of Quality Improvement NCAL

Cost: $199 NCAL Member | $650 Non-member

4.50 NAB approved CEs are available upon completion and 4.0 contact hours for nurses through the Iowa Board of Nursing.

© 2023 American Health Care Association. All rights reserved. 

All Advancing Assisted Living Leadership – It’s Time to Level Up! materials subject to this copyright may be photocopied or distributed for the purpose of nonprofit or educational advancement. The use, photocopying, and distribution for commercial purposes of any of these materials is expressly prohibited without the prior written permission of American Health Care Association.

The AHCA/NCAL webinar, which will be held on Wednesday, September 13, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. EST, titled  “HUD’s 232 Program-Updates in Production and Asset Management”, will cover a range of topics related to HUD’s Residential Care Facility Mortgage Insurance Program. 

Presentation topics will include:

• The recently implemented Green Mortgage Insurance initiative for Residential Care Facilities
• HUD’s risk analysis related to facility compliance with the Home and Community Based Services Settings Rule
• Compliance (by nonprofits) with the Single Audit Act Requirements
• Recent changes regarding REAC NSPIRE physical inspections
• The Why, Who, How, and When of HUD-required Action Plans
• New Quarterly Financial Statement Reporting Fields
• HUD’s Tools for Comparing Underwriting Projections to Actual Performance
• Numbers/trends on application volume, timing, and underwriting issues of note

For those unfamiliar with the Section 232 Residential Care facilities Mortgage Insurance Program, the presenters will also briefly summarize the program and its benefits.  Additionally, the session will include opportunities to ask any Section 232-related questions you may have.

HUD Speakers:

John Hartung, Director, Policy, Risk Analysis and Lender Relations Division

Philip Head, Director of Asset Management

Tim Gruenes, Director of Production

Angela Collier, Deputy Director of Asset Management

This webinar is open to AHCA/NCAL members and non-members. The webinar will be recorded. There is no charge for participation.

Membership to AHCA/NCAL is not required to access the materials however, you will need to create an account to identify your personal access to the materials.

The webinar will be recorded and available for playback within 24 hrs. 

How to Register: 

• To avoid technical problems, use Google Chrome. 
• Participants will need to login using their existing ahcancalED username and password first. 
• Once you are logged in to the website you will be able to register by clicking the green register button at the top of the page. 
• If you have forgotten your password click here. 
• If you are new to the site, you can create an account here. After creating an account, you will be able to register for the webinar. 

Need further assistance? Email educate@ahca.org

This pressure injury prevention and wound management webinar is presented by Jeanine Maguire, a wound consultant and educator with almost 3 decades of wound care focus and expertise. In this webinar, Jeanine emphasizes a patient-centric approach and the importance of routine and comprehensive risk assessment and skin checks. She discusses the challenges of Deep Tissue Injury and the controversy over whether pressure injuries are a result of end-of-life or a combination of factors. Jeanine highlighted the need for accurate documentation and understanding of medically unavoidable wounds. She also stresses the importance of a multidisciplinary team approach, ongoing monitoring, and communication. Lastly, Jeanine provides links to CMS F tag 686, the critical element pathway, PAWSIC (the Wound Provider Group checklist), and NPIAP for further reference. *Note that some information shared will change with the RAI updates in October, but the presentation discusses how to prepare for those changes.  

Speaker:

Jeanine Maguire, PhD, MPT, CWS, SeekingWhole, Wound Education and Consulting. PAWSIC.org

Registration is free to AHCA/NCAL Members | $65 Non-members

Follow the Instructions Below to Register: 

• To avoid technical problems, use Google Chrome. 
• Members will need to log in using their existing email and password first. 
• Once you are logged in to the website you will be able to register by clicking the green register button at the top of the page. 
• If you have forgotten your password click here. 
• If you are new to the site, you can create an account here. Answer all fields on the create an account page- especially locating your company name. You can search by name or zip code. After creating an account, you will be able to register.

Email educate@ahca.org if you need assistance.

Success in achieving positive resident/patient outcomes is even more critical now than ever before.  The link between quality and payment in long term and post-acute care is growing stronger, as evidenced by the SNF Value Based Purchasing Program (VBP), Improving Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act, SNF Quality Reporting Program (QRP) and more.  In addition, regulatory activity is intensifying through focused surveys on adverse events, dementia care and MDS.  The Five-Star Rating system and Nursing Home Compare have been revised and will add items in the future as it broadens public reporting and transparency.  Most importantly, consumers expect and deserve high quality care. 

The Association’s Clinical Practice Committee designed a framework series that outlines guiding elements such as individualized care approaches, effective transitions of care, QAPI concepts, safety, risk management, team-based care, and diagnostic quality.  Care providers that use these resources can more effectively apply knowledge through organizational approaches and clinical care that leads to optimal patient outcomes and quality of life. 

We hope you find this Series useful to your practice to improve lives of the individuals who stay and live in centers across the nation.

© 2022 American Health Care Association. All rights reserved. 

All Building Prevention into Every Day Practice materials subject to this copyright may be photocopied or distributed for the purpose of nonprofit or educational advancement. The use, photocopying, and distribution for commercial purposes of any of these materials is expressly prohibited without the prior written permission of American Health Care Association.

It is critical for nursing centers and assisted living communities to address and mitigate resident-to-resident occurrences or potential incidents of resident-to-resident mistreatment. While mistreatment may or may not meet the definition of abuse, it would include negative and aggressive physical, sexual, or verbal interactions between long-term care residents that is unwelcome and have high potential to cause physical or psychological distress in the recipient.

Objectives:

1. Conduct a thorough investigation with proper documentation, follow up, and monitoring and care planning as needed.  
2. Create a structured self-assessment process to address the resident-to-resident occurrence and minimize or mitigate similar events for all residents. This includes a need to:
   • Document immediate interventions;
   • Conduct a root cause analysis process to identify the specific/source, root cause or causal factor of the problem; and 
   • Identify future actions to ensure sustained efforts to identify and prevent potential resident-to-resident mistreatment.
3. Identify existing AHCA/NCAL resources to support providers in addressing resident-to-resident mistreatment. 

Note: These tools were developed by members of AHCA/NCAL’s Survey/Regulatory Committee to assist centers and communities in addressing adverse events and potential adverse events, documenting and tracking the steps they have taken, and identifying best practices for ongoing improvement. Use of these tools does not guarantee regulatory compliance nor mitigate potential liability. Providers should adapt their tools, policies, and processes as needed to ensure compliance with current federal and state requirements and use both professional judgement and the advice of legal counsel in determining whether or how to share these mitigation tools.

© 2022 American Health Care Association. All rights reserved. 

All Provider Self-Assessment and Mitigation Tools for Resident to Resident Occurrences materials subject to this copyright may be photocopied or distributed for the purpose of nonprofit or educational advancement. The use, photocopying, and distribution for commercial purposes of any of these materials is expressly prohibited without the prior written permission of American Health Care Association.

Assisted Living communities understand the importance of telling their story.  But have you stopped to consider how your narrative might improve using data storytelling?  Data to support the quality of care and services provided is becoming increasingly important.  This training will review what data storytelling is, how to incorporate data storytelling into your narrative about your organization, and the importance of data tracking, trending, and utilization for continuous improvement opportunities. LTC Trend Tracker is the platform to help you accomplish data storytelling and quality improvement efforts. This training will review how to upload data, run reports, and download charts and graphs to use in your data storytelling. 

Objectives:  After watching this training, participants will be able to:

• Explain why data tracking and trending is critical to assisted living.
• Identify how LTC Trend Tracker can be a one-stop shop for collecting, tracking, and trending data important to assisted living.
• Discuss methods to upload data and run reports in LTC Trend Tracker.

Speaker: Pamela Truscott, DNP/HSL, MSN/ED, RN, C-CNL, C-AL, QCP, DNS-CT, RAC-CT, CDP Director of Quality Improvement, NCAL

Registration is free for NCAL members.

Follow the Instructions Below to Register: 

• To avoid technical problems, use Google Chrome. 
• Members will need to log in using their existing email and password first. 
• Once you are logged in to the website you will be able to register by clicking the green register button at the top of the page. 
• If you have forgotten your password click here. 
• If you are new to the site, you can create an account here. Answer all fields on the create an account page- especially locating your company name. You can search by name or zip code. After creating an account, you will be able to register.

Email educate@ahca.org if you need assistance with registering. 

© 2023 American Health Care Association. All rights reserved. All Data Collection and LTC Trend Tracker for Assisted Living materials subject to this copyright may be photocopied or distributed for the purpose of nonprofit or educational advancement. The use, photocopying, and distribution for commercial purposes of any of these materials is expressly prohibited without the prior written permission of American Health Care Association.

Nisha Hammel, Associate Vice President, Population Health Management, AHCA/NCAL, will give an overview of value-based care and the importance of providers preparing their assisted living operations and business model for population health management. 

Learning Objectives:

• An understanding of what value-based care encompasses.
• The role assisted living provides in value-based care.
• How value-based care can help assisted living providers succeed now and in the future?

This webinar is available to NCAL members. The webinar will be recorded and available for access after the live event. 

Follow the Instructions Below to Register: 

• To avoid technical problems, use Google Chrome. 
• Members will need to log in using their existing email and password first. 
• Once you are logged in to the website you will be able to register by clicking the green register button at the top of the page. 
• If you have forgotten your password click here. 
• If you are new to the site, you can create an account here. Answer all fields on the create an account page- especially locating your company name. You can search by name or zip code. After creating an account, you will be able to register for the webinar. 

Email educate@ahca.org if you need assistance with registering. 

© 2023 National Center for Assisted Living. All rights reserved. All Assisted Living Population Health Management Webinar – The Importance of Value-Based Care materials subject to this copyright may be photocopied or distributed for the purpose of nonprofit or educational advancement. The use, photocopying, and distribution for commercial purposes of any of these materials is expressly prohibited without the prior written permission of National Center for Assisted Living.

Customer service is at the heart of any business, including long term care.  However, complaints can be hard to hear and manage.  Having an effective complaint management program can turn complaints into compliments.  This session will review keys to good customer service and how to turn those complaints into successful resolutions.

Objectives: After listening to this session, participants will be able to:

• Identify the five key elements to customer service programs in long term care.
• Discuss guiding principles for customer service.
• Describe the process for understanding complaints.
• Explain how to turn complaints into compliments.

Speaker: Pamela Truscott, DNP/HSL, MSN/ED, RN, C-CNL, C-AL, QCP, DNS-CT, RAC-CT, CDP Director of Quality Improvement, NCAL

Registration is $25 AHCA/NCAL Members | $50 Non-members

Follow the Instructions Below to Register: 

• To avoid technical problems, use Google Chrome. 
• Members will need to log in using their existing email and password first. 
• Once you are logged in to the website you will be able to register by clicking the green register button at the top of the page. 
• If you have forgotten your password click here. 
• If you are new to the site, you can create an account here. Answer all fields on the create an account page- especially locating your company name. You can search by name or zip code. After creating an account, you will be able to register.

Email educate@ahca.org if you need assistance.

© 2023 American Health Care Association. All rights reserved. 

All materials subject to this copyright may be photocopied or distributed for the purpose of nonprofit or educational advancement. The use, photocopying, and distribution for commercial purposes of any of these materials is expressly prohibited without the prior written permission of American Health Care Association.

In a competitive and ever-changing market, assisted living providers must identify ways to stay a step ahead and stand out to potential customers and referral sources. The AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Program provides the external validation necessary to set yourself apart from the competition. Historically, the Quality Award Program has been perceived as being only for skilled nursing centers. However, more assisted living communities than ever before are applying for and receiving the National Quality Award. In this webinar, we will break down the commonly cited barriers preventing assisted living communities from participating in the program and talk about the many free resources available to help assisted living providers succeed. Continuous quality improvement is possible, and the Quality Award journey can help you get there.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will be able to describe the perceived barriers for assisted living participation in the program and how to overcome them.  
2. Participants will be able to summarize the free resources available to help assisted living providers succeed in the program.
3. Participants will discover how participation in the program would benefit their organization.  

Speaker: Pamela Truscott DNP/HSL, MSN/ED, RN, C-CNL, C-AL, QCP, DNS-CT, RAC-CT, CDP, Director of Quality Improvement, NCAL

Who Should View This Event: 

Leadership (i.e. administrator, DON, etc.) at assisted living communities that are members of AHCA/NCAL.

© 2023 American Health Care Association. All rights reserved. 

All Perception vs. Reality: The Quality Award Program for Assisted Living Providers materials subject to this copyright may be photocopied or distributed for the purpose of nonprofit or educational advancement. The use, photocopying, and distribution for commercial purposes of any of these materials is expressly prohibited without the prior written permission of American Health Care Association.

How to Register in ahcancalED 

Easy as 1, 2, 3 !

Step 1	Go to the ahcancalED site at https://educate.ahcancal.org/and log in using the orange button in the upper left hand corner. Use your usual user name and password that you would use for LTC Trend Tracker or the AHCA NCAL website.   Don’t have one or can’t remember? Click the log in button and follow the directions found under the search button that reads-“If you need help retrieving your Username or Password, click here”. *Please note* you must add your member facility name to your login Once you are in and can see your name in the upper left hand corner, you are ready to go.
Step 2	From the home page click on a category (Resources, Training, Webinars or Trending Now) For this demonstration, let’s try hovering over Webinars until upcoming webinars displays.  Under “upcoming webinars” go to a product in which you are interested. Click on the title. You’ll be redirected to the site where you can register for the product. This allows you to view the overview, handouts or resources associated with that product.
Step 3	Almost there! Click the green “register” button. Fill out the registration details and voila! The products are yours to use indefinitely and can be found in your dashboard. FYI: after registering, you will be automatically notified when the recording of the webinar is ready. Need further help? Email us at educate@ahca.org We’ll walk you through it.

Save $100 NOW - Nov. 30th USE DISCOUNT CODE SAVE100

Welcome!

AHCA/NCAL’s Infection Preventionist Specialized Training (IPCO) is recommended for individuals responsible for infection prevention and control in all long term care settings and is specifically tailored to train Infection Preventionists (IPs)  in nursing facilities.  

CMS mandates that every nursing facility have a designated and specially trained Infection Preventionist who is running a comprehensive infection prevention and control program. CMS guidance states that facilities should consider a backup IP when the primary IP is not available. AHCA also highly recommends that every nursing facility train at least two clinical staff members as IPs.  

The comprehensive IPCO training covers:

• COVID-19
• Other common pathogens
• Multidrug-resistant organisms
• Antibiotic stewardship
• Water management and more

About the online training:

• Flexible and self-paced (take up to 12 months to complete)
• Online learning 24/7
• 9 course modules

Cost:  AHCA/NCAL members for $450 and non-members for $650.  

Group purchase with discount structure is available for groups of five or more. There are no refunds and no transfers. Visit the FAQs to know more about the discount offered. 

Objectives

Individuals who successfully complete this course will learn how to: 

• Demonstrate how to effectively manage an Infection Prevention and Control Program within a nursing or assisted living facility
  
• Convey to staff effective strategies to prevent infections
• Implement practices and procedures to mitigate infections
• Evaluate practices and policies related to infection prevention
• Provide on-going education to others including staff, residents and families

Individual module objectives are found in the module resource tab within the module presentations and in the User Guide.  Participants must complete all training modules and successfully pass module quizzes and final test with a grade of 80 or above to receive a certificate of completion from AHCA that is valid for three years.  

Accredited Continuing Education

In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by University of Nebraska Medical Center and American Health Care Association. University of Nebraska Medical Center is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team. 

NURSES/NURSE PRACTITIONERS

The University of Nebraska Medical Center designates this activity for 24.5 ANCC contact hours. Nurses should only claim credit for the actual time spent participating in the activity.

Certificates

Three certificates will be awarded upon successful completion of the program:

1. UNMC CON CNE will provide a certificate awarding 24.5 contact hours.
2. AHCA will provide a Specialized Training Completion certificate, valid for 3 years.  
3. 24.5 hours of continuing education credit for Nursing Home Administration and Residential Care/ Assisted Living Administration. 

Certificates Renewal - specialized training completion certificates are valid for 3 years. Click here for information about renewing your AHCA IPCO Certificate. 

If you are not sure of your member status, please email educate@ahca.org before making payment. 

© 2023 American Health Care Association. All rights reserved. All Infection Preventionist Specialized Training (IPCO) materials subject to this copyright may be photocopied or distributed for the purpose of nonprofit or educational advancement. The use, photocopying, and distribution for commercial purposes of any of these materials is expressly prohibited without the prior written permission of American Health Care Association.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the AHCA Infection Preventionist Specialized Training (IPCO)?

It is a specialized training for healthcare professionals who desire to serve as Infection Preventionists (IPs) as established in the CMS Reform of Requirements of Participation for Long Term Care Facilities (required by November 2019).  Through this program, individuals will be specially trained to effectively implement and manage an Infection Prevention and Control Program in a nursing center. 

Do you have to be an AHCA member to register for IPCO?

No. Both AHCA members and nonmembers are eligible to participate in the IPCO course.

How much does it cost to take the IPCO training?

Registration fee: $450 members, $650 nonmembers. Payment and registration is completed by individual participant in the IPCO product in ahcancalED.

How can an individual register and pay for IPCO? 

The individual who wants to take the IPCO course must login to ahcancalED and register for the course under their individual login.  Payment will be made in ahcancalED upon registration via credit card or E-check. Please be sure to have your credit card or banking information ready at checkout. Paying by credit card or E-check will grant automatic access to the course. Registrations for IPCO cannot be done by another person or under another person’s ahcancalED login.

-- for a better web experience, please use Google Chrome Internet Browser and NOT Internet Explorer. 

How can an organization group register and pay for IPCO?

Group purchase is available for groups of 5 or more.  AHCA offers the following discount structure for groups: 5-49 registrations will receive $25 off each registration.  50 or more registrations will receive $75 off each registration. 

After full payment is made for group purchase of IPCO, the designated individuals who the IPCO registration payment was made for, will be provided with a unique group code for their group which will translate to $0 due upon registration (because full payment has already been received).  One code will be provided for each group with a max allowance of times that the code can be used based on the group’s payment. 

Each individual will need to login to the AHCA website to access ahcancalED and then complete their own registration using the group code.

Can I get a refund on the IPCO product if I no longer want to take the course?

No refunds are issued for IPCO.

Can my IPCO registration be transferred to a colleague?

IPCO registrations cannot be transferred. The individual that registers for the course is the only one that has access to it.

Who is eligible to take this training?

Anyone can take this training.  The AHCA Infection Preventionist Specialized Training does not require a particular healthcare license. 

AHCA/NCAL recommends that administrators also consider taking the course to gain a deeper understanding of infection prevention and control in the overall operation of the building.  Just a reminder that administrators should not serve as designated Infection Preventionists unless they have separate formal advanced clinical training and/or licensing such as a nursing license.     

Please note, there are specific requirements for the individual(s) who will serve as Infection Preventionist(s).  CMS requirements for a designated Infection Preventionist state:

483.80 (b) Infection preventionist. The facility must designate one or more individual(s) as the infection preventionist(s) (IPs) who are responsible for the facility’s IPCP. The IP must:

(1) Have primary professional training in nursing, medical technology, microbiology, epidemiology, or other related field;

(2) Be qualified by education, training, experience or certification;

(3) Work at least part-time at the facility; and

(4) Have completed specialized training in infection prevention and control.

What are the requirements to successfully complete IPCO?

Participate in each module and successfully complete quizzes throughout the course and final test (achieve at least 80% correct each time)

Modules 1-7 will have quizzes with 5 questions (4 of 5 questions must be accurately completed) except for module 3 which will have 10 questions (8 of 10 questions must be accurately completed).

The final test after Module 9 will have 20 questions (16 of 20 questions must be accurately completed)

Each module quiz may be attempted three times before the participant is required to repeat the module and then reattempt answering questions. 

Complete course evaluation after each module and at the end of the course. 

Course completion must occur within 12 months of the date the registrant starts the first required component of the program; which is the copyright agreement.(not registration date)

How long does it take on average to complete the IPCO course?

The learning time of all modules, review of additional resources, time to complete the modules and final course evaluations and quizzes/final test accounts for 24 hours and 30 minutes. 

Participants are encouraged to spread out the course over time in an organized manner – such as scheduling module reviews on various dates/times when they can focus their attention to it.  The course could be completed within a week or over several months based on how the individual would like to approach the program. 

Are Contact Hours awarded for IPCO?

Yes, 24.5 ANCC contact hours and 24.5 hours of continuing education credit are NAB approved for Nursing Home Administration and Residential Care/ Assisted Living Administration are available for completion of this program. 

In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by University of Nebraska Medical Center and American Health Care Association. University of Nebraska Medical Center is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

What does a participant get when they complete the IPCO course?

Participants receive three certificates at the completion of IPCO:

• UNMC CON CNE will provide a certificate awarding 24.5 contact hours to participants who successfully achieve the completion requirements.
• 24.5 hours of continuing education credit are NAB approved for Nursing Home Administration and Residential Care/ Assisted Living Administration
• Specialized Training Completion certificate from AHCA, valid for 3 years. 

How long do the certificates last?

The CE certificates do not expire. The Specialized Training Completion certificate expires after 3 years from issue date.

How can someone renew their IPCO certificate?

Renewal may occur by the options below:

Option 1: Registering for a competency exam requiring a grade of 80% or above to successfully receive certificate of renewal. This option is only available to individuals who have previously successfully completed the full IPCO course and are seeking renewal.  

Option 2: Registering for the IPCO course and completing the course requirements as outlined above. 

Is IPCO a certification?

No, IPCO is a specialized training program with a certificate upon successful completion.

Does IPCO meet CMS requirements?

Yes, IPCO meets the expectations CMS has outlined on the required components of the specialized training. 

CMS is not endorsing any particular training, rather CMS is focused on the content and intensity/duration of what will meet the specialized training requirement.  Based on information AHCA received from CMS, the IPCO training meets both the content and intensity/duration of CMS requirements.  

Can I print the presentation slides and how can I access the resources within the module? 

Each module contains a resource guide which includes a copy of the presentation and any necessary supporting documents discussed within the module. This resource guide can be found at the top right corner within each module. 

I am having technical difficulties with IPCO, can you help?

Please email us at educate@ahca.org.

"What a great program! I was able to complete at my own pace and learned a lot." - Connie Francioli, RN,WCC, Director of Nursing, Odd Fellow & Rebekah Rehabilitation RHCC Inc.

"The AHCA IPCO program gave me the tools I needed to be effective in my role as the Infection Preventionist and to initiate an antibiotic stewardship program.  The modules and website were easy to navigate and very convenient for my schedule. Thanks a bunch!"- Adriana Casale, BSN, RN, Assistant Director of Nursing Services, Roberts Health Centre

"I thoroughly enjoyed the course.  I am a new to the Infection Prevention world and this engaging and interactive course provided an excellent foundation for me.  I hope to use this as a stepping stone to advance the Infection Prevention culture within my facility and my community." - Daniel Mazzone, Associate Director of Nursing and Infection Preventionist at the Acadia Center for Nursing

"The IPCO training was intense but I gained the confidence to implement key initiatives in our facility, including antibiotic stewardship.  I have a lot to learn but I know I can go back to the course and get the information I need with any situation that I am confronted with." - Karla Ruther, Clarence Senior Living Director of Nursing

"I really enjoyed the IPCO program. It is full of knowledge and information for any infection control program.  I would like to see more infection control class with updates on organisms and new ROPs." - Helen Durden, RN, Education Coordinator, Eagle Health and Rehabilitation

"This course was a good blend of review, new information and practical tools for program improvement in both skilled and long term care settings. I would recommend for any nurse interested in Infection control and prevention." - Becci St Laurent | Senior Director of Education, Palm Healthcare Management, llc

"I am recommending it to our Corporate Team members here at Laurel Health Care.  I know some Associate Team members at Ciena Heath Care have taken this training program, as well, and were very satisfied.  It really enhances and clarifies so much Infection Control information.  I feel much more confident with being and Infection Control practitioner." - Marlissa Corby, Corporate Compliance Officer, Laurel Health Care Company

How can an organization group register and pay for IPCO?

One user can purchase multiple registrations for other users by adding them to their cart during the checkout process; using the button displayed in image below. (This can only be done if all individuals have an ahcancalED account.) The price of the training will be based on each registrant’s member type (member or non-member). 

*payment tip: please be sure when you are paying with a credit card the bill-to and shipping address are the same* 

Group purchase is available for groups of 25 or more. If you are interested in group purchasing, please email educate@ahca.org

After full payment is made for group purchase, the designated individuals who the course registration payment was made for, will be provided with a unique group code for their group which will translate to $0 due upon registration (because full payment has already been received).  One code will be provided for each group with a max allowance of times that the code can be used based on the group’s payment. 

Each individual will need to login to the AHCA website to access ahcancalED and then complete their own registration using the group code.

PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ONLY ACCEPT PAYMENT IN THE FORM OF A CHECK FOR GROUP PURCHASES.