Page 12 THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, SEpTEmbER 20, 2024 City of Everett Launches Online Portal for Vital Records Requests Vital records such as birth, marriage, and death certificates can now be requested and paid for online E VERETT, MA – The Office of the City Clerk is pleased to announce the City of Everett has launched an online portal for vital records requests. Through the portal, users will be able to request and pay online for certified copies of vital records, such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, and death certificates without having to visit the office in-person. Additionally, funeral homes can request and pay for burial permits. To access the online portal, please visit everettma.permitium.com/rod. For any questions, please contact the Office of the City Clerk at 617394-2225 or email CityClerk@ ci.everett.ma.us. DIDOMENICO | FROM PAGE 10 trol, resident care plans and staff safety programs. DPH is also required to promulgate regulations necessary to enable residents of a facility to engage in in-person, face-toface or verbal/auditory-based contact, communications and religious and recreational activities. This legislation also directs DPH, in coordination with other agencies and departments, to examine cost trends and financial performance across the nursing industry that will help regulators and policymakers untangle the complicated ownership structure of nursing homes. • Uniform prior authorization forms: The law requires the Division of Insurance to develop and implement uniform prior authorization forms for admissions from acute care hospitals to post-acute care facilities. • Two-year prior authorization pilot: requires that all payers, including MassHealth, approve or deny a request for prior authorization for admissions from acute care hospitals to post-acute care facilities or home health agencies for post-acute care services, by the next business day or to waive prior authorization altogether when a patient can be admitted over the weekend. In the case of prior authorization for nonemergency transportation between health care facilities, once authorization has been granted, that authorization must remain valid for at least seven days. • Establishes Hospital Throughput Task Force to study and propose recommendations to address acute care hospital throughput challenges and the impact of persistent delays in discharging patients from acute to postacute care settings. The task force will examine hospital discharge planning and case management practices; administrative legal and regulatory barriers to discharge; efforts to increase public awareness of health care proxies; post-acute care capacity constraints; the effectiveness of interagency coordination; and other items. • MassHealth long-term care eligibility: requires MassHealth to study the cost and feasibility of changes to its eligibility requirements with the goal of reducing the time applicants spend at acute care hospitals awaiting long-term care eligibility determinations. The study will consider improvements to the eligibility determination process, establishing a “rebuttable presumption” of eligibility, guaranteeing payment for long-term care services for up to one year and expanding the undue hardship waiver criteria. • Requires the Health Policy Commission to conduct an analysis and issue a report on the impact of Medicare accountable care organizations on the financial viability of long-term care facilities and continued access to services for Medicare patients.
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