Volume 10, Number 41 — January  27, 2021



Dear Healthcare at Home Colleague,

Only one topic today in this special edition of Home Care Tech: The Rowan Report. In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the renewed effort by the federal government to battle it, some shocking statistics have emerged that deserve the attention of all healthcare providers.

According to a report from The Human Rights Watch, coronavirus is hitting low-income communities harder than others. They cite the prevalence of service jobs that cannot be done from home, often crowded, multi-general living conditions, and less access to insurance:

"While the virus infects people regardless of wealth, the poor will be most affected due to longstanding segregation by income and race, reduced economic mobility, and the high cost of medical care. Low-income communities are more likely to be exposed to the virus, have higher mortality rates, and suffer economically. In times of economic crisis, these vulnerabilities will be more pronounced for marginal groups – identified by race, gender, and immigration status:

 

 

You are in healthcare. You probably already know most of these things:

This brief list should be understood as the tip of the iceberg. I want to introduce you to the national association focused on the entire problem.

 

 

National Minority Health Association

The National Minority Health Association was formed to reduce healthcare inequality through education and advocacy. Recently, it attracted the attention of the White House Healthcare Task Force. Executive Director Burgess Harrison spoke with us about how the in-home care sector can help.

NMHA was founded in 1988 by Dr. David L. Dalton, with the mission to establish Offices of Minority Health in all 50 states. That mission has been accomplished. Today, the NMHA is working at making those offices obsolete by eliminating the healthcare disparity gap. According to E.D. Burgess, "To achieve this, we are deploying new programs that utilize patient centered, value based care, and pathways to help lower costs and improve outcomes for minority and under-served communities."

Among those programs, Harrison told us, is the "Health Equity Action League." "HEAL is for healthcare companies. Those who join will accept the guiding principles and ask themselves, 'What did we do to further health equity?' Every home health, hospice, and home care agency should be a part of HEAL; every software company should participate.:

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

NMHA asks every business in America to adopt its Guiding Principles and join their fight to eliminate the minority healthcare gap.

Step One is to join as a member NMHA. Step Two is to agree to the NMHA Guiding Principles and implement them. There are also sponsorships available on different price levels to fit with the size of your organization.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES: Acknowledge — Create — Transform

Acknowledge that, even in the wealthiest of countries is a well proven process, backed up by more then 600 peer reviewed case studies. Activation is a term used to describe a person’s capability and willingness to take charge of their own health care.worldwide, there are significant disparities, biases, stereotypes, and inequalities in the healthcare of minority communities. These disparities often lead to less than optimal outcomes.

Create pathways for healthcare equality to provide a means for change.

Transform the health care system to be more inclusive, less costly, and more accessible.

Read more about the guiding principles by clicking on the headline below.

 

PATIENT ACTIVATION MEASURE

Lastly, NMHA recently launched "Operation Healthy You™," an effort to help reduce the disparity between how minorities and under-served populations manage chronic diseases as compared to how more affluent and better-insured populations manage the same disease states.

A lynchpin of this effort is an exciting tool NMHA is promoting and that you can use. The "Patient Activation Measure" is a well proven method for determining a person’s activation level, backed up by more then 600 peer reviewed case studies. Activation is a term used to describe a person's capability and willingness to take charge of their own health care. Click on the headline below for a complete description of PAM and links to evidence of its efficacy.

"Every software company should participate," Harrison urged. "They can help support the collection of PAM scores by building its 10-question survey into their systems, thus supporting the secure and anonymous transfer of data to a new research repository currently being developed. Our industry can be a leader...and should be."

As I mentioned at the top, this is an important enough topic that I feel justified in focusing this week's entire issue to it. We will be back to our regular breaking news and analysis next week.

Editor signature
Tim Rowan


NMHA Guiding Principles
Get to know The National Minority Health Association.

What is the Patient Activation Measure?
The National Minority Health Association has thrown its weight behind a measurement tool that can help healthcare providers slash costs.


During the 3rd Quarter of 2021, web sites of the above advertisers were visited by home care and hospice executives and staff 6532 times.

To inquire about placing your message here, contact:

Kristin@rowanresources.com

As of this date, approximately 40,480,000 Baby Boomers have become Medicare eligible.

 

Last Week's Most-Read Stories:

Payers Livid About CMS Final Rule
Matt Eyles, president and CEO of AHIP, issued this statement following the release of the CMS final rule on relaxed prior authorization processes.

Four Home Care Agencies Solve Expensive "Bad Hire" Problem
What does it cost when a new caregiver disappears after orientation and training, never taking a first shift? How often does it happen? One franchise organization has found a way to lower this risk, saving $4,500 or more every time a bad hire is avoided.




Upcoming Events

FREE WEBINAR: The Rise of Hospital at Home: A Roundtable Discussion

Sponsored by: AlayaCare

Featuring: Dr. Bruce Leff, Hospital at Home Pioneer & Professor, John Hopkins School of Medicine; Adrian Schauer, Founder and CEO
AlayaCare; Joel Theisen, Founder and CEO, Lifesprk; Brady Murphy, VP Sales & Marketing, AlayaCare

Date: Wednesday, January 27
Time: 1:00 EST

Information and Registration

Agenda
Across the U.S., the Acute Hospital Care at Home initiative from CMS is taking off amid the pandemic with at least 80 approved participants to date. As hospital-at-home models become more popular and more beneficial to both patients and health care organizations, those that have recognized the perks of home-based care prior to the COVID-19 crisis may have the upper hand.

Join us on Wednesday, Jan 27th at 1:00 pm EST for a roundtable discussion with industry experts such as Dr. Bruce Leff, Hospital at Home Pioneer and Professor at John Hopkins School of Medicine who deserves his reputation as a founding father of this virtual hospital concept, to learn about the hospital-at-home model and its impact on the home care industry.



FREE Webinar: Practical Application of Information Blocking and Interoperability Rules for Post-Acute Care Providers

Sponsored by: Complia Health and Kno2

Date: February 18
Time: 1:00 EST

Information and Registration

Join healthcare technology experts Alan Swenson, VP of Interoperability at Kno2, and Melissa Turner, Director of Integration at Complia Health, on Thursday, February 18th at 1pm Eastern to learn about information blocking and what it means for your post-acute care organization today and looking ahead to the future. 


FREE WEBINAR: Tech Titans Join Forces to Tackle Post Acute Care Challenges

Sponsored by: KanTime

Featuring: Terra Vicario (Moderator) CMO, Viventium; Malka Trump, Director of Compliance, Viventium; Kristen Duell, EVP, KanTime; Kim Spence, RN, Customer Success Division Leader, KanTime; James Cohen, CEO & Co-Founder, Nevvon

Date: Thursday, April 22

Time: 11:00 am PDT, 2:00 pm EDT

Register

2021, in many ways, is a continuation of challenges from 2020 and more! During this webinar, experts from companies with solutions for talent/retention and compliance issues, along with the continued challenges that COVID-19 has presented to our industry, will cover rules, regulations, and programs you need to stay on top of so your company can thrive amidst the pandemic.

Homecare 100 *

Presented by: Lincoln Healthcare Leadership

Date: June 27-30, 2021
Venue: JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort, FL

Registration Information


2021 Home Care and Hospice Conference and Expo *

National Association for Home Care and Hospice

Date: October 3-5
Venue: New Orleans

Sadly, this conference has had to be postponed, due to the hurricane in New Orleans and COVID situation in Louisiana.


FREE WEBINAR: Vaccine Hesitancy: How Training Can Help

Presented by: Nevvon, Flex For Checks, & Dr. Ian Smith

Date: Monday, October 11

Time: 10:00 AM Pacific; 1:00 PM Eastern 

Information and Registration

Featuring:

Who should attend? Caregiver agencies looking for creative ways to alleviate vaccine hesitancy and get more workers and patients protected from the COVID-19 virus.

Agenda:
Learn how training caregivers on vaccines can ensure better compliance, reduce hesitancy and lead to better outcomes. We will share first-hand experience of how the Flex For Checks program has been leading the way in vaccinating caregivers through an amazing and potentially lucrative incentive program.


FREE WEBINAR: Targeted Probe & Educate: Where Do You Stand?

Presented by: Healthcare Synergy
Featuring: Michael Tidd, COS-C, HCS-D, HealthCare Synergy Clinical Manager

Date: Wednesday, November 3
Time: 11:00 am PDT / 2:00 pm EDT

Register

Overview:
Targeted Probe and Educate is a CMS initiative to seek a better understanding of agencies practices in order to protect the Medicare funds. Agencies self-identify themselves and request reviews by their actions and the data they provide to CMS. Are you aware of the signals you might be sending and how to protect yourself?
Objectives:
Speaker:
Michael Tidd has over 19 years of experience in the Home Care Industry and is a frequent speaker at HealthCare Synergy Workshops and Webinars. He is a Software Developer, LVN and Certified in ICD-9/10 Coding and OASIS (COS-C, HCS-D). As the Clinical Manager for HealthCare Synergy, he directs the Outsourced Management Services, assists in directing the development of the Healthcare Assistant Web Edition, oversees the Clinical Documentation Auditing provided to clients and directs the Clinical Form Development for the Healthcare Assistant Web Edition. Michael continues to educate agencies in the ongoing regulations that CMS produces, the proper application of the Medicare Conditions of Participation and completing timely, accurate and defendable clinical documentation to survive in the current Medicare Reimbursement Model.

AHHC 2021 Leadership Conference

Presented by: Association for Home & Hospice Care of North Carolina

Date: November 8-9

Location: Holiday Inn Resort, Wrightsville Beach, NC

Information and Registration


FREE WEBINAR: Admit more Patients & Stop Nursing Burnout!

Presented by: OperaCare

Date: November 10

Time: 1:00 pm EST; 10:00 PST

Information and Registration

The nursing shortage is getting much worse and will most likely impact your business if it has not already.
During this event we will demonstrate how to complete an entire OASIS in approx. 60 minutes or less. This includes ICD-10 coding, entry and revision of medication’s, all the OASIS items, and Quality Assurance while the nurse is with the patient in the home.

The result: Eliminating 100% of after-hours documentation, increasing clinical productivity, and reducing your labor costs.

The Benefit: The ability to significantly increase your recruitment and retention efforts by providing your clinicians with a sane and humane work life balance.


Important Final Rule Discoveries Every Agency Needs to Know: Examining HH PPS for CY2022

Presented by: HealthRevPartners

Featuring: John Reisinger, CPA

DATE: November 18

TIME: 2:00 - 3:00 EST

VENUE: Online

FEE: NONE

Register Here

One of the major changes in CMS’ final rule for the Home Health Prospective Payment System announced is this — ???2022 will be a "pre-implementation year for the HHVBP, which was originally scheduled to begin in January.

Learn exactly what you need to do in 2022 for HHVBP.

Additionally, we will cover these final rule changes and more:

And, do you know how much your Medicare revenues are projected to change?

There will be a 3.2% increase ($570 million) in home health spending for CY2022.

 


FREE WEBINAR: New, Science-Based Methodology Reduces Cost of Recruitment and Retention

Presented by: The Rowan Report

Featuring: Eric Becker, CEO, MiliMatch

Date: Thursday, March 18

Time: 3:00 pm EST; Noon PST

Recorded version available.

 

Agenda:

Every time a home care agency hires and trains a new caregiver, it invests about $4,500, which is wasted if that new hire does not work out, often before working a first shift. MiliMatch CEO Eric Becker will explain the company's patented product/service, based on the science of Applied Cognitive Linguistics, which has been proven to help home care agencies avoid those costly bad hires.


FREE WEBINARS: "Best of Home Care Heroes" Series 

Sponsored by: Ankota

Featuring: Steve "The Hurricane" Weiss, Ophelia Cole, Barbara Gaines, Cheryl Hammons, others

Dates: Ongoing

 

Contact Ankota directly about two special offers: a free trial of a staffed, live-chat solution for your website, and a discount to Steve Weiss' "Mililonaire Bootcamp."

 


*The Rowan Report will see you there.

Your state or national association meeting or webinar not listed? Send the details to Conferences@RowanResources.com using this format:

Conference Title
Sponsoring Association
Date(s)
Hotel or Conference Center, City, State
URL

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