Volume 9, Number 50 — April 8, 2020
Dear Healthcare at Home Colleague,
COVID-19 news that continues to reach us impacts all in-home care categories. Our report this week includes updates from tech companies and government regulators for home health, home care, and hospice providers alike.
Darcey Trescone, RN, spoke with researchers and clinicians from Johns Hopkins to bring a report on that health system's response to the pandemic, from their hospitals to physician groups to home care branches.
 |  |  |  |
I spent some time with Lee Horner, CEO and Founder of Synzi, about how video communication systems help keep homebound patients safe without exposing clinicians, therapists, and aides to potential exposure. He said utilization of the Synzi system has increased tenfold over the last two months.
AlayaCare told us about a new Virtual Care Solution, also a video visit system, which they have just made available at no charge to their home care clients.
 |  |  |  |
We talked to an expert to help us understand the difference between the $30 billion in grants authorized by the CARES Act and the $34 billion in advance payments for Medicare providers, which are essentially loans. Click below on "$30 Billion in CARES Act Grants, $34 B in Loans, Ready for Distribution to Providers" for our explanation.
In this week's Vendor Watch column, we offer new items from a record five tech vendors:
 |  |
Remember when PDGM was problem #1? Fortunately, someone is still helping home health agencies understand the new payment system, now that the last 60-day episodes have ended. In place of its planned 12-city tour of PDGM seminars, NAHC and its partners will present the same content online, April 28 and 29. We have instructions you can use to register for either of these presentations.
We will continue our efforts to scan the newswires to keep you informed on developments as they happen. If something important breaks between our scheduled editions, remember that you should check our web site, where all articles are stored and new ones posted between issues. http://homecaretechreport.com
Have a healthy, safe week. Keep making a difference!
NAHC PDGM Seminar Tour Goes Virtual
NAHC's PDGM seminars will go on in spite of stay-at-home mandates.
$30 Billion in CARES Act Grants, $34 B in Loans, Ready for Distribution to Providers
COVID-19 emergency help from CMS comes as both grants and loans. Here is the difference.
AlayaCare Releases Virtual Care Solution to Keep Seniors and Care Providers Safe Amidst Pandemic
AlayaCare's complete virtual care solution relieves burden on acute-care settings.
Vendor Watch
— Forcura turning documents into data
— Axis Care releases COVID-19 mobile screening feature
— Libman Education releases cross-training coding curriculum
— Secure texting company QliqSOFT to offer free hospital communication service
— Safe Guardian releases next generation PERS pendant with GPS and LTE
How Johns Hopkins Prepared For COVID-19 Patient Surge: Rely on Home Care
Johns Hopkins Home and Community Based Care Group leaders describe their preparations for the anticipated surge of COVID-19 cases.
Synzi Keeping Up With Sudden Demand Increase
Virtual visit utilization explodes 10-fold since pandemic declared.
|
During the 1st Quarter of 2021, web sites of the above advertisers were visited by home care and hospice executives and staff 10965 times. To inquire about placing your message here, contact: Kristin@rowanresources.com As of this date, approximately 37,246,000 Baby Boomers have become Medicare eligible. |
Last Week's Most-Read Stories:
Netsmart Embeds COVID Screen, No Charge
Latest COVID-19 Regulatory Updates
|
Webinar Series: Sales Training, Home Health and Hospice
Presented by: Healthcare Strategica, LLC
Featuring: Michael Ferris
1 - 8-week Hospice & Palliative Care Sales Training Course2 - 8-week Home Health Sales Training
Rowan Report subscribers: Register with this link to receive $100 discount.
We have taken our best of class industry specific sales training bootcamps and are offering them via Webinar to enable you to continue to train your sales team in today's world of limited travel and social distancing.
The Hospice and Palliative Care course will be offered live every Tuesday starting May 19 through July 7, 2020.
The Home Health course will be offered live every Tuesday starting May 21 through July 9, 2020.
Each class will have participation exercises, homework assignments, quizzes and question and answer opportunities.
Each participant will receive their own course materials and individual coaching and feedback. At the conclusion of the course each student will receive a certificate of completion, an invitation to join the exclusive Sales Mastery Group* and opportunity to join the 52-week Sales Training Excellence Course.*
* Only available to Sales Professionals that have successfully completed the 8-week Sales Training Course – additional fees may apply.
Each session will be offered on-demand and if unable to attend the live webinar, you will be able to view the recording and participate in exercises, questions, coaching and quizzes. If you start after the first webinar date, you will be provided with access to those classes missed so that you can get caught up or you may elect to attend via the recorded sessions.
FREE WEBINAR: How Technology Enhances Home Care in an Increasingly Remote World *
Sponsored by: Care Connect
Moderator: Tim Rowan
Panelists: Mike Gelman, President COO, CareConnect; Jim Rolla, SVP, VNSYNY Partners in Care; Steve Pellito, SVP, Provider Sales, Sandata
Date: November 12
Time: 1:00 pm EDT
FREE WEBINAR: Cybersecurity in Healthcare: Assess Threats & Reduce Your Risk
Presented by: Netsmart
Featuring: Randy Pargman, Binary Defense senior director of threat hunting and counterintelligence; Sharon Hicks, MBA, MSW, OPEN MINDS senior associate; and Mike Murray, Netsmart director of Plexus Technologies,
Date: December 9
Time: 1:00 EST
Healthcare organizations are often at risk of cyberattacks due to a lack of dedicated IT and reliance on traditional reactive approaches. To learn how to protect your data, register now to join Randy Pargman, as they map the risk landscape and provide guidance for safeguarding your organization.
Key takeaways:
• Cyber threats in healthcare
• Impacts of a data breach
• Best practices for securing your data
FREE WEBINAR: Can you collect Cash faster?Sponsored by: Savii
Date: Tuesday, January 12
Time: 2:00 pm EST
With small margins in home care it has prompted the question, “Can we collect cash faster?” And what would this do for an agency? One thing we know is margins are small and have become more challenging than ever to for agencies to profit. This doesn’t mean it impossible for agencies to survive; it means a focus on collecting cash faster will be ever so important.
Agency leaders will first need to develop a timeline cadence of when to address claims based on when they were submitted for payment. In addition it will be pertinent to understand their own agency metrics such as DSO (Daily Sales Outstanding) and how they compare to industry standards.
On this webinar you will walk away with how to develop a timeline and your own DSO dashboard for benchmarking. All of these topics will weave into strategic steps to take toward collecting cash flow faster.
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, AlayaCareDate: Wednesday, January 27
Time: 1:00 EST
Information and RegistrationAgenda
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: 6 New COVID-19 ICD-10 Codes to Learn Webinar
Presented by: Healthcare Synergy
Featuring: Michael Tidd, HealthCare Synergy Clinical ManagerDate: Thursday, February 4
Time: 11:00 - 11:30 PST
COVID-19 has resulted in multiple waivers along with changes to programs and treatments to patients. April 1 had an unexpected release of a new diagnosis code for the COVID-19 disease. October 1 had additional diagnosis codes for agencies to learn and use. January 1, 2021 brings six additional diagnosis codes that CMS released the week of Thanksgiving. These will not be listed in your existing diagnosis coding manuals until a new manual is released later in August.
Objectives:
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.
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 ESTJoin 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.
Virtual Conference: Winter Leadership Summit
Presented by: National Association for Home Care and Hospice
Date: February 23, 2021
FREE WEBINARS: Virtual Seminar Series
"Building the Bridge to Hospice" and "How to Increase Referrals"
Sponsored by: WellSky
Featuring: Cindy Campbell, Jody Holmes-Dion, Bob Parker, Melanie Stover
Dates: March 2, 16, 30; April 6
Time: 1:00 - 2:30 ESTRegister for one or both webinars
Building the bridge to hospice: Leveraging connections between home health, palliative, and hospice care
Presented by consultants Cindy Campbell and Jody Holmes-Dion of WellSky and Bob Parker of Intrepid USA
CE credit offered – approved for up to 1.25 contact hours
Tuesday, March 2 | Tuesday, March 30Turn up the volume! How to increase referrals in a value-driven market
Presented by Cindy Campbell and sales and marketing expert Melanie Stover of Home Care Sales
Tuesday, March 16 | Tuesday, April 6
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
experts from companies with solutions for talent/retention and compliance issues, along with the continued challenges that COVID-19 has presented to our industry,
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 soon.
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.
Sprinting Toward Brighter Days
Homecare & Hospice Association of Utah Annual Conference - LIVE AND IN PERSON!
Date: May 18-19
Location: Salt Lake Community College, Sandy, UT
Interested sponsors/exhibitors: hover over the "Partners" tab on the website menu and select "Sponsorship/Exhibitor Opportunities" or email info@hhau.org for more information.
Homecare 100 *
Presented by: Lincoln Healthcare Leadership
Date: June 27-30, 2021
Venue: JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort, FL
Registration Information
*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
Did you receive this issue as a forward from a colleague? Would you like to have your own free subscription? Click here.
Home Care Technology Report is published by Rowan Consulting Associations, Inc., Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved. Request reprint permission by writing to editor@homecaretechreport.com.
HCTR is free to subscribers and supported by its generous advertisers. To inquire about presenting your message to our 12,000 subscribers, write to Kristin in our ad sales department, Kristin@RowanResources.com.