Volume 10, Number 41 — June 9, 2021
Dear Healthcare at Home Colleague,
I read a disturbing article in my local paper this weekend. Many veterans are turned away for medical and mental healthcare when they are actually eligible. The "decision maker" who denies care is often the lowest paid staffer, a clerk or receptionist, who has been poorly trained in the rules. Have you heard of your patients running into this problem?
Let's get into this week's news. The American Telemedicine Association has published a report on its legislative efforts on the state level. Following emergency permissions to use virtual visits and other remote patient monitoring technologies during the height of the pandemic, many healthcare providers are pushing to make those permissions permanent. They cite evidence that patients are healthier and costs are lower. The ATA lists many successes in this area, but has also had to write letters in some cases educating legislators about the bad bills they have proposed. We give you links to a map of each state's proposed and already passed laws, as well as to the ATA letters. Scroll down to "ATA is Bullish on State-by-State Legislative Successes."
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This got me thinking. How can any elected official possibly learn enough about all the different industries a lawmaker has to cover. Do they rely on expertise within their staff? Do they take a lobbyist's word? I learned from an Administrative Law Judge of my acquaintance that learning dozens, or hundreds, of different industries' jargon and acronyms is the hardest part of her job. It has to be the same for state legislators. I ruminate on this problem in an opinion piece titled "Some Lawmakers Simply Misunderstand Telehealth." You may laugh, or perhaps cry, at the level of ignorance the ATA tries to correct.
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Whether your business is Home Health, Home Care, or Hospice, you are always looking for a competitive advantage. If you agree, do not miss our story on a just-released study by Porter Research, sent to us by our friends at Citus Health. Porter's study found one main thing that patients and their families say would make them choose one provider over another. The results were overwhelming, with agreement about that one thing over 90 percent.
In our Vendor Watch column, we report on a new alliance between Homecare Homebase and Corridor. You already know that the longtime consulting group is focused on coding services now. HCHB will be offering that service to its software clients through the new partnership.
Be sure to scroll down beyond this week's headlines to check our updated list of conferences. We are so pleased that some of them will be in person, we are vaccinated and trying to attend as many as we can. We hope to see you in Marco Island, Chicago, Orlando, or New Orleans.
Have a great week. Stay healthy and keep making a difference!
Some Lawmakers Simply Misunderstand Telehealth
Legislators cannot know the details of every industry. The ATA provides a model for how to educate them about our industry without highlighting their ignorance.
ATA is Bullish on State-by-State Legislative Successes
With COVID telehealth expansion proving successful, American Telemedicine Association steps up efforts to make emergency changes permanent.
Homecare Homebase and Corridor Announce Exclusive Partnership
Homecare Homebase℠ and Corridor announce exclusive partnership to provide coding and documentation review services to HCHB customers.
Porter Research Study Finds Patients and Families Prefer Providers Who Communicate
How do you communicate with patients and families? 96 percent of patients and family caregivers say they would choose one Home Health provider over another based on ability to respond in real time.
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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 41,943,000 Baby Boomers have become Medicare eligible. |
Last Week's Most-Read Stories:
Appriss Health Acquires PatientPing
Four Home Care Agencies Solve Expensive "Bad Hire" Problem
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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 OrleansSadly, 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:
- Dr. Ian Smith, MD, host of TV's "The Doctors," and NY Times bestselling author
- Burgess Harrision, Executive Director, National Minority Health Association
- James Cohen, CEO, Nevvon Inc.
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 ManagerDate: Wednesday, November 3
Time: 11:00 am PDT / 2:00 pm EDT
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
FREE WEBINAR: Admit more Patients & Stop Nursing Burnout!
Presented by: OperaCare
Date: November 10
Time: 1:00 pm EST; 10:00 PST
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
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:
- Individual payment rate changes ranging from:
- An increase of 35.7%, to
- A decrease of 34.6%
- 2022 will be the last year of the Rural Add-on
- Significant changes with all 432 Case-Mix Weights
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 WEBINARS: "Best of Home Care Heroes" Series
Sponsored by: Ankota
Featuring: Steve "The Hurricane" Weiss, Ophelia Cole, Barbara Gaines, Cheryl Hammons, others
Dates: Ongoing
- How Home Care Thrives in the Post-COVID World (with Steve "the Hurricane" Weiss)
- ADDED THIS WEEK: "Finishing 2021 STRONG!" Wednesday, September 15, 3-4pm EST.
Register HereContact 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.
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.
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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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.
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