Volume 9, Number 50 — July 15, 2020
Dear Healthcare at Home Colleague,
According to a July 14 report by research and advisory company Gartner, businesses looking beyond the COVID-19 pandemic are going to be facing a new kind of challenge: managing a new kind of highly complicated, hybrid workforce. The study found that 82% of business leaders say their organizations plan to let employees continue to work from home at least some of the time, while 47% plan to allow employees to do so permanently.
How about you? We would like to know our thinking on this issue. Is working from home working? Are you going to continue it after the pandemic subsides? Tell us in this week's brief, anonymous, 4-question survey. It will take you about two minutes to complete and we urge you to do so. We will publish the results in an early August issue. Click here to begin the 2-minute survey.
Private Duty Home Care: How do you deal with competition? TV ads? Yellow Page ads? Does your next client's adult daughter 1,000 miles away see them? In his ongoing series about how to bolster your online reputation to attract more phone calls from that adult daughter, Roger McManus explains, in detail, how to solicit and manage online reviews. He includes an argument to avoid paying for Google ads. If staying ahead of your competition is an issue, don't miss "Let Your Customers Write Your Advertising."
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Medicaid Providers: Another state has finalized its EVV decision. Congratulations to New York Medicaid for allowing home care providers to choose their own EVV vendor, as long as it can integrate with a data aggregator. Details in "NY State Announces "Choice" Model for EVV."
Watch out and be prepared! The Kaiser Family Foundation has determined that COVID-related unemployment is going to make millions more people eligible for Medicaid. Is your state going to be able to handle the influx? Are you? Read Darcey Trescone's analysis of the problem in "Potential Payer Changes and Considerations."
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Medicare Providers: Another CMS rule relaxation to help you cope with the pandemic is the we-hope-it's-not-temporary provision allowing Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants to sign home health documents. If you have weaned yourself from that bastion of 1980's technology, the fax machine, one of our industry's electronic signature software vendors has already released a version for documents signed by NPs and PAs. See our interview with SutureHealth founder Dr. Michael Blackstone.
PDGM: Wound care took on new importance this year. Homecare Homebase users and those considering signing on with them will be happy to learn of the Dallas-based vendor's new partnership with Swift Medical, a wound care software company with offices in Toronto and Chicago. See "Vendor Watch: Swift Medical Integrates Digital Wound Care Solution with Homecare Homebase."
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Thanks to all who joined me for part 2 of the webinar series I am hosting for HealthRev Partners, titled "COVID-19 Forum: How Coronavirus is Reshaping the Future of Home Health and Hospice. The discussion was lively and the information shared was invaluable. The third and final episode is set for Thursday, July 23 at 2:00pm EDT. The topic will be "Agency Leadership and Operations" and my panelists are all stars:
Have a great, healthy, and safe week. Keep making a difference! (And PLEASE take our survey!)
Let Your Customers Write Your Advertising
You read reviews before choosing a hotel or restaurant. What makes you think people do not read your reviews before calling you? Do you know how to leverage that social media era human trait?
Potential Payer Changes and Considerations
Kaiser Family Foundation: unemployment will send millions to Medicaid eligibility. States and care providers must prepare.
SutureHealth Launches Industry-First Enhanced Workflow for NP/PA Signing
NPs and PAs can now sign your documents. Here is one way to avoid fax and postage stamps so you get those signatures back quickly.
NY State Announces "Choice" Model for EVV
Finally, in May, New York Medicaid has chosen a model to comply with the EVV mandate that became law in January.
Vendor Watch: Swift Medical Integrates Digital Wound Care Solution with Homecare Homebase
Product integration said to enable high-quality, cost efficient care.
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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 38,324,000 Baby Boomers have become Medicare eligible. |
Last Week's Most-Read Stories:
Homecare Homebase and CipherHealth Form Partnership
Five Online Marketing Mistakes Home Care Agency Owners Make
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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
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