Volume 9, Number 50 — July 22, 2020
Dear Healthcare at Home Colleague,
Have you taken our survey yet? Many subscribers have taken the two minutes to answer our four questions and the results so far are enlightening. We want to know if working at home has worked out for you well enough that you are considering keeping it going after the pandemic subsides. Surprisingly, many early responders are saying yes, they might keep some staff at home indefinitely. Your input will help so much to make the results relevant. Please click here and invest two minutes of your time to advance knowledge for all of us.
FREE WEBINAR, EPISODE 3: Join me tomorrow for part 3 of the educational series sponsored by HealthRev Partners, titled "How Coronavirus is Reshaping the Future of Home Health and Hospice." In the third and final episode, agency owners, consultants, and a Revenue Cycle Management advisor will discuss "Agency Leadership and Operations." I am honored to moderate a prestigious panel including Bill Simione, Michael Greenlee, Thomas Rocas, Kevin Kelly, and Georgia Hockenjos. Thursday at 2:00 EDT. Register here.
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Home health sales: Speaking of adapting to COVID-19, staff writer Darcey Trescone dons her sales and marketing consultant hat and offers detailed suggestions that have worked for her clients. If you have anyone on your sales team who does not already subscribe, forward "Overcoming Sales Challenges During the COVID Pandemic" to them.
Home care marketing: Online marketing consultant Roger McManus continues his series helping home care agencies deal with competition. If your most urgent need is to achieve visibility in a crowded field, pay attention to his advice in "Dramatic Shifts in Online Visibility Impact Home Care Agencies."
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Hospice during COVID: If you agree with me that hospice nurses are candidates for sainthood, what would you call a nurse who teaches and counsels hospice nurses? Longtime hospice nurse, agency owner, and author Barbara Karnes, RN, published brilliant advice for her colleagues frustrated by the inability to see their hospice patients in person and gave us permission to share her article with you. That was not enough for us. We called Barbara and captured enough of her wisdom to merit a second article of its own. Every hospice worker needs to hear her recommendations for ways to care for the dying and their families, even when they will not permit you entry to their homes. Barbara's article is "How to Say Goodbye When You Are Not There." Our interview with her is titled "Expert Advises Hospices How to Adapt to Social Distancing."
Home Health Regulations: CMS seems to be growing weary of the pandemic too. Administrator Seema Verma has announced that Medicare audits and the Review Choice Demonstration will both pick up again on August 3. Providers in demonstration states will only have from August 3rd to the 17th to make their choice among three demonstration formats.
Lots of news this week but something for everyone. Pick one or two that are relevant to your world. And remember, we need and appreciate your feedback. Write to us with your comments at editor@homecaretechreport.com.
NEXT WEEK
Our July 29 issue will bring a major announcement about a new, free service coming your way from Rowan Consulting Associates, the publishers of this newsletter. Hint: not just free but could save you a lot of money. Watch your inbox!
Have a healthy week. Keep making a difference!
CMS News: Audits to Resume August 3
In response to concerns from providers and association representatives, CMS published a Q&A page about its plans to return to pre-pandemic regulations and routines.
How to Say Goodbye When You Are Not There
People today are dying alone. What can anyone say to their loved ones that might help? Award-winning hospice authority Barbara Karnes, RN, has some suggestions.
Expert Advises Hospices How to Adapt to Social Distancing
If you have been separated from someone who is dying, or if you work with families in that situation during our disastrous pandemic, take a moment to get to know Barbara Karnes, RN, one of our nation's most-respected hospice consultants.
Overcoming Sales Challenges During the COVID Pandemic
It is time to rethink sales and be more strategic in our approach to sales and marketing during this era of forced social distancing. Donning her sales consultant hat, Darcey Trescone shares strategies that have worked for her clients.
Dramatic Shifts in Online Visibility Impact Home Care Agencies
Over the last 24 months some significant changes in consumer behavior with regard to online consumer research. This particularly impacts home care where the industry is years behind in using this free resource of business.
Vendor Watch: New COVID-19 Tool
— Evolution Health partners with Dina to automate employee wellness checks amid coronavirus
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During the 4th Quarter of 2020, web sites of the above advertisers were visited by home care and hospice executives and staff 4319 times. To inquire about placing your message here, contact: Kristin@rowanresources.com As of this date, approximately 38,401,000 Baby Boomers have become Medicare eligible. |
Last Week's Most-Read Stories:
Let Your Customers Write Your Advertising
Vendor Watch: Swift Medical Integrates Digital Wound Care Solution with Homecare Homebase
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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 WEBINAR: The Future Home Health Patient: An Exclusive Conversation with Encompass Health’s Bud Langham
Sponsored by: Synzi
Date: February 25
Learn how Encompass Health is planning for post-pandemic patient care and evolving its use of virtual care to improve patient outcomes. During this upcoming session, Bud Langham, PT, MBA (Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at Encompass Health - Home Health and Hospice) will discuss what the future home health patient looks like post-COVID and how Encompass Health is preparing for the shift in care delivery.
Time: 12:00 PM EST
FREE WEBINAR: New, Science-Based Methodology Reduces Cost of Recruitment and Retention
Presented by: MiliMatch
Featuring: Eric Becker, CEO
Date: Thursday, February 25
Time: 3:00 pm EST; Noon PST
Information and Registration
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: 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
Homecare 100 *
Presented by: Lincoln Healthcare Leadership
Date: June 27-30, 2021
Venue: JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort, FL
https://www.homecare100.com/
*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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