Volume 9, Number 50 — September 30, 2020
Dear Healthcare at Home Colleague,
We told you about it last week, and we are digging into it a little more deeply today. CMS provided emergency supplemental payments to Medicare providers early in the pandemic, with the promise that they would need to report how they spent the funds if they had accepted $150,000 or more. Late last month, a surprise announcement emerged from CMS changing the upper limit to $10,000. Read Darcey Trescone's analysis of your new reporting requirements in our lead article, "PRF Reporting Requirements and Potential Audits."
Non-medical providers will be interested in the announcement from AlayaCare about its new integration with background screening service supplier ClearStar. The integration will streamline onboarding and occasional background checks for AlayaCare customers. Click below on "AlayaCare Integrates Background Screening Service Supplier."
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We were told about two Remote Patient Monitoring announcements this week. These new products will be useful to both home care and home health providers. First, do not miss our interview with Dr. Kerry, the Chief Gerontologist at GrandPad. Kerry Burnight, PhD, taught us about the relationship between isolation and physical health, especially for seniors. GrandPad has added music to its patient communications tablet.
Every type of in-home care provider will want to hear about Aloe Care's announcement. The PERS provider has freed users from a limited area by adding GPS-enabled 4G LTE PERS device. Find this week's Vendor Watch column below.
In addition to the surprise we mentioned above, CMS also made a Medicaid announcement this week. The 33 states in the "Money Follows the Person" demonstration will be getting an extra $5 million to enable more patients to move from residential facilities to their own homes. See "Medicaid News: New Funding Released for SNF-to-Home Transitions."
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Citus Health partnered with Porter Research to study hospice family preferences. They discovered that 80% of families would select a hospice provider that offers one particular type of technology over other hospice choices. If you are a hospice in a tight competitive market, you will find Porter's findings a real find. We summarize in "Citus Health Announces Groundbreaking Hospice Family Caregiver Research," and we make the entire survey report available in our shared whitepaper section. To find it, go to our home page at homecaretechreport.com and scroll down to "Partner News."
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We wanted to make sure the Porter Research survey mentioned above gets the attention it deserves, so we arranged to present a webinar with the folks at Citus Health. Click here to register for our free webinar, set for October 8 at 2:00 EDT. I will be joined by Citus Health founder and CEO Melissa Kozak, RN, CRNI, and company VP Rob Stoltz. The details of the study will help not only hospice but all in-home care providers.
"PREPARATION FOR A NEW NORMAL: INFECTION CONTROL" is a free webinar hosted by our friends at Savii. It is set for Tuesday, October 20, at 1:00 PM EDT. The instructor will be James Cohen, founder and CEO of Nevvon, an online education service. James' educational background is in finance and healthcare, while his business experience has been in the delivery of healthcare. Before starting Nevvon, James founded and exited a technology-enabled home care provider which serviced 2 countries and 3 States. Click here for more information.
Have a great week, stay healthy. Keep making a difference!
PRF Reporting Requirements and Potential Audits
CMS has changed the rules after the game began. If you took emergency COVID funds, learn these new reporting rules and deadlines.
A Rowan Report Interview: GrandPad Radio; "Not Just For COVID" Anymore
Dr. Kerry Burnight, PhD. is the Chief Gerontologist at GrandPad. After a career studying loneliness and depression in older adults, and presenting her findings at a White House conference, she spoke with us about the effect of isolation on health.
Medicaid News: New Funding Released for SNF-to-Home Transitions
CMS Announces New Federal Funding for 33 States to Support Transitioning Individuals from Nursing Homes to the Community. "Our goal must always be to keep our loved ones in their own homes and communities for as long as possible." —Seema Verma
Citus Health Announces Groundbreaking Hospice Family Caregiver Research
Porter Research Finding: 80% of family caregivers would choose one hospice over another based on the ability to effectively communicate In real time.
AlayaCare Integrates Background Screening Service Supplier
Employee background checks can be a hassle. AlayaCare's integration with ClearStar may alleviate some of the pain.
Vendor Watch
— Aloe Care Adds GPS-Enabled, Remote PERS
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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 39,171,000 Baby Boomers have become Medicare eligible. |
Last Week's Most-Read Stories:
Recipients of HHS Provider Relief Fund Payments Surprised by New Use Guidance
SwyftOps Enters the Non-Medical Software Arena
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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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