Home Care Tech Report

You have read so many headlines like this one from a McAfee report: "How Cybercrime Will Cost the World $1 Trillion This Year," or our own from December 2: "Healthcare Prime Target for Pandemic Opportunist Cyber Attacks." You know something must be done. You know your organization could be next. But what can be done? How can the bad guys be stopped? Where to begin?

One place to start is today's free webinar, "Cybersecurity in Healthcare: Assess Threats & Reduce Your Risk," presented by one of our sponsors, Netsmart. Scroll down to read our preview interview with Mike Murray, Director of Plexus Technologies, a Netsmart division. He told us one frightening thing. All your firewalls and virus protection are for naught if one employee is persuaded to click on one phishing email. Behavior is the weak link in your network security system. Scroll down further to our "Upcoming Events" column to register for the webinar.

Just to emphasize the importance of this topic, we have surveyed recent literature and pulled together a half dozen headlines, with summaries, of technical articles warning you to take cyber-threats seriously. Healthcare has been hit by one-quarter of all hacking and phishing attacks. Firewalls and virus software are not enough. Scroll down to read the article we admit is explicitly designed to frighten you into action, "Not Convinced Yet? Cyber Security Warnings are Everywhere."

You have also read these headlines: "Care Worker Shortage to Grow Worse," or "Burnout Pushing Nurses to Leave the Profession." We have been running a series of articles about staffing issues, and will continue over the coming months. This week's entry takes what might seem to be a left turn but it will make sense soon. Have you come across the field known as "Cognitive Linguistics?" One of the leaders in the field is James Pennebaker, the Regents Centennial Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. We will tell you about him and his research, and how it can help you hire the right people and, more importantly, avoid hiring the wrong ones. This first article explores the science. Next week, we will tell you in detail about a company that has harnessed it. Scroll down to "Bad Hire Can Cost Up To $8,000."

Competition in Home Care: Guest authors David Cole and Tony Onaissi shared with us an article they wrote making a strong case for using Customer Relationship Management software in private duty agencies. We have always thought of CRM as a Medicare agency's tool but they say it is time to pull out every available tool to increase your competitive position. Scroll down to the cleverly titled, "Yes, Home Care Does Need A CRM."

Predicting 2021: Everyone who published forecasts a year ago about home care in 2020 wishes they could delete those writings and pretend they never happened. However, we are now hearing more optimism about 2021 from industry leaders. This week's interview is with Adrian Schauer, CEO and founder of AlayaCare.

Speaking of competition, do not forget that you can contact our subsidiary, Rowan Reputation Resources, for help strengthening your online visibility. Remember, that adult child looking for services for a parent does live nearby. They will search Google and read reviews before they ever call a home care agency. If you are invisible online, RRR can help.

Upcoming Events

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
Information and Registration
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
Information and Registration
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, AlayaCare
Date: Wednesday, January 27
Time: 1:00 EST

Information and Registration
Agenda
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: 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 EST
Information and Registration
Join 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.

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
Register

2021, in many ways, is a continuation of challenges from 2020 and more! During this webinar, experts from companies with solutions for talent/retention and compliance issues, along with the continued challenges that COVID-19 has presented to our industry, will cover rules, regulations, and programs you need to stay on top of so your company can thrive amidst the pandemic.

2021 Home Care and Hospice Conference and Expo *
National Association for Home Care and Hospice
Date: October 3-5
Venue: New Orleans
Sadly, this conference has had to be postponed, due to the hurricane in New Orleans and COVID situation in Louisiana.

FREE WEBINAR: Targeted Probe & Educate: Where Do You Stand?
Presented by: Healthcare Synergy
Featuring: Michael Tidd, COS-C, HCS-D, HealthCare Synergy Clinical Manager
Date: Wednesday, November 3
Time: 11:00 am PDT / 2:00 pm EDT
Register

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:

Describe items CMS uses to locate agencies with irregular practices
Verbalize MAC rates needed to pass a Targeted Probe and Educate
Discuss actions required after a denial, and what occurs if an agency fails Targeted Probe and Educate.

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.

FREE WEBINAR: Admit more Patients & Stop Nursing Burnout!
Presented by: OperaCare
Date: November 10
Time: 1:00 pm EST; 10:00 PST
Information and Registration

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

Register Here
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.

*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.

FREE WEBINAR: Combat the Great Resignation and Reduce Employee Turnover by 40%
Presented by: National Minority Health Association
Date: Tuesday, May 24
Time: 10:00 AM Pacific; 1:00 PM Eastern
Information and Registration

Agenda
As organizations plan for the future, they must cultivate a happier, healthier workforce. Most CEOs, CFOs, HR professionals, and other business leaders are eager to know the true impact of financial wellness. We are gathering to discuss and explore how prioritizing employee financial wellness can help increase caregiver retention and productivity at no cost to your businesses.

Gulf Coast Regional Conference & Exposition
Presented by: Home Care Associations of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama
Date: July 18-20
Venue: Grand Hotel Marriott Resort
Location: Point Clear, Alabama
Information and Registration

2022 NAHC Financial Management Conference & Exposition *
Date: July 24-26
Venue: Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas
Information and Registration

Register for the in-person conference - starting at $750 for NAHC members or $1,025 for non-members - or for the digital only content - $400 for members and $600 for non-members. If you register for the in-person conference, you'll get access to all of the digital content.

2022 ONC Virtual Tech Forum

Sponsored by: Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT
Location: Online
Dates: September 9, 16, and 23
Information and Registration
ONC has posted the high-level agenda and opened up registration for the 2022 ONC Virtual Tech Forum on HealthIT.gov. This year's event takes place during three consecutive Fridays in September (9th, 16th, 23rd). As in years past, the Tech Forum will feature industry perspectives on the progress made in health IT over the past year, and highlight how we can continue to advance health technology to improve patient care, health equity, data exchange, and interoperability.

MHCA 52nd Annual Meeting & Expo
Sponsored by: Minnesota Home Care Association
Date: October 12-14
Venue: Breezy Point Resort
City: Breezy Point, MN
Information and Registration

2022 NAHC Annual Meeting & Exposition *
"Connection 4.0: Linkup"
Date: October 23-25
Venue: America's Center Convention Complex
Location: St. Louis, MO
Information and Registration
This year, we want to celebrate one of the most meaningful touchstones of our industry — connection. At the Home Care and Hospice Conference and Expo, we'll explore ideas around connection and community to help attendees reach their stakeholders in authentic and meaningful ways.
New technology, workforce developments, and the importance of high standards in quality care continue to push our community of clinicians and providers to revamp their strategies and skill sets. This event is the meeting point for you to uncover groundbreaking ideas, discover new interests, and network with industry pros.
Meet us in St. Louis, Missouri, once known as the "Gateway to the West." So, it is perfectly centered to make those connections even easier for members and attendees from all ends of the U.S. We look forward to linking up with you this October!

2022 Annual Conference
New Mexico Association for Home and Hospice Care
Date: November 3
Venue: CNM Workforce Training Center
City: Albuquerque
Information and Registration
Featuring:
Lisa McClammy on "Navigating the New World of Home Health Value-Based Purchasing"
Petria McKelvey on "Medicare Advantage & Third Party Payers: How to Get Paid!"
Tim Rowan on "Technologies to Improve Staff Recruiting & Retention"

20th Annual Northeast Home Health Leadership Summit
Sponsored by: State Associations of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York (HCA), New York (HCP), Rhode Island, VNAs of Vermont
Dates: January 17-19
Venue: Revere Hotel, Boston

Information and Registration

Homecare 100 *
Presented by: Lincoln Healthcare Leadership
Date: January 22-25, 2023
Venue: Ritz-Carlton, Orlando, Grande Lakes, FL

Registration Information

Shine Your Light
Illinois HomeCare & Hospice Council Annual Meeting and Exposition
Dates: April 9-10
Venue: NIU Naperville
Information and Registration

FREE WEBINAR: CMS’ Proposed Hospice FY2024 Payment Rule: Implications for Agencies and the Hospice Community
Sponsored by NAHC
Featuring: Theresa Forster, Katie Wehri
Date: April 11
Time: 12:00 - 1:30 EDT
Details and Registration

Description: In addition to routine annual payment changes, CMS proposed FY2024 Hospice Payment Rule, issued on March 31, contains valuable updates on the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP). Perhaps most notable, the rule's deep dive into utilization trends signals an intensified interest in hospice care patterns, potentially inappropriate behavior in the hospice sector, and program integrity concerns. Join two of NAHC's hospice experts as they detail proposed changes, including a new requirement that hospice certifying physicians be Medicare enrolled (or to have validly opted-out) and CMS' Requests for Information on hospice utilization and health equity, and examine their potential impact on hospice practice going forward.
Faculty: Theresa M. Forster, NAHC VP for Hospice Policy & Programs
Katie Wehri, NAHC Director of Home Health & Hospice Regulatory Affairs

WEBINAR: Audits: What to Do
A 90-minute Lunch & Learn Audio Conference by Elizabeth E. Hogue, Esq. Health Care Attorney
Date: Thursday, April 6
Time: 1:00 - 2:30 EDT
Encore date: April 13
On-demand recording available 24/7
Option to purchase recording and handouts

Information and Registration

Audio-Conference Description: Home care providers of all types; including home health agencies, private duty agencies, hospices and HME companies; remain targets of audits by various regulators, including but certainly not limited to United Program Integrity Contractors (UPICs). The results of these audits can be devastating because they may threaten the ability of providers to remain in business, especially when overpayments are extrapolated to millions of dollars. Audits of all types must be taken seriously and providers must take action to close audits as quickly as possible! The first thing providers must do is to review records requested by auditors.
What must providers do when reviews show deficiencies in documentation?
When and how can providers amend or supplement records prior to submission to auditors?
Should providers send summaries to auditors along with patient records?
The purpose of this teleconference is to give providers detailed steps to follow to avoid adverse consequences of audits. Examples of common issues targeted by auditors will be provided and there will be time for questions and answers.

First Joint Conference of the Carolinas
Association for Home & Hospice Care of North Carolina & South Carolina Home Care & Hospice Association
Dates: April 23-26
Venue: Westin
City: Charlotte
Information and Registration

Rise Above!
Michigan Home Care & Hospice Association Annual Conference
Dates: May 3-5
Venue: Grand Traverse Resort & Spa
Registration and Information
The theme for the Conference is “RISE ABOVE” a fitting recognition of the challenges our industry and each of you overcame in your personal lives and professional careers to navigate the challenges of the past three years.
The MHHA conference presents an opportunity to meet new friends and reacquaint with peers. What better place to rise above, than at the spacious and beautiful Grand Traverse Resort & Spa? This conference has a little bit for every service line and discipline. Wednesday offers a track for Volunteer Managers and Thursday offers a track for Palliative Care as well as many other sessions for Certified Home Health, Hospice, DME and Private Duty Home Care.

2023 Annual Home Health & Hospice Conference
Homecare and Hospice Association of Utah
Date: May 10-11

City: Sandy
Attendee Registration
Exhibitor/Sponsor Registration

2023 Rocky Mountain Home Care, Home Health & Hospice Conference *Presented by: Home Care and Hospice Association of Colorado
Dates: May 18-19
Venue: Beaver Creek

Information and Registration for Attendees and Exhibitors

Home Care Innovation Forum*Presented by: The Influence Group
Dates: June 4-6
Venue: Park Hyatt Aviara
City: Carlsbad, CA

Information and Registration
Featured Speakers:
Mark King, CEO, Taco Bell
Darryl "DMC" McDaniels
David Causby, President & CEO, Gentiva
Susan Benoit, CEO & President, CenterWell Home Health
Bruce Greenstein, EVP, LHC Group
Bill Dombi, President, NAHC
Partial list of topics:
AI-enabled Remote Patient Monitoring
Recruitment/Retention strategies
AI and Automation for Better Hiring
Developing an Effective MA Strategy
The Future of Telehealth
Taking on Risk

HI2: Home Care Innovation and Investment Conference *Presented by: Lincoln Healthcare Leadership
Dates: June 12-14
Venue: Swissotel
City: Chicago

Information and Registration
Featured Speakers:
Vin Gupta, CMO, Amazon
Patrick Conway, MD, CEO, Care Solutions
Kevin Ban, MD, Global CMO, Walgreens
Andy Slavitt, Founder, Town Hall Ventures, former CMS Administrator

leading ONE vision
Homecare Homebase User Group Meeting
Dates: June 12-14
Venue: Sheraton Dallas Hotel
Information and Registration
Clinical Education Credits
Nationally recognized speakers, eight clinical sessions. Clinicians are encouraged to sign up for the clinical sessions, but are free to jump between clinical and non-clinical topics. Clinical topics include a homecare focus on Wound Care, Value Based Purchasing, Clinical Leadership, conflict resolution, Quality Report, Oasis and more.
Featured Speakers:
Mark Scharenbroich: Award Winning Author, Emmy Award® Winner for an ABC TV special, National Speakers Association Hall of Fame Inductee, Golden Apple and Silver Screen Film award for his movie, "The Greatest Days of Your Life…(so far)," International film festival award winner.

David Glickman: David has been a professional speaker and entertainer for over twenty years and has presented over 2000 programs. Before transitioning from "show business" to "speech business," he worked with everyone from Steve Martin to Ellen DeGeneres and performed at private parties for singer Gloria Estefan and former President Jimmy Carter. He also appeared on "Evening At The Improv" and several other national television shows.

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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