Sessions

Don’t miss out on this information packed industry update with Bill Dombi, President, National Association for Home Care and Hospice! With changes hitting agencies from all directions, Bill helps clear the path for agencies to address issues and stay operating as strong as ever.

*Workforce improvement action plans

*2023 HHPPS Rate Update Rule and Advocacy Strategies

* Hospice FY2023 Payment Rule

*OIG, UPIC, MAC, and SA Activity: The Alphabet Soup of Oversight

*Private Duty Home Care Issue Landscape

*Medicaid: Build Back Better? Is there life?

This session will educate attendees on new higher-acuity, home-based care models, update them on the latest legislative and regulatory environments and review certain operational considering for any companies looking to participate in these new models of care.

Due to an aging population and improvements in healthcare and the diagnosis, treatment, and/or management of disease, many older people suffer from more than 1 illness. The most common comorbid chronic conditions that occur include heart disease, hypertension, respiratory disease, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes, joint disease, sensory impairment, and mental health problems. In order to optimize interventions and policies addressing multi-morbidity, we must have a clear understanding of the relationship between multi-morbidity and quality of care. In this session we will discuss best practices around dealing with comorbidities of the elderly population and what your agency can do to succeed with management of these patients.

Older Americans with chronic illness and other maladies of aging insist on remaining as independent as possible and aging in place. This presents the Private Duty arena with enormous opportunities. How can Private Duty agencies set themselves apart? What innovations have you yet to capitalize on? Industry experts will discuss several opportunities that your organization can take advantage of to serve your communities better while also increasing the value of your organization and having meaningful positive impacts on your bottom line. This session will touch on the top three business opportunities for Private Duty agencies and help your organization become a trailblazer.

Expanding rapidly, Medicare Advantage networks in twenty-one states and Puerto Rico are participating in the Value Based Insurance Design Model for hospice. It is important now more than ever to understand the VBID Model for hospice, how it will impact hospice organizations as well as the ins and outs of working with participating Medicare Advantage Plans. Beginning with the why and moving through reimbursement, this session will bring the VBID Hospice Component into focus while providing strategies to be successful when partnering with Medicare Advantage plans.

Have you checked your PEPPER? Did you even know you have a PEPPER? CMS uses PEPPER as a guide for auditing and monitoring efforts. Although it does not identify improper payments, it can be used to identify practices that may lead that way. Petria will assist you in utilizing the PEPPER for identifying and correcting behaviors around the Review Choice Demo and TPE. PEPPER identifies your agencies’ bad behavior that shows you how you may be red flagging yourself to CMS and OIG. For CY2020 in Texas, only 34% of home health agencies have downloaded their reports.  Of the available 1,667 reports available, only 571 reports have been downloaded.  Nationwide the download rate is 48%. 

Mergers & Acquisitions have been in full swing for a while now and many agencies are expanding by acquisition.  This session will review the financial considerations involved when an agency is bought or sold.  We'll discuss the difference between a Stock Purchase and an Asset Purchase as well as what information should be available and presentable for any potential acquisition - both from the seller's perspective and the buyers'.  For those not looking to sell soon, we'll also discuss steps you can take now to increase your potential sales price and attractiveness to buyers down the line.  Even if you never sell, being prepared to do so sets you up as a successful agency.

In these times of COVID, the US Economy, increased gas prices, expiration of 1115 Medicaid Waiver and more, how are community care agencies coping in these uncertain times? This collaborative session will discuss the most common actions that community care agencies have taken to stay in the game.  This will include discussion on new workforce solutions, best practices for recruiting, along with how innovations have played a key factor in many areas of the business. Participants will also learn how to compete for the MCO market by bringing value and solutions to the bargaining table together with those metrics essential to Value Bases contraction.

Are you new to hospice or managing social workers for the first time? Are you unsure what social workers can do in hospice beyond resource referral? This presentation will review the qualifications for social workers in the hospice setting as-well-as review scope of practice. During this presentation we will also discuss skills necessary to determine competency and discuss possible scenarios where social workers can intervene.

Many of us awaited the proposed rule expecting that PPH would not only be part of the Quality Measures but added to the HHVBP model; it was not. Although PPH is not yet part of VBP, join us as we talk about why it will be eventually added to VBP and what your organization can begin to do today to prepare for what PPH will measure and how it will affect your Total Performance score when added.  In this session, we will review how calculations work and the vulnerabilities that PPH will bring to light.  Start today with strategies to reduce Acute Hospitalizations and thrive in VBP.

Many agencies are looking for more and more ways to trim the expenses from their overhead and therefore recognize a stronger bottom line profit.  One significant cost savings they take advantage of is outsourcing work that can easily be outsourced while leaving the owners and operators in control of their businesses.  There are many back office functions that can be outsourced such as payroll, billing and QA – but accounting is an often overlooked back office function that can also be easily outsourced to provide the agency a better bottom line, reduced administrative staff costs and less back office management needed.  Not only can this be a cost savings but it can also really simplify the operations – less staff to manage and knowing that someone who is skilled at that activity is handling it.
In this session we will discuss which scenarios make the most sense to outsource the accounting function of the agency, how it works and what solutions are out there to assist in finding the right mix of outsourcing the work but still maintaining control.

There is no question that the last few years have pushed caregivers and staff to their limits. Join noted AXXESS speakers, Lisa Malone and Brian Nelson, as they discuss the importance of utilizing mental health resources and support for all those involved in pediatric care. Don’t miss out on this crucial information to take back to your agency! 

The pandemic has forced hospice organizations to stretch their resources to their breaking point.  We are seeing an escalation of early retirements, staff taking travelling contracts to gain higher pay and more work from home job opportunities.  Organizations must focus efforts on creating a culture of inclusion, treating employees as their #1 customer and maximizing recruiting techniques to create high powered teams.  Join this engaging workshop to transform your workplace into a place of abundance and learn the role of hospice front-line managers on the viability of your team's success.