Essential Training At Your Finger Tips

MS has focused much of their recent health care reform efforts on costly and inefficient elements of traditional care delivery under the Medicare model. One of the greatest cost concerns of the care continuum is the rate of hospital readmissions; particularly those patients who return to the hospital within 30 days of discharge. These patients, who are unable to complete their care episodes in the community due to medical concerns, nearly double the cost of the episode when they are readmitted to the hospital. Beginning October 1, hospitals were penalized for readmissions that occur for specific diagnoses, and this will continue to the eventual ACO/Bundling models, where readmissions will be effectively un-funded for hospital providers. This webinar series will address the topic of costly readmissions, how some hospitals are preparing to address these concerns, the role of post-acute home health providers in reducing the rate of re-hospitalizations, and ideas on how to address patients traditionally readmitted to acute care. In addition, specific diagnoses will be vetted for focused and effective interventions that can reduce returns to acute care hospitals. Readmission rates are expected to decline to single digit levels over the next decade, and the time to prepare your staff and care protocols to achieve these levels is now. Course instructors - Arnie Cisneros & Linda Alexander Read More

We will look at the top ten deficiencies that are tripping up even the best providers, offering guidance based on examples from many successful organizations from across the nation. Excellence should be shamelessly copied.  We will focus on how to implement real world strategies to ensure your home care organization is in compliance with Florida State Regulations, CMS’s CoPs and Accreditation standards. Effective July 1, 2014, CMS is scheduled to begin imposing civil monetary penalties on HHAs for either the number of days the agency is not in compliance with the CoPs, or for each instance the agency is not in compliance.  Now, more than ever, it pays to focus on proven compliance strategies before the surveyors are standing at your front door! Course instructor - Barbara Muntz Read More

Approximately 20% of Medicare beneficiaries experience a rehospitalization within 30 days of discharge, resulting in significant patient stress and cost to our health care system. In this session, Ms. Kramer will discuss readmission trends in Florida and the United States, and examine the most frequently identified causes of readmissions. The financial impact will be discussed as well as successful strategies to improve care transitions from hospitals to home care. Course instructor - Beth Kramer Read More

On January 25, 2013, the Federal Register published the final HHS Omnibus HIPAA rules to modify the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Breach Notification and enforcement rules. These “Mega HIPAA” modifications implement most of the privacy and security provisions of the HITECH Act and relevant provisions of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. These new rules markedly change the obligations imposed on home health agencies, business associates, and business associate subcontractors. The rules are effective as of March 26, 2013 and providers must comply with the final rules by September 23, 2013. Participate in this webinar and you will learn about the HIPAA changes that your agency needs to pay attention to.  Speakers, Cheryl Leslie and Pam Meliso, will review the important components including deadlines, breach notification, business associates, enforcement, penalties, privacy, security and genetic information. Learn the action steps your agency should take now, including revising current policies, procedures, practices and workforce training. We will also discuss how to incorporate a HIPAA compliance program into your existing audit compliance program. Don’t miss this timely topic from a convenient location of your choice! Save time and travel expenses by participating in this online event. Course instructors - Cheryl Leslie and Pam Meliso Read More

As home health agencies continue to struggle with timely documentation and the capture of accurate clinical data, we look to technology to solve these problems. Explore the different point of care devices and related services that have helped agencies to overcome these challenges. We will discuss the benefits of technology, as well as a case study of a real agency who has shared their decision-making path from selection to implementation of point of care devices. Couse instructor - David Tapia Read More

This session is geared toward the home health clinician who will be documenting the patient’s assessments and visit notes in a new way. We will discuss and stress how much importance ICD-10-CM places on “specificity”. The attendee will not only learn how to identify common home health diagnosis, but also how to think about them in a new way. We will discuss the changes that first need to occur in the mind of the clinician allowing them to choose the most appropriate code under the new rules. Course instructor - Laura Waddle Read More