Author: Tom Meyer

Tom Meyer is the Alliance's Membership Coordinator and Webmaster. His email address is tmeyer@thinkhomecare.org.

New CHAMP Courses in Geriatric & Pain Management

The Home Care Alliance is pleased to announce our partnership with CHAMP, an exciting new benefit for our members.  CHAMP Collaboration for Homecare Advances in Management and Practice is a unique national initiative designed to advance home care excellence for older people.  CHAMP’s web site www.champ-program.org is a one-stop resource for home care professionals and includes expert advice, downloadable practice tools, and online educational courses and activities all to be used for improving the quality of home-based patient care.

CHAMP currently offers two web-based courses for frontline home care managers: Geriatric Medication Management and Geriatric Pain Management.  These courses are designed to give managers the skills and tools they need to help their clinical team improve the quality of care for older home care patients.  Registration is now open for both courses scheduled to begin on April 26th.  Home Care Alliance receive a $40 discount, bringing the total cost per course to $109.

To learn more about the courses and to register online, click here or contact Thomas Bow, CHAMP Liaison, at 212-609-5767 or thomas.bow@vnsny.org.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

2010 Home Care STAR Awards

There are too few opportunities to celebrate the exceptional accomplishments of the everyday heroes who make such an incredible difference in the lives of their patients and clients. A Home Care STAR Award brings some well-deserved recognition for both the individual and the agency they work for. To nominate a colleague via printable form or electronically, visit or Home Care STAR Awards page on the Alliance’s website.

Award Categories include:

  • Clinician of the Year
  • Physician of the Year
  • Manager of the Year
  • Aide of the Year
  • Legislator of the Year
  • Home Care Champion

This year we are inviting clients, families, physicians, and case managers to tell us about the home care stars who have touched your lives.  Winners will be announced at the Alliance’s 2010 Annual Meeting on Wednesday, June 9, 2010, at the Sturbridge Host Hotel; nominations are due by April 16, 2010.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

So You Want To Start A Home Care Agency?

So You Want To Start A Home Care Agency?Home care is one of the fastest-growing segments of the health & human services industries. Owning a home care agency can provide you with a meaningful and profitable career where you can be your own boss, make your own decisions, and decide your own future.

A successful homecare agency requires a careful business plan that considers start-up costs, local demand and  competition, workforce recruitment, and marketing. And like all new businesses, new home care agencies have a high attrition rate during their first few years.

So You Want To Start A Home Care Agency? will answer your basic questions, help you think through the necessary steps, and provide you with links and references to additional information sources.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Free Emerg. Prep Guide w/order of Standards of Care Handbook

Through the end of March, Alliance members who order our Standards of Home Health Clinical Practice Manual will receive a free copy of Home Health Care Emergency Preparedness Handbook.

Standards of Home Health Clinical Practice The Standards of  Practice manual represents the professional consensus of experienced home health practitioners in the fields of nursing, physical therapy, hospice, and quality improvement.  Each standard was developed by a subcommittee and reviewed by the full workgroup and subject-matter experts.  Each order includes a printed copy of the manual, as well as a CD containing the complete text in an Adobe PDF format.  The table of contents is available for preview

The Standards of Practice Manual normally retails for $225, but is available to Alliance members for just $65.

The Alliance developed the Standards of Home Health Clinical Practice Home Health Care Emergency Preparedness Handbook jointly with the Department of Public Health.

This essential reference not only covers what home care agencies can do to protect and care for their own clients in an emergency, but also details how their unique skills and knowledge base can help their entire communities.

Like the Standards of Care Manual, the Emergency Preparedness Handbook is neatly bound in a sturdy ring folder. The table of contents is also available for preview.

To order a copy of both guides, sign into our website and order a copy of the Standards of Care Manual; we will include a copy of the Emergency Preparedness Handbook at no additional charge.  To order just a copy of the Emergency Preparedness Handbook, call HCA Membership coordinator Tom Meyer at (617) 482-8830.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Alliance Releases New Pediatric Guide

Though home care is often thought of as exclusively for elders, its services actually benefit a much wider demographic.

With this in mind, the Alliance is pleased to announce the publication of the inaugural edition of the Guide to Pediatric Home Care Services.  The Guide lists Alliance members who offer specialty programs in pediatric home care.   The agencies listed in this directory self-reported the services they provide.

The Guide is available for free download directly to your computer; hard copies are also available for order.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

2010 Resource Directory Available For Pre-Order

The 2010 Massachusetts Home Care Resource Directory is now available for pre-order on our Alliance’s website.  Copies will begin shipping by the end of the month.

combines thoroughness with ease-of-use to give you the best guide to home care services in Massachusetts.  If you’re a nurse, social worker, GCM, or anyone else who needs to find the best home care agency to fit your patient’s needs, this is the one resource you need.

The Resource Directory lists our 164 agency members alphabetically, complete with full contact information and a description of the services they offer.  It also contains a detailed town-by-town cross reference that lets you find local agencies can provide service to your patient.  Sample pages are available here.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

2010 Spring Conference and Trade Show

Save the date!  The our annual Spring Conference & Trade Show is scheduled for June 9-10 at the Sturbridge Host Hotel in Sturbridge, MA.  This is the Alliance’s largest annual event, attracting more than 200 home care leaders from around the state.

Companies interested in exhibiting or sponsoring the conference can learn about available opportunities by downloading the Call for Exhibitors & Sponsors, which is also available on the conference’s webpage.  Likewise, anyone interested in speaking at the conference can download the Call for Presentations, also available on the conference’s page.

A provisional schedule of events will be available by the end of February.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

New Member Benefits Guide Available

Members of the Home Care Alliance are eligible for substantial discounts on a variety of goods and services through from our Preferred Vendors.  From insurance policies, to office and medical supplies, to telephone answering, to financial services — just to name a few! — we’ve screened and vetted companies who will provide you with superior service and discounted rates.

The most recent edition of our Guide to Benefits is now available for download.  A searchable directory of our Allied Members & Preferred Vendors is also available on our website.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Private Care Guide 2nd Edition Available

The Alliance has printed a second edition of the  2010 Guide to Private Home Care Services.  The new edition — of which there are 2,000 copies — includes five new agencies, for a total of 113.

The Guide is available free of charge, with no shipping fees on orders of less than 50 copies, on our website or by order form.  It is also available for digital download.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org

More OASIS-C Updates

We’ve posted PDF-version of three PowerPoint presentations from CMS OASIS-C implementation calls on the OASIS-C page.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.