Category: Membership

President’s Remarks at Annual Meeting 2013

The following are the remarks of Home Care Alliance President Beverly Pavasaris to the members at the 2013 Annual Meeting.

medicare discharges
Discharge Disposition, Massachusetts Medicare Beneficiaries, 2012

Welcome to the 2012/13 Annual Meeting.  It’s both a pleasure and an honor to be serving in a second year as Alliance President .  This year I am pleased to say we had tremendous interest  from the membership  in serving on the Board.  I am delighted to welcome our new Board members,  all of whom are already leaders in their own organizations and anyone of whom could be prepared to take the helm of the Alliance if asked.  I also extend my thanks to those Board members who will be continuing on for another year, your advice and counsel have been welcome. And,  I would like to recognize Joanne Kramer, VNA Care Network; Kathleen McDonough, Community Health Network and Bob Tonti, VNS of Marthas Vineyard, who are leaving the Board. Thank you for your service.

As we end one Alliance fiscal year and embark on another, let me just give you a few  facts and figures on home care today in Mass.  Firs, on the Home Care Alliance:

We have 208 Agency, 54 Allied and 12 individual members

The average size of non-certified member agency:  $1.4m

The average size of certified member agency:  $8.8m

The increase in Alliance total dues , FY09 – FY12:   25%

Total revenue of members:  Has  now passed one billion dollars!

*         $895million (certified)

*         $155 million (non certified)

Just a few facts on the non-certified home care business.    These come from a survey that we co-marketed with the Home Care Association of America.  The first slide shows our state’s average per hourly billing rates compared to national northeast and industry leaders.  No surprise we are slightly higher .

The next shows our turnover rates, which to our credit are remarkably lower.  I am not sure if these two are linked but certainly the fact that turnover rates that are almost 20% lower than the  national are a credit to us as employers and a benefit to our patients.

Just a few facts on the Medicare certified business. This chart, which is Medicare data based,  shows that  almost 25% of Medicare beneficiaries leaving hospital are referred for home health services.  This number, to our credit , is almost 8% higher than the national average of just under 17%.  By the way, this also means  in our state that we have far fewer people who are reported going home with no services.  The national number according to Masspro Medicare data is 51%

This second to last slide just gives you a different look at some similar data that show that per capita use of home health in Mass is higher than the national average – and the highest by the way, in New England .. The closest to us   is Connecticut where the use per 1000 beneficiaries is 109.  The highest per capita usage –is 144, which no surprise is the number for Florida, TX and LA.

My final slide comes from a home care chart book that a subcommittee of our Board has been working on with some facts and examples about how home health delivers value in health care today.  This slide set will soon be posted to our website for all members to download and adapt as they would like.  I hope that you will find it useful.

Again thank you all for joining us here today and for standing up for home care by being active members in the Home Care Alliance.  As always, I and the other Board members welcome your feedback.

Nominations Open For Innovation Showcase

Our Time To Shine

The Alliance will be honoring our members’ best and brightest again at our annual Innovations Showcase & Star Awards program on April 17th, at the fabulous Revere Hotel in Boston.

Nominations in all categories are open through February 26.  Don’t miss this opportunity to have your best programs and colleagues publicly recognized!

Nomination Categories

Innovation Showcase

  • Patient Care and Services
  • Operations Management/Streamlining
  • Community Outreach or Advocacy
  • Cross-Continuum Collaboration
  • Human Resources/Staff Education

Star Awards

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

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

2013 Private Care Guides Available

The Alliance will begin shipping copies of its new 2013 Guide to Private Home Care Services next week.

The Guide is designed to educate clients and families about their private home care options and to help them choose from our 132 member agencies that accept private pay, including those who have completed our Agency Accreditation Program.  Contents include:

  • Introduction:
    • Understanding What Home Care Is;
    • Understanding the Agency Advantage (New!);
    • Assessing Your Needs;
    • Exploring Payment Options;
    • Knowing About Agency Accreditation;
    • Finding & Interviewing Agencies;
  • Agency Profiles of 132 Private Care Agencies
  • County-By-County Cross Reference

The Alliance will ship copies of the Guide to all members, as well as every hospital case management office, Aging Service Access Point (ASAP), Council on Aging (COA), Geriatric Care Manager (GCM), Veterans’ Center, and dozens of other referral sources. Additional copies are available for order on our website, as is a downloadable PDF version. Guides are always available free of charge with no shipping charges on copies of 50 or less.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Enhanced Agency GoogleMap Now Available

With 200 member agencies across the state, there’s a Home Care Alliance member near just about everyone.

Now, the Alliance is pleased to announce an improved referral tool to show exactly how close on GoogleMaps:


By clicking on an icon, the map provides contact information about each member while letting you know whether it accepts Private Care, is Medicare Certified, and/or Accredited by the Home Care Alliance.

In it’s current form, the map shows the physical locations of our members.  To do a detailed search by Service Area — i.e., where agencies actually serve — and service type, you can still rely on our Find-An-Agency Search.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

CMS Home Health/Hospice Open Door Forum Tomorrow

The next CMS Home Health, Hospice, & DME Open Door Forum is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, July 10, 2012 at 2:00pm ET.

To participate in this conference call, please dial (800) 837-1935 and use the conference ID 52259092. Participants are not required to RSVP and are asked to dial in at least 15 minutes prior to the call start time.

2012 Annual Report: This We Know For Sure

The Alliance’s 2012 Annual report This We Know For Sure is now available for digital download from our website.  Learn  about both the Alliance’s vision for the future, and help us celebrate this past year’s successes, including:
  • Sponsorship of our  first Innovation Showcase;
  • The re-launch of our Job Bank as the New England Home Health Career Center;
  • Work on Wage and Hour Issues, especially those related to overtime and live-in care;
  • Development of new programs through the Foundation for Home Health, including an interactive video presentation on the “Art of the Home Care Admission Visit,” as well as trainings for ICD-9-CM coding and OASIS–C.
  • Sponsorship of a Western Mass RWJ grant on developing a care transitions curriculum for nurses.
  • Assistance in navigating changes to the CORI process and new parameters around free access for agencies with state contracts;
  • Expansion of the Boston Parking Placard Program;
  • Redesign of the Resource Directory and “Find an Agency” web search;
  • Revamp of the Agency Accreditation Program
  • Leadership on proposals to reject efforts to impose a co-payment on Medicare home health;
  • Negotiation a significant change in state Medicaid policy in delaying any TPL recoupments;
  • Plans to revise and dovetail the Home Health Universal Authorization Form;
  • Sponsorship of Lobby Day to bring members together with legislators to advance telehealth, changes to nurse delegation practices and a state certificate of need process; and
  • Assembled and distributed a series of “Keeping It Legal” policy statements on Patient Choice, Illegal Inducements and the Medicare Face  to Face Rules;

…and others!  Download the PDF today to find out more.

Career Center Expands to Include All of New England

Last June, the Alliance launched its new Career Center to connect Massachusetts home care agencies with the professionals they need to expand and enhance their businesses.  This month, we’re pleased to announce that the Career Center is expanding into the rest of the region, and will include new partner associations from across New England.

As a successful career center requires traffic as much as quality, this expansion will benefit old users as much as new ones by increasing the Career Center’s profile and attracting new applicants.  The Alliance will be marketing the Career Center steadily over the next few months, as will the Home Care & Hospice Alliance of Maine, Home Care Association of New Hampshire, Rhode Island Partnership for Home Care, and Vermont Assembly of Home Health Agencies, who will be promoting the Career Center in their states.

The Alliance was also able extend the introductory $100 price for 30-day listings (a savings of 43%) for members who enter a coupon code through the beginning of April.  Members may also use a separate coupon to receive a 20% discount  on any Career Center purchase — including bulk packages — both during and after the introductory period.  For a full explanation of the changes and access to the members-only coupon codes visit the Career Center FAQ (log-in required).

If you haven’t already get started by creating a FREE Employer or Job Seeker profile and start posting your open positions or resumes (existing profiles on the Career Center will operate as before).  Packages of 5 and 10 jobs are available, as are 60 and 90-day listings, as well as a variety of extras to ensure maximum exposure for your listings.

Contact the HCA’s Tom Meyer at (617) 482-8830 or Annissa Couch at (866) 376-0949 x 6047 with questions, or just visit the Career Center.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Home Health Line: TPL Demonstration Reinstatement Under Consideration?

Today’s (January 23, 2012) issue of Home Health Line reports that “pressure from government auditors may lead to the revival” of the TPL demonstration that ran for seven years in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York and that handled resolution of home health payments through a sampling rather than a case by case medical review.    The source of this information is an unnamed  “industry official. ”

At this point in time, the Home Care Alliance has not heard of any specific intent to reinstate the demonstration – although we have asked that it be done in meetings at CMS in Washington and locally, and in comments to the new federal office examining care for dual eligibles.   The Alliance has been invited to present issues with the current TPL process at meeting at CMS Boston office in mid-February.

Prior to the February meeting at CMS, the Alliance has meetings scheduled with NHIC and MassHealth to discuss process and recoupment issues.  In previous direct emails, we have asked that members who have cases in which recoupments were made in error, HHABNs were lost or mishandled,  or records were lost or mishandled to please provide this information in as much detail as possible to either Tim Burgers or Pat Kelleher,  as soon as possible.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Home Care Innovations, Star Award Nominations Open

This December, the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts will present a unique event to showcase home care innovators and honor the best and brightest in the industry.  This day-long celebration of  innovation and excellence will take place Wednesday, December, 7, at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston.

The Home Care Innovations Showcase will highlight programs, services or policies that represent the best in innovative thinking at our member agencies. The winning entries will be invited to make a brief presentation at the Dec. 7 event, with a focus on the innovation’s positive impact on their clients, their community, their agency or the delivery system at large.  Alliance member agencies are invited to nominate an innovation that has enhanced the health and well-being of their patients and clients, the efficiency of their operations, the health of their community or the well-being of staff.

The 2011 Home Care Star awards will be presented during a special luncheon program at the Dec. 7 event. The Star Awards celebrate the exceptional accomplishments of the everyday heroes who make such an incredible difference in the lives of their patients and clients.

Nomination materials for both the Home Care Innovations Showcase and the Home Care Star Awards are available on the Home Care Alliance website.  Nominations are due by October 17, 2011.

Disaster Prep – Is Your Agency Ready?

Home care agencies have unique responsibilities to their clients during disasters, epidemics, and terrorist attack.

But they also have unique resources. The simplest way to prepare for a disaster is to speak to your clients about the matter and to encourage them to take precautions and make plans.  A great starting point is the new Disaster Preparedness: For Seniors By Seniorsbrochure from the American Red Cross.  This handsome, 13-page brochure covers all the basics — with special attention to seniors including:

  • Building a disaster kit (including medications);
  • Planning an escape route;
  • Staying informed after a disaster takes place; and
  • Knowing what resources are available;

Best of all, the Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health is making copies available free of charge.  Just download the order form, send it in, and they’ll send you up to 500 copies.
Even more importantly, disaster preparedness is vitally important — literally — for home care agencies. That’s why the Alliance partnered with DPH to develop the the Home Health Care Emergency Preparedness Handbook. The Handbookpresents Alliance best practices for preparing for natural disasters, epidemics, and terrorism. Contents include:

  • Standards of Care;
  • Infection Control;
  • Patient Tracking Controls;
  • Emergency Communication Resources;
  • Home Health Care Emergency Planning Resources;
  • Emergency Planning Training Resources;
  • Volunteer Opportunities

The Handbook also contains extensive appendixes on:

  • Hazard Vulnerability Analysis
  • Biological Weapons Agents
  • Emergency Policies & Procedures
  • CMS Altered Standards of Care

The Handbook comes in a three-ring binder and is available to Alliance Members for $25/copy, or $100 for five copies.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.