Cheryl Rumley—founder and president of Apex Homecare—offers a powerful, first-person account of her experience running an agency during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
For the 16th episode of Talking Home Care, Pat talks with Cheryl Rumley, founder and president of Apex Homecare in Springfield, Massachusetts. Cheryl offers a powerful, first-person account of her experience running an agency during the pandemic. Like many owners, Cheryl had to figure out how to care for her clients while also looking out for her employees’ safety and need to care for their own families.
They also discuss Cheryl’s connection to the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic and Governor Charlie Baker’s leadership during the last 18 months.
You may listen to the podcast by clicking any of the platform images above, clicking “play,” or downloading it directly (Length: 21 minutes; Size: 15 MB).
Veteran litigator Angelo Spinola answers questions about how agencies are rising to meet the biggest employment law challenges they face, including those posed by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Angelo Spinola and Pat Kelleher
Even in the best of times, human resource issues pose an enormous challenge to home care agencies. But when responding to a global pandemic, many agencies found themselves scrambling to address new questions. How do you help employees with childcare challenges? How do you handle on-boarding (and firing) when everyone is working off-site? Who pays for COVID tests, and how should time spent getting the test be compensated? Can employers require vaccinations?
For the 15th episode of Talking Home Care, Pat speaks with Angelo Spinola of Littler Mendelson, a leading employment law litigator about these and other issues. They also discuss the subscription-based, on-line Home Care Toolkit Littler developed and constantly updates. The Toolkit gives agencies access to a world-class HR resource, policy manual, and document library that’s like adding an expert to your staff.
The Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts has negotiated a special agreement with Littler to give our members access to the Toolkit at a great price, with a portion of all sales supporting the Alliance! To learn more or to order your subscription, contact Melissa Mann at MMann@littler.com or (404)760-3928.
You may listen to the podcast by clicking any of the platform images above, clicking “play,” or downloading it directly (Length: 40 minutes; Size: 29 MB).
Front-line heroes share their stories about overcoming the challenges posed by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The COVID-19 Pandemic has created huge challenges to healthcare systems across the globe, including here in Massachusetts. As part of National Home Care and Hospice Month, we collected first-hand stories from our members about the front-line challenges they faced, and how they overcame them.
For the 14th episode of Talking Home Care, we’ve collected these stories into a single podcast. They are introduced by Alliance Executive Director Pat Kelleher and are read by drama students at Winthrop Middle School.
You may listen to the podcast by clicking any of the platform images above, clicking “play,” or downloading it directly (Length: 41 minutes; Size: 29 MB).
Pat Kelleher speaks with Layla G. Taylor about what employers need to know about marijuana.
Taylor and Kelleher
With many states (including Massachusetts) decriminalizing marijuana in recent years, home care agencies and other employers find themselves having to answer questions they never thought to ask. How do I protect my clients? What are my employees’ rights? Am I still allowed to issue drug tests and, if so, under what circumstances?
For the 13th episode of the Talking Home Care podcast, Pat Kelleher explores these and other questions with Layla Taylor, a partner at Sullivan, Hayes & Quinn and an expert in employment and labor law.
You may listen to the podcast by clicking any of the platform images above, clicking “play,” or downloading it directly (Length: 25 minutes; Size: 19 MB). If you enjoy the podcast, please give us a five-star review so others can find it.
Medicare’s Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) system went into effect on January 1, 2020. How has the industry fared in the month since the “most significant regulatory and reimbursement reform” in recent memory?
For the 12th episode of the Talking Home Care podcast, we put that question to a live panel of three of the nation’s leading experts at the Northeast Home Health Leadership Summit: Chris Attaya of Strategic Healthcare Programs, Stacy Ashworth of Select Data, and Nick Seabrook of BlackTree Consulting. Slides from the discussion are available for download.
You may listen to the podcast by clicking any of the platform images above, clicking “play,” or downloading it directly (Length: 70 minutes; Size: 31 MB). If you enjoy the podcast, please give us a five-star review so others can find it.
Guests: Chris Attaya is the Vice President, Product Strategy of Strategic Healthcare Programs. Stacy Ashworth is the Executive Vice President of Clinical Innovationof Select Data. Nick Seabrook is the Managing Director & a Founding Memberof BlackTree Consulting.
Pat Kelleher is joined by CareAcademy’s Helen Adeosun and HouseWorks’s Andrea Cohen to discuss tech solutions to the workforce issues challenging the home care industry.
Helen Adeosun, Andrea Cohen, and Pat Kelleher
For the 11th episode of the Talking Home Care podcast, we are joined by two home care leaders to talk about solutions to one of the industry’s biggest challenges: recruiting, educating, and retaining care givers in a competitive market.
Helen Adeosun and Andrea Cohen both started their careers in home care as caregivers. Later, Helen would launch CareAcademy, an online learning platform, while Andrea would found HouseWorks, one of the largest private pay home care agencies in Massachusetts. In addition to their personal insights on workforce issues, the two also discuss their companies’ recent collaboration.
You may listen to the podcast by clicking either of the podcast images, clicking “play” above, or downloading it directly (Length: 39 minutes; Size: 31 MB). If you enjoy the podcast, please give us a five-star review so others can find it.
Specific topics include:
How agencies can attract and keep their best employees by offering a career path to all positions.
How a mobile education platform can serve a mobile workforce.
How online education streamlines on-boarding and makes time available for hands-on training.
How technology — whether for training or other purposes — can give agencies actionable data about their operations.
Guests: Helen Adeosun is the co-founder and CEO of CareAcademy. Based in Boston, CareAcademy is one of the most innovative online training platforms for the home care industry. Andrea Cohen is the CEO and founder of HouseWorks, one of the largest private care home care agencies in Massachusetts.
Calvin McDaniel of NAHC joins us to talk about the implications of the 2018 Midterm Election on the home care industry.
Kelleher and McDaniel
On this week’s edition of Talking Home Care, we are joined by Calvin McDaniel, Director of Government Affairs for the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC). Calvin oversees NAHC’s legislative priorities on Capitol Hill, and collaborates with the Alliance and other state associations on shared, industry-wide priorities.
Our discussion recaps the 2018 Midterm Elections and what to expect in the 116th Congress, which will be seated in January 2019. Enjoy!
You may listen to the podcast by clicking the play button below, downloading it directly, or subscribing through iTunes or Google Play. (Length: 29 minutes; Size: 23.2 MB). If you enjoy it, please give us a five-star review so others can find it.
Democrats regained control of the US House of Representatives, gaining 37 seats so far and holding a majority of 233 seats to Republicans’ 198 seats.
Republicans held control of the US Senate picking up two seat as and expanding their Senate Majority to 52 seats to Democrats’ 47 seats. The Mississippi senate seat is heading toward a run-off election on November 27th.
On the state level: Democrats flipped nearly 400 state legislative seats nationwide, flipped seven Republican-held governor seats, and took full control of the legislature and Governors’ mansion in seven states.
Lastly, three states: Idaho, Nebraska and Utah voted to expand Medicaid. And a fourth state, Maine, elected a democratic governor, who will likely do the same.
Overall, nearly 116 million voters cast ballots, representing over 40% of eligible voters and represents the largest midterm voter turnout in 104 years.
It is expected that Representative Richard Neal (D-MA) will become the Chairman of House Ways & Means, and Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) will become the new Chairman of the Rules Committee. This greatly increases the Massachusetts’ Congressional Delegation influence on Capitol Hill.
The most important takeaway from our conversation with Calvin is that HCA members should prepare for an incredibly active two years of advocacy. Take hold of your responsibility to engage your elected officials on behalf of your organization and join us in the fight on the many issues facing our industry. Be it an email to a legislator, inviting them to your offices for a tour or on a home visit, or taking time to join us in D.C. for one of the many fly-in events, it takes an army of voices to accomplish a common goal. To get involved, email Jake Krilovich.
Amanda Oberlies of the Organization of Nurse Leaders joins us to discuss why her organization (and the Alliance) oppose Massachusetts Ballot Question #1.
The Alliance’s Pat Kelleher & ONL’s Amanda Oberlies
Should health care facilities have their nurse-to-patient ratios defined by law? That’s the question put to Massachusetts voters this coming Tuesday. Amanda Oberlies of the Organization of Nurse Leaders joins us to discuss why her organization (and the Alliance) opposeMassachusetts Ballot Question #1. Their conversation covers:
Who’s behind the ballot question and why?
What is the intersection of staffing-ratios and quality?
How does California’s experience with a similar law correlate to the MA proposal?
You may listen to the podcast by clicking the play button below, downloading it directly, or subscribing through iTunes or Google Play. (Length: 30 minutes; Size: 24 MB). If you enjoy it, please give us a five-star review so others can find it.
Pat Ahern of Care Dimensions joins us to discuss several hospice-related issues affecting the home care industry.
Pat Ahern
Pat Ahern of Care Dimensions joins us for the eighth episode of the Talking Home Care Podcast. As the CEO of the largest and most experienced palliative care agency in the region, Pat’s an authority on palliative care, hospice, and related issues. In a conversation with Alliance Executive Director Pat Kelleher, Ahern discusses:
Palliative care’s role as a “midwife at the other end of life”;
Dementia care;
Payment reform;
Referral sources;
Nurse recruitment and training; and
Physician involvement.
You may listen to the podcast by clicking the play button below, downloading it directly, or subscribing through iTunes or Google Play. (Length: 26 minutes; Size: 12 MB). If you enjoy it, please give us a five-star review so others can find it as well.
Guest: Patricia Ahern, joined Care Dimensions in 2017 as president and CEO. With more than 30 years of leadership in healthcare and an MBA, she has the clinical and strategic business skills, and a true passion for the mission, that enables her to provide Care Dimensions’s vision and leadership.
Minute Women Home Care’s Ryan McEniff joins us to talk about the challenges of running a private home care agency in today’s economy and how families can ensure they get the best care.
Ryan McEniff
How did a “big, six-foot-six, burly guy” become the owner of Minute Women Home Care? For the seventh episode of the Talking Home Care podcast, Pat Kelleher talks with Ryan McEniff about what it takes to run a successful private home care agency. Topics include:
Ryan’s personal story about entering the industry;
The challenges (and opportunities) of transitioning from family to paid home care;
How home care can restore clients’ work/life balance;
Whether home care can remain affordable to middle-class families in a bustling economy;
Why finding (and keeping) the best staff is sometimes a bigger challenge than attracting clients;
Going the extra mile to protect clients with national background checks;
The single most important question all families should ask when choosing an agency for their loved ones (jump ahead to 34’35” to find out); and
You may listen to the podcast by clicking the play button above, downloading it directly, or subscribing through iTunes or Google Play. (Length: 37 minutes; Size: 18 MB). If you enjoyed it, please give us a five-star review so others can find it as well.
Guest: Ryan McEniff has been the owner of Minute Women Home Care since 2013. He became passionate about home care when his mother needed care while battling cancer. He is also a Certified Dementia Practitioner and the host of The Caregiver’s Toolbox podcast.
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