CMS Finally Releases Updated ABN Form!

Providers will need to use the renewed ABN form starting this August.

CMS just released the long-awaited Advance Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage (ABN). The current ABN form expired in March 2020, so CMS instructed providers to continue using the expired form, since the form’s renewal was on hold at the Office of Management and Budget during the Public Health Emergency. Yesterday, CMS posted the updated ABN Form CMS-R-131 and form instructions (see the Downloads section at the bottom of the linked page).

The renewed form (with the expiration date of June 30, 2023) will be mandatory beginning August 31, 2020.  The ABN is issued by home health and hospice providers to Medicare beneficiaries in situations where Medicare payment is expected to be denied. The ABN is issued in order to transfer potential financial liability to the Medicare beneficiary in certain instances. Guidelines for issuing the ABN can be found beginning in Section 50 in the Medicare Claims Processing Manual, 100-4, Chapter 30 (PDF).

Home Care Agency Advantage Video Series: Agency Services & Benefits

The Alliance is proud to announce its Agency Advantage Video Series. In each video, families, clients, & caregivers describe how agencies provide superior service where it’s most wanted: In the home. This first video describes agency services & benefits.

Why work with a home care agency rather than hire a nurse or aide directly? Agencies provide significant benefits and fewer risks over competitors in the areas that matter the most to those receiving care.

The Alliance’s Agency Advantage Video Series offers a more complete answer from people with first-hand experience. In each video, families, clients, caregivers, and agency managers describe how home care agencies provide superior service where clients want it the most: In their own homes.

Agency Services & Benefits

Home care agencies provide the expertise, flexibility, and security families want. Why hire a single aide when you could hire a whole home care team for your loved ones?

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We need your help to spread the word about The Agency Advantage. Please use the buttons above to share this video on social media. To learn more about the entire series and how to easily include these videos on your website, visit the Agency Advantage Distribution page.

2020 Private Care Guides Connect Families & Home Care Agencies

For more than a decade, the Guides to Private Home Care Services have connected tens of thousands of families with the home care agencies that best meet their needs. While our Resource Directory is intended for professionals who make regular referrals, the Private Care Guides are designed for consumers and are always available at no charge, with free shipping on most orders. Choose from among three regional editions:

Guide to Private Care Services - South of Boston Edition
Guide to Private Care Services - Boston North Edition
Guide to Private Care Services - Central West Edition

(Click one of the thumbnails to place your free order).

The Guides contain county-by-county cross-references, as well as short essays about:

  • What home care is;
  • How to pay for it;
  • How to choose an agency, and;
  • The advantages of working with a home care agency.

This year, the Guides also honor three of our Home Care Star Awards winners: Me McBride of South Shore VNA, Vinette Tyme of HouseWorks, and Nicole Geddes of Aberdeen Home Care. Congratulations to these amazing care givers!

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Guidance for Home Health and Hospice Agencies on Admissions from Hospitals Related to COVID-19

The Alliance has unveiled detailed guidance for agencies regarding admissions from, and discharges to, hospitals related to COVID-19.

Today, the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts unveiled detailed guidance for home health agencies regarding admissions from hospitals related to COVID-19. The guide is available as a Word document and providers are encouraged to create policies and procedures that reflect their own agencies’ operations, capabilities, and community/patient needs.

The guide was co-authored with Kimberly Skehan of Simione Healthcare Consultants. Because of the nature of the crisis, we are making this available to all agencies, regardless of current membership status.

Download the Guide

Specific Topics Covered

  1. Screening and acceptance of home health or hospice patients who have been diagnosed with COVID19 from a hospital
  2. Denial of admission for a home health or hospice patient with known or suspected COVID-19
  3. Pre-visit COVID 19 Screening/Assessment
  4. In Home Visit Considerations for Known or Suspected COVID-19 Patients
  5. Personal protective equipment during home healthcare visits to patients and households with no signs and symptoms of COVID-19, or with a negative test
  6. PPE for a patient with signs and symptoms of COVID- 19, or with a positive COVID-19 test, or with pending test results:
  7. COVID-19: When to Discontinue Transmission-based Isolation Precautions
  8. Patient Education and Reassurance
  9. Hospice Inpatient Unit Considerations
  10. References (CDC guidelines)

For more on the novel Coronavirus, visit the Alliance’s COVID-19 Resource page. To learn more about how the Alliance serves its members and the home care industry, visit www.thinkhomecare.org/join.

PDGM: 3-Month Check-Up Virtual Conference Update

The hosting states of the PDGM Summit and NAHC have decided to postpone the virtual conference until late April so agencies can focus on the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic for the next weeks.

The hosting states of the PDGM Summit and NAHC have decided to postpone the virtual conference until late April so agencies can focus on the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic for the next weeks. 

The following information will explain any conference updates that are included with the postponement:

The virtual conference will be held according to the 4 different time zones: Tuesday, April 28 will be for EST and CST, Wednesday, April 29 will be for MST and PST. 

All sessions will be from 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM according with the time zone.

Attendees can choose which day/time zone they prefer Members who previously registered for the March 30 in-person event are automatically registered to listen to the EST session on Tuesday, April 28 and will receive the recording for free. If you are already registered, you do not need to register again. 

Any members not already registered will now be charged $225 per person plus an optional $75 for the recording. Non-members will be charged $375 per person plus an additional $100 for the recording. 

Anyone wishing to receive CEUs for this conference MUST register separately. CEUs will only be provided to someone who paid for their own registration – not to anyone else that may listen to the live session in the same room or to the recording afterwards. 

There will be an additional session added in the morning that provides an overview of PDGM basics. The schedule will include two 15-minutes breaks and a 30-minute lunch break during the day.

Call-In logistics will be sent our closer to the conference.

For any questions, please contact Megan Fournier at mfournier@thinkhomecare.org.

You can register below if not already registered. 

Register Here

COVID-19 Resources for Home Care & Hospice Agencies

To ensure members have access to information they can trust, the Alliance has put together a COVID-19 Resource Page, linking to federal, state, and other essential sources.

COVID-19

To ensure members have access to information they can trust, the Alliance has put together a COVID-19 Resource Page linking to federal, state, and other essential sources.

We’ll update it as new information becomes available.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

2020 NEHCC Program Released!

You have been waiting, and now it’s here, The 2020 New England Home Care & Hospice Conference and Trade Show Program has been released! Join colleagues from throughout the region from May 13-15 in Newport, RI for the best home health and hospice event of the year!

You have been waiting, and now it’s here, The 2020 New England Home Care & Hospice Conference and Trade Show Program has been released! Join colleagues from throughout the region from May 13-15 in Newport, RI for the best home health and hospice event of the year! This fabulous conference will feature renowned keynoters and informative workshops that will give you new ideas and insight to take back to your agency. Sessions include Pre-Conferences on PDGM: Lessons Learned, and Medicaid Healthcare Reform; Keynotes on Caregiver Trends, Navigating Change, The Future in Home Health Through Data, and Bridging the Gap Between Life and Death. With 25 additional break-out sessions, you are bound to find topics that appeal to you and your staff as there is something for everyone!

Looking to find new partners with your agency regarding things like software systems, consulting, staff benefits, etc? Our exhibit show is the largest home health gathering in the Northeast with close to 80 exhibitors! See who is currently exhibiting here.

Don’t miss this great event close to home. Check out the brochure here

Learn more about the conference at www.nehcc.com

Just Published: 2020 Resource Directories

Considered to be “the bible for home care” in Massachusetts, copies of the the 2020 Resource Directory have been shipped to every case manager, hospital, COA, state legislator, and GCM in Massachusetts. Additional copies are available for purchase.

This is the one, indispensable book that anyone making referrals must have. It’s the bible for home care in Massachusetts. — Gina Martin, RN, CCM

Copies of the the Alliance’s annual referral directory have already been shipped to every case manager, hospital, COA, state legislator, and GCM in Massachusetts. Members will also receive copies in the mail this week.

Need an extra copy? They’re available for purchase on our website, with free shipping (as always).

New this year, it’s now easier than ever to find agencies who provide hospice care, which now has its own checkmark in the Cities & Towns section.

Alternatively, you can also use the Digital Edition of the directory, as well as our online Find an Agency search.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Three More Agencies Earn Accreditation

Three more agencies earn accreditation from the Alliance, bringing the total of accredited agencies to 59.

HCA Accreditation Logo

Congratulations to Acti-Kare (Middleboro), Kind Senior Care (North Andover), and Northeast Clinical Services (Danvers) for achieving Home Care Alliance Accreditation!

There are currently 59 agencies that have earned accreditation by demonstrating their compliance with each of the 15 standards of our Accreditation Program.

Since Massachusetts does not license private pay home care agencies, the Alliance created a Home Care Agency Accreditation Program in 2010 to establish operational and quality standards equivalent to licensure in most other states.

The program includes fifteen standards relating to: Client rights, privacy, and complaint procedures; Protections against abuse; Fair employment practices; Caregiver background screening; Competency, training and supervision; Insurance coverage; and Compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws. Accreditation is only awarded to agencies that meet or exceed all fifteen standards.

The Accreditation Program allows agencies to demonstrate that they meet high standards of quality. It shows clients and families that they are protected because the agency directly employs its workers and carries workers’ compensation, liability insurance, and an employee dishonesty bond. Accreditation demonstrates that an agency’s caregivers receive background checks, screening, and proper training for their jobs. Accreditation also provides a competitive edge in the marketplace, contributes to securing new business, and enhances staff recruitment by showing a commitment to fair labor standards.

Accredited agencies can use the Alliance’s Accreditation Logo to show their commitment to quality on their websites, brochures, and stationery. The Alliance lists all accredited agencies on its website, gives them special designation in its print directories and in the online Find an Agency function.

Talking Home Care: Marijuana and the Workplace

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.

(If you’re a return listener from iTunes, please subscribe to the podcast; we moved the feed to a new location last year).

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.

Host: Patricia Kelleher is the Executive Director of the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts.

Guests: Layla G. Taylor is an attorney with Sullivan Hayes & Quinn who focuses on labor and employment law.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.