Joint Letter Supporting Nurse Delegation Sent to Senate President

Organization leaders supportive of the Home Care Alliance’s Nurse Delegation bill (S.860) signed onto a letter aimed at Senate President Therese Murray and urging her to bring the proposal before the full Senate for debate.

The joint letter initiated by the Home Care Alliance is also copied to Senator Frederick E. Berry, who is Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics and Rules, which is where the bill currently sits. The next step for the legislation would be a formal session where state senators would debate the matter, but with time running down the Alliance and the bill’s supporters are working to advance the issue to that vital step.

Go to the HCA Legislative Action Center and click “Please Advance S.860 for Better Home Health” to send a letter to the Senate Committee on Ethics and Rules, or call Senator Berry’s office at 617-722-1410.

Some organizations, including the Massachusetts Association of Registered Nurses and the Massachusetts Association of Nurse Executives, are in support of S.860, but were not able to sign onto the letter.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Free Readmission webinar offered as part of HHQI

Steve Landers, MD, MPH, Director, Center for Home Care and Community Rehab. at Cleveland Clinic will present a free webinar on Hospital Readmissions and the Role of Home Care on June 30th, Noon – 1 PM.  On the agenda is  a sharing of  best practices for the use of home health care in patients who have chronic care needs or high-risk patients.  Space is limited, but interested persons can register now at the HHQI website.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

HCA Board Sends FMAP Letter to Scott Brown

The Home Care Alliance Board of Directors has sent a letter to US Senator Scott Brown, joining advocates and health providers from across Massachusetts who are urging Congressional support for an extension of Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) funds.

Massachusetts is one of 30 states relying on the federal matching funds for MassHealth and has already budgeted for the money as part of the state budgeting process. Many US Senators, including Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, are against the extension with a belief that it would add to the federal deficit.

Unlike the federal government, Massachusetts must present a balanced budget at the end of the fiscal year. Governor Deval Patrick announced that the budget would have to be reduced another 3.6% if the matching funds are not approved and state legislative leaders are preparing for a scenario where the federal matching funds would not be available.

The Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMAPs) are used in determining the amount of Federal matching funds for State expenditures for assistance payments for certain social services, and State medical and medical insurance expenditures. This year, such funds are worth at least $608 million to Massachusetts.

A message is available on the HCA’s Legislative Action Network that can be sent to federal elected officials. Just scroll down until you see the FMAP message under the “Medicaid” heading.

Contact Senator Brown’s office to urge that he support the FMAP extension.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Follow the Conference on Twitter

Whether you’re with us in Sturbridge – or anywhere – you can follow the entire conference by following the #CSIMass hashtag on Twitter.

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Help Get Teleheath Review in Final State Budget

The Home Care Alliance has sent letters to all members of the state legislature’s conference committee, including the two chairs of Ways & Means, that is charged with hammering out differences in the budget proposals of the House and Senate.

The Senate budget contained an outside section, Amendment #607, which directs the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative to conduct a review of the effectiveness of telehealth on patients with chronic conditions. Help advocate to keep that amendment in the final version of the state’s budget by emailing the members of the conference committee! You can also call using the contact info on each legislators web page:

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

2010 Membership eRenewals Available

It’s that time of year again!

For the second year in a row, agencies may renew their membership via our e-Renewal system.  If you are the CEO/President/Primary Contact of an agency member, just log-in to www.thinkhomecare.org, click to view your profile, access the company’s profile, complete the online form, and choose your payment option.

The process is easy, and generally takes less than 10 minutes.  I will email detailed instructions to CEOs/Presidents/Primary Contacts early next week.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Nurse Delegation Bill Continues to Move Forward

The Home Care Alliance’s “Nurse Delegation” bill, S.860, has been reported to the Senate Committee on Ethics and Rules, which is the last step before the bill can be debated before the full Senate.

In an effort to have the bill reported out as quickly as possible with the legislative calendar coming to a close, the Alliance has already sent a letter to the committee’s chairman, Senator Frederick E. Berry.

A new message is posted on HCA’s Legislative Action Center for those who reside in the district of a committee member. Just click the message “Please Advance S.860 for Better Home Health,” fill out the form with your contact info, review the message and send it off.  You may also call the committee chairman’s office at 617-722-1410.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

2010 Compensation & Surveys – Participation Open

For over fifteen years, the Alliance’s Compensation & Benefits Survey Reports have provided participating agencies reliable, comprehensive, local compensation data on a broad range of job titles in home care.

As we did last year, we are conducting two separate surveys: one for certified agencies, another for private agencies.  We are released the certified agency survey questions  on May 26, 2010, and will release the private care agency survey in June.  Agencies can submit data and receive reports for either or both sections of the survey.

To access the survey materials, visit the Survey Participation Page/Order Form.  Completed surveys must be returned to dwudyka@westminsterassociates.com by June 10, 2010.

The price structure is the same as last year: $149 for the certified survey; $79 for the private care survey; or $199 for both.  Note that these prices are for participating agencies only!  Agencies that do not submit data and payment by will be charged more than double the participant fees to receive the reports.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Help Support HCA Senate Budget Amendments

Help us stand up for home health and home care!

The Home Care Alliance has two major priorities filed in the Senate budget, which will be debated this week.

Please call your State Senator today, or send them an email, and urge them to support the following amendments:

  • #607 filed by Senator Richard T. Moore to establish a telehealth pilot program that would care for 100 patients for one year and would promote the cost-saving and quality benefits of home monitoring technology for patients who have required or will require care of high frequency or long duration.

HCA has an email message uploaded to our Legislative Action page that are ready to be sent. All you have to do is type in your contact information and the advocacy system will identify your senator and show the message you can send.


Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

QCC Sets and Reviews Goals Scorecard

The Massachuetts Quality and Cost Council (QCC)  has begin to track progress against six goals established by the Council pursuant to their charge as established in Chapter 58 of the Acts of 2006.  The Goals Scorecard includes measures around improving the screening for and management of chronic illness in the community and developing new measures to track progress in adhering to patients’ wishes at end of life.  The latter will include tracking – as recommended by the state’s Expert Panel on End of Life care – the percentage of hospitals,  SNFs and home health agencies with palliative care programs.  The Advisory Committee to the QCC will seek input on these goals, and the associated measures,  at their May meeting.  What is your feedback?