Tag: Education

HCA to Launch Education Offering: Building a Behavioral Health Program

Behavioral Health Brochure header

In response to community need and member interest, HCA will launch in January 2016 a twelve-month training program for home health agencies interested in creating and sustaining a program to provide behavioral health services under the Medicare home health benefit. Based on work originally piloted at the VNS of New York, this project will provide learning and tools to put in place both the clinical competencies and administrative infrastructure. The project will feature onsite clinical training for at least five nurses per participant agency as well as diagnosis specific care guide and implementation manuals.

The objectives of this training are as follows:
• Learn how to provide Behavioral Health Home Care and get staff trained.
• Allow your agency to provide Behavioral Health Home Care during the year of the project
training.
• Improve patients care for clients with mental health conditions
• Improve overall patient outcomes, including re-hospitalization, ER utilization and compliance.
• Enhance your position in your service area, provide a new Niche of care and grow revenue.

For additional information, see the Behavioral Health Brochure, or view this recorded webinar*. Agencies interested in participating in the project should contact Megan Fournier at mfournier@thinkhomecare.org for contracting information.

*View webinar handouts here 

We Need Your Opinion!

To compete and succeed in tomorrow’s home health marketplace, agencies need highly-skilled clinicians and thoughtful, visionary leaders.  To help our members prepare for that future, HCA of MA is considering two in-depth, extended training programs for the coming year.  We need to assess member interest before we proceed.  The two programs we are considering are Building a Home Health Behavioral Health Program and Emerging Leaders in Home  Care.

The Behavioral Health Program would be a 12-month program that would provide participating agencies the clinical training and administrative guidance necessary to launch a behavioral health program that is compliant with current Medicare home health regulations. The program would provide a comprehensive operational manual, in-person and webinar-based clinical trainings for as many as five staff per agency, diagnosis-specific care  guides and monthly teleconferences to guide participants on a path towards success in terms of enhanced agency capabilities and revenues and better care for a now underserviced population. Cost per agency inclusive of all on site meetings, manuals and 12 training webinars (for multiple staff) would be approximately $6,700.

HCA is also considering whether to repeat the popular Emerging Leaders in Home Care certificate program with Suffolk University.  This program, which commits a person to a full day per week, over the course of nine months (with short breaks in between classes) provides next generation leaders in-depth graduate-level education in marketing, finance, policy and human resources, all specifically designed for home care agency managers.  Graduates of the program will be able to apply four course credits toward several Master’s Degree Programs at Suffolk University, including the new Master’s Program in Community Health.  Cost per person for the Emerging Leaders Program will be approximately $2,400, depending on the number of students.

We understand that these programs are higher in cost than most of our programs.  We would like to hear from you to determine if there is enough interest among our membership to present them (but please note that your response to this survey does NOT obligate you in any way at this time!) 

Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback to us.

Click HERE to take our survey!

Industry Newsletter Publishes HCA-Issued Notices on Face-to-Face Rule

Home Health Line, a widely-distributed industry newsletter, has published notices to hospitals and physicians on Face-to-Face Requirement changes created by the Home Care Alliance of MA as a resource for home health agencies across the country.

The notices on the rule changes as of January 1, 2015 were distributed in a previous blog post and were created by HCA staff to help educate partners in the hospital and physician community about their responsibilities to ensure Medicare beneficiaries receive the necessary home health services.

The notices are also posted below and Home Health Line notes in a disclaimer that “The Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts created such a note to clear up confusion about face-to-face requirements, although it believes agencies and physicians still need more guidance from CMS.”

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

F2F Rule Change Guides Released by HCA

With misinformation and uncertainty swirling around the new Physician Face-to-Face Requirements (F2F), the Home Care Alliance has released notices for hospitals and physicians as a guide for both home health agencies and their partners to utilize in understanding the impending changes.

As reported in HCA newsletters and alerts, CMS hosted its first (and only) educational forum on the new changes to the Face-to-Face physician encounter requirement for Medicare home health coverage on December 16. Given the lateness of the guidance, the effective date of January 1, 2015, and the many still unanswered questions, the Home Care Alliance of MA, the National Association for Home Care and Hospice, and others have asked CMS to phase-in enforcement of the requirements to allow time for home health agencies, physicians and hospitals to be educated about the new rules. CMS has not yet responded to that request.

In an effort to counter some misinformation circulating that the F2F requirement has been repealed, the Alliance has released the notices for agencies to use with their individual partners in the provider community. The Alliance is also working with the MA Medical Society and the MA Hospital Association on efforts to educate physicians and hospitals about the changes. We have encouraged MMS and MHA to inform hospitals and doctors that:

•    the F2F encounter requirement is still in place for Medicare patients in need of home health services.
•    the F2F encounter still MUST be documented, signed and dated by an MD, along with the documentation of the patient’s need for skilled care, homebound status and plan of care.
•    home health agencies will work with our hospital and physician partners to understand the requirements once CMS clarifies the rule and begins educational sessions for all providers.
Clearly, there are still issues that need to be clarified around the hospitalist as the certifying physician.

HCA will continue to push for more guidance from CMS on this, as well as more physician and hospital education from CMS.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Register for the New England Home Care Conference May 28 – 30!

Join colleagues from throughout the region for the best home health event of the year! Come to the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston for the 4th annual New England Home Care Conference & Trade Show on May 28, 29 and 30. It will feature fabulous keynoters, dozens of informative workshops and 2-hour intensives that will give you new ideas and insight to take back to your agency.

To register, you may either download the conference brochure or register online.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

CMS Presents Jimmo v. Sebelius Manual Update

CMS is conducting a call on program manual updates related to the Jimmo v.Sebelius law suit on the CMS MLN Connects,  Thursday, December 19th at  2-3pm ET.  The program title is Program Manual Updates to Clarify SNF, IRF, HH, and OPT Coverage Pursuant to Jimmo v. Sebelius

To Register: Visit MLN Connects™ Upcoming Calls. Space may be limited, register early.

Agenda

  • Clarification of Medicare’s longstanding policy on coverage for skilled services
  • No “Improvement Standard” is to be applied in determining Medicare coverage for maintenance claims that require skilled care
  • Enhanced guidance on appropriate documentation

On January 24, 2013, the U. S. District Court for the District of Vermont approved a settlement agreement in the case of Jimmo v. Sebelius, involving skilled care for the inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF), skilled nursing facility (SNF), home health (HH), and outpatient therapy (OPT) benefits. “Nothing in this Settlement Agreement modifies, contracts, or expands the existing eligibility requirements for receiving Medicare coverage.”

The goal of this settlement agreement is to ensure that claims are correctly adjudicated in accordance with existing Medicare policy, so that Medicare beneficiaries receive the full coverage to which they are entitled. The settlement agreement sets forth a series of specific steps for CMS to undertake, including issuing clarifications to existing program guidance and new educational material on this subject.

As part of the educational campaign, this MLN Connects™ Call will provide an overview of the clarifications to the Medicare program manuals. These clarifications reflect Medicare’s longstanding policy that when skilled services are required in order to provide reasonable and necessary care to prevent or slow further deterioration, coverage cannot be denied based on the absence of potential for improvement or restoration. In this context, coverage of skilled nursing and skilled therapy services “…does not turn on the presence or absence of a beneficiary’s potential for improvement, but rather on the beneficiary’s need for skilled care.” Portions of the revised manual provisions also include additional material on the role of appropriate documentation in facilitating accurate coverage determinations for claims involving skilled care. Target Audience
Skilled Nursing Facilities; Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities; Home Health Agencies; and providers and suppliers of therapy services under the Outpatient Therapy Benefit

Boston Children’s Hospital Releases Educational Videos for Families, Providers

A series of educational videos for patients, families and healthcare providers is being promoted by Boston Children’s Hospital regarding care of a central line in order to help decrease the number of CLABSI (Central Line-associated Blood Stream Infections).

Especially for agencies specializing in pediatric home health care, but applicable for all, these videos are a useful educational tool. The Alliance also posted the link on our Facebook page and encourage home care agencies to pass them along to patients and families that could be benefited.

More educational videos for home care agencies and family caregivers created by the Home Care Alliance are available on the Caregiver Video Resource Center that can also be found at our Home Care Month Webpage.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Regional Trainings on MOLST Being Held

For those home health agencies looking to implement or simply learn more about MOLST (Medical Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment), the MOLST outreach and education team is hosting a series of regional meetings detailed below.

The Region 3 meeting will be held on November 18 at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center in Burlington, MA.  Click here to register.  Registration will close on November 13.

The Region 4 meeting will be held on December 6 at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, MA.  Click here to register.  Registration will close on November 29.

The Region 5 meeting will be held on November 13 at New England Sinai Hospital in Stoughton, MA.  Click here to register.  There are just a few seats left.  Registration will close this Wednesday, November 6.

If you are (or will be) involved in implementing MOLST at your institution, or involved in training others about MOLST, come to these meetings to:

•    Learn more about MOLST
•    Become familiar with the MOLST process in order to communicate and honor your patients’ life-sustaining treatment decisions
•    Understand how to use available MOLST resources for implementation, including across the continuum of care

More information is available on the MOLST website.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

MeHI Hosting Free Regional Health IT Meetings

The Massachusetts e-Health Institute (MeHI) is hosting free regional meetings to help attendees keep up-to-date on how they can gain the benefits of connected EHRs and the Massachusetts programs to support their adoption and use.

The sessions will include information about how MeHI, the Mass HIway and others are helping providers comply with Chapter 224 requirements for physician licensure and Stage 2 Meaningful Use.

The workshop will take place in Worcester on November 4th and will run from 8:00am to 11:30am. The event is free, but registration is required. More information on registration and the agenda for the event are available here.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Revised Publication Available for Reporting Fraudulent Home Care Referral Practices

In an effort to help home health agencies educate their partners in the provider community about lawful referral practices, the Home Care Alliance has revised and updated the first in a publication series called “Keeping It Legal.”

The document below is intended for distribution to hospitals, physicians, skilled nursing facilities and other sources that refer patients for Medicare-certified home health services. The Alliance has updated contact information for oversight entities so that providers, patients or the families of patients can accurately report fraudulent activity if they wish to do so. The document also lays out some of the basic examples of wrongful activity that should be reported.

With the help of HCA members and those they work with and work for, the Alliance hopes that this document will be passed along and posted prominently in an effort to promote home health services that are high-quality and ethical.

 

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.