 |
Educational
Sessions Descriptions
WEDNESDAY,
July 16, 2008
Pre-Conference Sessions
Pre-Conference Session One: Medicare Home Health Care Basic Training for Rookies and Veterans |
701-Fundamentals
of Health Care Financial Management
9 a.m. to 12
p.m.
This program provides an introduction to the basics
of financial management for home care and hospice
providers. Whether a rookie or a veteran, this
program will establish or refresh your financial
management foundation. Attendees will gain an understanding
of the health care industry from the perspective
of both providers and payers. Beginning with such
elementary matters as a glossary of terms and acronyms
that deluge health care financial managers, the
program will focus on how third-party payers, including
managed care, affect the economic operations of
health care providers and the latest developments
on payment and financing systems.
Objectives:
- Identify the basic financial elements of the
health care industry;
- Describe the major issues affecting health
care and the potential impact of those issues
on home care and hospice;
- Recognize the varied benefit and payment systems
and their affect on the financial status of
home care and hospice providers; and
- Identify the financial indicators that must
be understood in making operational decisions.
Faculty: Vern Peterschmidt, Peterschmidt & Associates,
Albuquerque, NM; David R. Elwell, Dixon Hughes,
PLLC, Winston-Salem, NC.
Course Level: Basic; 2.5 nursing CEs; 3.0 accounting
CPEs (NASBA/FIN)
702-Home Health Agency
Medicare Cost Report Preparation
1 to 3 p.m.
If you must submit a Medicare cost report, you
might as well just do it right. Analysis of existing
filed Medicare home health cost reports indicates
that their accuracy is in doubt. Nevertheless,
Congress and the Administration continue to make
payment-rate judgments based upon cost report data.
Additionally, providers of home health services
utilize cost report-related benchmarks in making
management and operations decisions. This program
offers a top-to-bottom tutorial on proper preparation
of a Medical cost report for home health agencies.
While primarily directed towards newcomers to home
health, the program offers substantial value to
those veterans who have forgotten most of what
they’ve known about cost reporting since
the onset of prospective payment.
Objectives:
- Describe the purpose of the Cost Report;
- Cite Medicare cost calculation methodologies
in reimbursable and non-reimbursable cost centers;
- Identify sources of information to complete
the cost report worksheets; and
- Identify the financial outcomes reflected in
the cost report that will have an effect on operations.
Faculty: Thomas E. Boyd, Boyd & Nicholas,
Inc., Rohnert Park, CA; David Macke, VonLehman & Company,
Inc., Fort Mitchell, KY.
Course Level: Basic; 2.0 nursing CEs; 2.0 CPEs
(NASBA/RE)
|
Pre-Conference Session Two: Hospice Financial Management: Everything You Need and More |
801-Benchmarking;
Cost Management; Billing and Reporting; and Operations
Integration
9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
This pre-conference program provides a comprehensive
review of all the essential issues facing the hospice
financial manager. While it is broken into two
parts, each element within the program is integrated
with all other elements. In the first part of the
program, faculty will be addressing subjects including
benchmarking, cost management, billing and reporting
and operations integration. The needs of both free-standing
hospices and those integrated with a Medicare-participating
home health agency are addressed.
Objectives:
- Identify the basic financial elements for management
of a hospice;
- Recognize crucial operational benchmarks and
sources of data to evaluate in comparison to
the benchmarks; and
- Describe successful cost management techniques
to bring efficiencies to the hospice operation.
Faculty: Ted Cuppett, Dixon Hughes PLLC, Clarksburg,
WV; Larry Leahy, Foundation Management Services,
Inc., Denton, TX; Donna Gouveia, Visiting Nurse
Service of Greater Rhode Island, Lincoln, RI.
Course level: Basic; 2.5 Nurse CEs; 3.0 accounting
CPEs (NASBA/FIN)
802-Feasibility of Direct Inpatient Care; Managing
GIT/Residential Cost; Working Within the Annual
Medicare Cap; Use of Telehealth; and Fundraising
and Marketing
1 to 3 p.m.
Part II of the hospice pre-conference continues
to address the most important elements of financial
management of the hospice. A wide range of subjects
is targeted, including an analysis as to whether
a hospice should consider directly providing in-patient
care. In addition, faculty will focus on the role
of a financial manager in helping a hospice to
stay within the annual Medicare cap. Finally, issues
involving return on investment for telehealth services
and financial management of fundraising and marketing
efforts are addressed.
Objectives:
- Identify factors for evaluation regarding the
provision of direct in-patient care;
- Recognize the signs and symptoms of annual
Medicare cap problems and strategies to address
those problems; and
- Describe best practices in financial management
of fundraising and marketing in hospice services.
Faculty: Ted Cuppett, Dixon Hughes PLLC, Clarksburg,
WV; Larry Leahy, Foundation Management Services,
Inc., Denton, TX; Donna Gouveia, Visiting Nurse
Service of Greater Rhode Island, Lincoln, RI.
Course level: Basic; 2.0 nursing CEs; 2.0 accounting
CPEs (NASBA/BMO)
|
THURSDAY,
July 17, 2008
Concurrent Educational Sessions (100 series)
11:30 am to 1:10 pm
101-The New HH PPS: Performance Benchmarks to
Date
Are you on track in the new 2008 Medicare Home Health
Perspective Payment System model? While the new system
is only a few months into its operation, performance
benchmarks are developing regarding revenue, episodes,
service utilization, case mix rates and patient outcomes.
It may be too early to rely upon the emergent benchmarks
for operational, clinical and financial modifications
in a home health agency, but it’s not too early
to gain an understanding as to expected impacts relating
to PPS. This program will provide the important data-based
insights into the new HH PPS.
Objectives:
- Identify trends in performance benchmarks under the
new HH PPS;
- Explain potential causes for changes in utilization,
case mix rate and financial performance; and
- Describe strategies for developing internal data
analyses to use in comparison to benchmarks.
Moderator: Dexter W. Braff, The Braff Group,
Pittsburgh, PA.
Panelists: Barbara Rosenblum, Strategic HealthCare Programs
(SHP), Santa Barbara, CA; David R. Elwell, Dixon Hughes
PLLC, Winston-Salem, NC; Amanda Twiss, OCS, Inc., Seattle,
WA.
Course level: Intermediate; 1.6 nursing CEs; 2.0 accounting
CPEs (NASBA/RE)
Pre-requisite: Basic knowledge of new regulations for
Medicare Home Health PPS
102-Managing through Flexible Budgeting
Flexible budgeting is a budgeting technique used to
better isolate causes of budget variances to facilitate
timely operational changes. As home health and hospice
payment rates are at risk for continued cuts, flexible
budgeting is one tool that can assist management in controlling
costs and making appropriate adjustments in a timely
fashion. This workshop will provide a detailed overview
this powerful budgeting technique and its implementation
in the home care setting.
Objectives
- Describe the benefits of using a flexible budget;
- Describe the flexible budgeting process; and
- Identify how to implement in a home care setting.
Faculty: Mark Sharp, BKD, LLP., Springfield, MO.
Course level: Intermediate; 1.6 nursing CEs; 2.0 accounting
CPEs (NASBA/FIN)
Pre-requisite: Basic understanding of budgeting
THURSDAY,
July 17, 2008
Concurrent Educational Sessions (200 series)
2:15 to 3:45 pm
201-The New HH PPS: Operations and Process
Improvement: From Coding to Supply Management
What’s working and what is not in your agency’s
operation with the new prospective payment system model?
If it’s business as usual, you may want to think
again. This program addresses a wide range of modifications
that home health agencies have made or should make under
the new PPS model based on the early learnings since
the January 1 implementation.
Objectives:
- Identify areas of need for modification to respond
to the demands under the prospective payment system;
- Establish priorities for operational modifications
to manage under the new PPS; and
- Recognize process improvement steps to achieve improved
resource allocation and financial efficiencies under
the PPS.
Moderator: Pat Laff, Laff Associates, Hilton Head, SC.
Panelists: Donna Gouveia, Visiting Nurse Service of
Greater Rhode Island, Lincoln, RI; Lou Schroeder, Banner
Home Care, Gilbert, AZ; Melinda Gaboury, Healthcare Provider
Solutions, Inc., Nashville, TN.
Course level: Intermediate; 1.5 nursing CEs; 1.0 accounting
CPEs (NASBA/FIN)
Pre-requisite: Basic knowledge of process improvement
principles
202-Diversified Lines of Business: Should You
Get In, Stay In, or Get Out?
Today’s home health agency does so much more than
just Medicare home health services. Hospice care, personal
care attendant services, live-ins and medical equipment
are just some of the dozens of diversified lines of business
originating from a home health agency. What are the best
choices for home care diversification and how do you
measure the success or failure of a particular venture?
This program will guide you in the decisions that need
to be made to determine whether you should get in, stay
in or get out.
Objectives:
- Identify the lines of business in a home health care
company;
- Recognize the measurement factors for determining
whether there is a high probability of success in the
new business line; and
- Describe the warning signs of a failing business
line and the best timing to get out.
Faculty: John Richter, LarsonAllen, LLP, Charlotte,
NC; Greg Hathorne, LarsonAllen, LLP, Charlotte, NC.
Course Level: Intermediate; 1.5 nursing CEs; 1.0 accounting
CPEs (NASBA/MAS)
Pre-requisite: Basic knowledge of home health care business
line
THURSDAY,
July 17, 2008
Concurrent Educational Sessions (300 series)
4 to 5:30 pm
301-The New HH PPS: Billing Issues and Solutions
It is an understatement that Medicare has had some difficulty
transitioning into the new HH PPS. On the other hand,
home health agencies and the billing vendors have done
fairly well to stay on top of problems developing in
this series of billing problems. This program will provide
an overview of the billing issues that have surfaced
since the initiation of the new HH PPS and the solutions
that have worked for providers across the country.
Objectives:
- Identify current billing concerns;
- Recognize proven solutions to overcome provider-related
billing issues; and
- Recognize proven survival techniques to address intermediary-related
billing issues.
Faculty: Melinda Gaboury, Healthcare Provider Solutions,
Inc., Nashville, TN; Aaron Little, BKD, LLP.,
Springfield, MO.
Course level: Intermediate: 1.5 nursing CEs; 1.0 accounting
CPEs (NASBA/FIN)
Prerequisite: Basic knowledge of billing practices in home
health
302-Trends in Compliance Measures and Fraud Enforcement
Activities
Staying within the lines of compliance seems to be a
never-ending challenge in home care and hospice. Noncompliance
triggers adverse outcomes for the industry at large.
Fraudulent activity harms the industry’s overall
image and generally triggers overzealous enforcement
options that often implicate the innocent as well as
the guilty. This program focuses on the current risk
areas in home care and hospice services along with the
target areas in the enforcement community.
Objectives:
- Identify high-risk areas of noncompliance and fraud
in home care and hospice;
- Recognize the focus and target of enforcement; and
- Identify strategies for risk-free compliance.
Faculty: William A. Dombi, Vice President for Law,
National Association for Home Care & Hospice, Washington,
D.C.; Denise Bonn, Deputy Director, Center for Health
Care Law, Washington, D.C., Bernard Lorenz, Lorenz Consulting,
LLC, Belcamp, MD.
Course level: Advanced: 1.5 nursing CEs; 1.0 accounting
CPEs (NASBA/RE)
Prerequisite: Working knowledge of compliance measures
in home health industry
FRIDAY,
July 18,
2008
Concurrent Educational Sessions (400 series)
9 to 10:40 am
401-The New HH PPS: Financial Implications of
Case Mix
While the life blood in a Medicare home health agency
is the referral of patients into service, the financial
health of a home health agency is often determined by
the quality of its case mix. The new HH PPS has heightened
the importance of accurate case mix scoring and increased
the importance of a well-balanced case mix. Despite improvements,
the new HH PPS case mix model still provides a range
of reimbursement that makes certain case mix categories
more financially valuable than others. An imbalance in
case mix can spell the financial doom of a home health
agency.
Objectives:
- Identify patient categories most impacted by the
new HH PPS case mix adjustment model;
- Recognize financially high risk case mix categories;
and
- Evaluate strategies for achieving case mix balance
to secure financial stability.
Faculty: Larry Leahy, Foundation Management
Services, Inc., Denton, TX.
Course level: Advanced: 1.6 nursing CEs; 2.0 accounting
CPEs (NASBA/RE)
Prerequisite: Working knowledge of new Medicare regulations
for reimbursement under PPS
402-The Hospice Management Panel: Guidance From
the Experts
Hospice care is the fastest growing area of community-based
services. It is also a rapidly evolving health care service,
both in clinical and financial terms. This program brings
together a panel of experts from the variety of fields
affecting hospice, including financial management, operations,
clinical practice and marketing. This “state of
the art” session will focus on the important hospice
matters of the day.
Objective:
- Describe the state of the hospice world in 2008;
- Explain strategies for successful management of today’s
hospice program; and
- Identify trends in hospice legislative and regulatory
arenas that affect the future of hospice care.
Faculty: Robert J. Simione, Simione Consultants, LLC,
Hamden, CT; Ted Cuppett, Dixon Hughes, PLLC, Clarksburg,
WV; Amanda Twiss, OCS, Inc., Seattle, WA.
Course level: Intermediate: 1.6 nursing CEs; 2.0 accounting
CPEs (NASBA/SEB)
Prerequisite: Basic knowledge of hospice financial management
issues and operation.
FRIDAY,
July 18,
2008
Concurrent Educational Sessions (500 series)
11 am to 12:40 pm
501-The New HH PPS: Budgeting, Financial Analysis,
and Reporting
Staying on top of the financial implications of the
new HH PPS requires a focused analysis and reporting
system along with reasonably accurate budgeting. This
program focuses on the changes to budgeting triggered
by the new HH PPS, the essential areas of financial data
recording, and analytical methods that are used to develop
the best strategies for successful performance.
Objectives:
- Explain standards for budgeting under the new HH
PPS;
- Identify minimum data set required for financial
reporting under the new HH PPS; and
- Recognize analytical principles to be utilized in
financial management of the new PPS.
Faculty: Pat Laff, Laff Associates, Hilton Head, SC;
F. Edward Nicolas, Jr., Visiting Nurse Services of Connecticut, Inc., Bridgeport,
CT.
Course level: Intermediate; 1.6 nursing CEs; 2.0 accounting
CPEs (NASBA/FIN)
Prerequisite: Basic knowledge of financial management
in Medicare home health care business
502-Managed Care: A Tool Kit for Survival and
Success
HHFMA Subcommittee on Managed Care has developed a tool
kit to assist home health agencies in their efforts to
develop reasonable relationships with managed care organizations.
The tool kit offers a road map to negotiating payment
rates and payment methods. It also provides guidance
on how a home health agency can evaluate the administrative
and clinical relationship with a managed care organization
to determine whether the relationship should continue,
be modified or terminated. Managed care may be here to
stay, but it does not have to stay the same.
Objectives:
- Identify service costs for managed care patients,
and in the relationship to the pricing of services;
- Describe successful techniques to negotiate acceptable
payment rates; and
- Recognize the importance of administrative and clinical
relationships in a managed care relationship.
Faculty: Walter Borginis, VNA of Greater Philadelphia,
Philadelphia, PA; H. Kenneth McNulty, Visiting Nurse
Association of Boston, Charlestown, MA; John Ilcyn, UPMC/Jefferson
Regional Home Health, LP,
Pittsburgh, PA; Paul Giles, Catholic Healthcare West, San Francisco, CA; William
J. Simione, Jr., Simione Consultants, LLC, Hamden, CT.
Course level: Intermediate; 1.6 nursing CEs; 2.0 accounting
CPEs (NASBA/BMO)
|
