8:00 – 8:45 a.m.
Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:45 – 9:00 a.m.
Welcome
Dee Kornetti

9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Home Care Compliance Deconstructed: Enforcement, Elements,
Penalties & Mitigation Steps
Bob Markette

Make no mistake, compliance programs won’t be optional for much longer.  The HHS Office of Inspector General has stated that the home health and hospice industries are the next targets for mandated compliance programs.  And while corporate compliance has become a commonly used word in the health care industry in the last 20 years, many providers use it without understanding its connection to United States Sentencing Guidelines.

Join noted home care attorney and AHCC Board Member Bob Markette for a discussion of the seven elements of compliance.  The attendee will understand what each element requires and common actions taken by HHAs and hospices to implement them.  The importance of buy in to the program will be discussed and the value of not just having policies and procedures in a book on the shelf, but taking steps to build a culture of compliance within your agency.

10:30 – 10:45 a.m.
Break

10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Comply with new HH Medicare Conditions of Participation:
Beware Alternative Sanctions Risks 
Bob Markette

Home health providers are subject to an incredible regulatory burden.  They must comply with HIPAA, the Fair Labor Standards Act, EEOC laws, Stark, Anti-Kickback, state licensure laws and many others.  One of the most important regulatory burdens are the home health Medicare Conditions of Participation. Although the CoPs may not immediately come to mind when providers think about compliance, with the rise of alternative sanctions and the recent massive increase in civil monetary penalties under the alternative sanctions, compliance with the CoPs has become an even more pressing matter. A provider may not be terminated, but the resulting civil penalties can be financially ruinous. With the compliance deadline with new CoPs rapidly approaching, providers must be prepared.

Join Bob Markette as he provides an overview of key aspects of the new CoPs. The attendee will understand the new QAPI mandate and its direct link to fraud and abuse compliance. Plus, this session highlights needed revisions to patient rights policies and procedures, agency administration and governance (warning: qualifications for Administrators change), and other key changes for which agencies must be prepared.

12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Networking Lunch

 

​Approved for up to  9 BMSC CEUs

 

1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
Compliance for Home Care Clinicians: QA, training, tools and resources 
Dee Kornetti

How can your agency not only achieve survey readiness, but also maintain those high clinical standards when a surveyor isn't standing watch? Join AHCC Board Chair Dee Kornetti to explore vulnerable clinical department processes from referral to discharge. You’ll walk away from this session with strategies for focusing clinician training and education and armed with tried-and-true tools and resources that reinforce compliant practices. Special focus will be given to embedded clinical strategies for compliance success into your agency's quality assurance performance improvement (QAPI) approach to reform risk areas and prevent potential pitfalls.

2:30 – 2:45 p.m.
Break

2:45– 4:30 p.m.
Catching HHA & Hospice Claims Mistakes Before the Government Does
Arlene Maxim

Compliance with Survey Conditions and Standards will take center stage in January of 2018.  The new conditions as well as increased scrutiny in other areas of compliance such as pre-claim reviews, ADR’s, ZPics, Upics, etc. will require dramatic changes in the way we look at compliance plans and conduct the business of home health care. In a recent report from the Government Accounting Office cited a lack of education on the part of CMS and their MAC’s as a significant weak area in the way of government accountability for ‘improper payments’ to homecare agencies as well as other providers.  It will be in every agencies best interest to increase the amount of education being done with physicians, referral sources and your own agency staff.

AHCC Vice Chair Arlene Maxim will help you understand what you will need to target in 2017 and 2018 in order to face increased scrutiny by the Federal Government during survey, pre-claim reviews, ADR’s, and multiple other reviews planned for 2018 and beyond. You’ll receive auditing tools and resources from this can’t-miss session.