July 16-18 | New Orleans
Select Criteria: Session Type = Educational Session

Monday, July 17, 11:00 AM - 12:40 PM

101. Home Health Benchmarking Story: Understand, Measure, & Live It! (100 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon A
Benchmarking is a way of discovering what is the best performance being achieved – whether with a provider or by the entire home health industry. As the industry experiences continued economic and regulatory changes, it is imperative to understand all aspect of your organization through benchmarking. This session will guide... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Angela Huff RN
Managing Consultant
FORVIS
Faculty
Chris Attaya MBA
Vice President, Product Strategy
Strategic Healthcare Programs
Faculty
Mark Sharp CPA
Partner
FORVIS
102. Jazzing up the Hospice Revenue Cycle: Compliance, Efficiency, & Cash Flow (100 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon B
An optimized hospice revenue cycle effectively maintains cash flow and minimizes write-offs in a compliant and efficient way.  Every year new challenges threaten to disrupt the revenue cycle, as new compliance risks emerge, and the hospice billing and payment landscape evolves. Historical challenges, such as nursing facility room and board and Medicaid... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Candice Hardy
Advisory Consulting Manager
McBee
Faculty
Zaundra Ellis
Vice President of Hospice Professional Services
Axxess
103. Medicare Advantage 101 (100 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon C
Home care providers are grappling with the shift in the Medicare eligible population into Medicare Advantage Managed Care plans (MA Plans). Providers are asking: What are the implications of current demographic trends? What operational and financial issues should providers expect as their payer mix shifts to mostly Managed Care? Who... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Beau Sorensen
COO
VisionBound
Faculty
Erin Masterson
Consulting Director
SimiTree
Faculty
Glenn Tolchin
VP Financial Planning & Analysis, Provider Services
VNS Health
Faculty
Lindsay Doak MBA
Director
BerryDunn
Faculty
Wanda Coley MBA
VP of Strategy
UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement
104. Company Culture Impacts Your Bottom Line (100 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon D
An organization that invests in its employees achieves a higher level of financial success. Employee turnover and friendships within the workplace are strong indicators of good company culture. Workplaces with positive cultures support a philosophy of transparency so that every team member feels they know where they stand and where... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Erik Drennen RN, BSN
President & CEO
Mays Home Care
Faculty
Marcylle Combs MS, RN, BS, CHCE
Owner & President
MAC Legacy
Faculty
Stephanie Johnston MBA
President and Chief Executive Officer
Transcend Strategy Group

Monday, July 17, 2:00 PM - 3:40 PM

201. Value-Based Purchasing National Expansion: What do I Need to Know? (100 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon A
The national expansion for Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Model (HHVBP) took effect on January 1st, 2023. Agencies are anxiously awaiting their July 2023 Interim Payment Reports (IPRs). For the first time, agencies will see how their Total Performance Scores (TPS)  to their peers using the updated 2022 HHA and 2022... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Andy Guarnera
Director of Product Management – Data Analytics
Homecare Homebase
Faculty
Jon Higginbotham BSN, RN
VP of Business Development
Homecare Homebase
Faculty
M. Aaron Little CPA
Managing Director
FORVIS
Faculty
Oneika Griffin Webb MS, BSN, RN
Chief Quality Officer
QAPI Consulting, LLC
202. Hospice Benchmarks & How to Use Them (100 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon B
This session will focus on key Hospice benchmarks-both internal metrics you should be tracking and disseminating, as well as publicly available such as the PEPPER report. This session will review the critical KPIs every hospice agency should be monitoring (and the appropriate time period in terms of reviewing the metrics),... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Karen Chamberlain RN
Senior Support Analyst/Suncoast Product Owner
Complia Health
Faculty
Katherine Morrison RN, MSN
Director of Hospice Consulting
WellSky
Faculty
Melissa Turner
Director of Integration and Analytics
Complia Health
Faculty
Yancey Bond
Director, Solutions Management
WellSky
203. Financial Analysis by Payer Category & Payer Relationships (100 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon C
The increasing amount of Medicare Advantage and other managed care payers is affecting many home care agencies. Being successful in this environment of these payer mix changes requires agencies to understand their costs of treating these patients and other impacts on their operations on an individual contract basis. Additionally, agencies... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Gwen Guillotte MBA
Chief Revenue Officer
LHC Group Inc.
Faculty
Joe Calcutt MBA
CFO
Liberty Home Care, LLC (Corporate)
Faculty
Nick Seabrook
Managing Principal, Founder
SimiTree
Faculty
RJ Gagnon DBA, MBA, CHFP, CSAF
Chief Financial Officer
Androscoggin Home Care & Hospice/Maine Center for Palliative Medicine
204. Recruitment and Retention: Is there Room for Innovation & Creativity? (100 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon D
Home health, hospice and private duty agencies continue to face acute workforce challenges. Competition for labor remains intense, particularly for nurses. Staffing costs are skyrocketing, and it is increasingly difficult to attract and keep workers. Despite these challenges, there are still opportunities to find innovative ways to recruit, retain and... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Kristen Duell
Chief Marketing Officer
Home Care Pulse
Faculty
Nick Muscato MBA
Chief Strategy Officer
Amedisys
Faculty
Ted Jeanloz
Chief Executive Officer
ConnectRN, Inc.

Monday, July 17, 3:50 PM - 4:40 PM

301. Staff Payment Models (50 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon A
Payroll is the largest direct cost for home health agencies. Proper staffing, alignment of compensation to reimbursement types, and incentivizing productivity is key to an agency’s financial success. Staff payment models also have a direct effect on employee satisfaction and quality measures and outcomes which will also be discussed....
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Natalie Alexander MAcc
Senior Manager
SimiTree
Faculty
Robert Simione CPA
Principal
SimiTree
302. PDGM Year 3 Update: What Have We Learned? (50 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon B
PDGM quietly turned three years old at the end of CY 2022. What changes do we see in the third year compared to the first two years? CMS regularly updates components of the PDGM reimbursement methodology through rulemaking to account for changes in practice. Where does behavioral adjustments fit in... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Brecken Anderson RN, MSN, DNP
Senior Vice President of Operations
LHC Group
Faculty
Chris Attaya MBA
Vice President, Product Strategy
Strategic Healthcare Programs
303. Using Advanced Technologies to Improve Your Agency (50 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon C
Home health and hospice agencies are not prepared for the digital revolution, with many relying on systems that were designed decades ago or (in some cases) no systems at all. This session will help you identify key technologies you can implement now to position your agency for the future. You... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Eddie Vetter
Director of Finance and RCM Consulting
Maxwell Healthcare Associates
Faculty
Kody Johnston MSN, RN, CD-P, CD-BA
Director of Business Analytics | Nurse Informaticist Leader
Maxwell Healthcare Associates
304. Private Duty Services Panel (50 minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon D
The private duty home care industry is booming and will continue to grow! This session will welcome a panel of experts from around the industry for a robust and interactive discussion about current opportunities and challenges providers are facing. Topics covered will include innovations, advocacy efforts, and current concerns in... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Guy Tommasi MS
Executive Director
HCP – Lifetime Care at Home
Faculty
Hannah Patterson
Vice President & General Manager Workforce Management
Netsmart
Faculty
Kara Justis MBA
VP of Strategic Consulting
Trella Health
Track(s)

Monday, July 17, 4:50 PM - 5:40 PM

401. Understanding Case Mix Weight & Impact on Profitability (50 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon A
A lot is said about case mix, but there really is not a lot published about Case Mix and what it means, and even further, what does it mean in the home health context. There are many terms that are thrown around, such as Case Mix, HHRG, and HIPPS. If we... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Jeff Aaronson
Vice President, Advisory Consulting
McBee
402. Hurricane of Hospice Medical Review is Coming (50 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon B
This session will discuss the governmental payor and non-governmental payor audit and investigative initiatives relating to hospice medical review and hospice eligibility. Recent trends, settlements and government and payor guidance will be discussed. This session will discuss best practices to assist hospice providers successfully navigate medical reviews and will provide... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Kelly Grahovac MBA
General Manager
The van Halem Group
Faculty
Wayne Van Halem CFE, AHFI
President
The van Halem Group
403. Transforming Today’s Clinical Leader into Tomorrow’s Financial Partner (50 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon C
What makes clinical leaders stand out in a crowd and sets them apart from their peers? Financial Acumen! Today’s clinical leaders must have a strong understanding of the financial indicators that drive the clinical operations and the bottom line. As a financial leader, it is crucial to explain the why... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Cindy Campbell MHA Healthcare Informatics, BSN, RN
Director Operational Consulting
WellSky
Faculty
Valarie Johnson PTMS, COQS, COS-C, HCS-O, HCS-D,CHHCM
Senior Manager, Clinical Integration and Education, Subject Matter Expert- OASIS
WellSky
404. Private Duty Analytics & Key Performance Indicators for Success (50 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon D
We cannot improve what we do not measure. Private duty agencies are faced with the same growing challenges and pressures that encompass all of healthcare but often with razor thin margins. One way to manage performance is through analytics and key performance indicators (KPIs). When used effectively, these metrics can... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Bruce Vanderlaan JD
Managing Director
Mertz Taggart
Faculty
Maryanna Arsenault MPA
ACHC Certified Consultant Hospice, Home Health, & Private Duty
Corcoran Consulting Group, LLC
Track(s)

Tuesday, July 18, 8:30 AM - 10:10 AM

501. Home Health Revenue Cycle (100 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon A
As we prepare for CY 2024, home health agencies across the country will be entrenched in deciphering the proposed rule issued by CMS. We collectively study its content and begin calculating the impact. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) delivered its 2024 final rule and (unsurprisingly) there is... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Marco Yap MBA
General Manager
Homecare Homebase
Faculty
Melinda Gaboury COS-C
Chief Executive Officer
Healthcare Provider Solutions, Inc.
Faculty
Nicholas Lamb MHI
VP of Revenue Cycle Management
Homecare Homebase
502. Private Duty Innovative Care Models (100 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon B
The in-home care industry took front and center throughout the pandemic shedding light on the important role the Private Duty segment will play in the future. The demand for quality home care services is expected to grow substantially over the next decade. According to longtermcare.gov, almost 70% of Americans turning... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Guy Tommasi MS
Executive Director
HCP – Lifetime Care at Home
Faculty
Laura Ellen Christian
President
AGE-u-cate Training Institute
Track(s)
503. Medicare Advantage: Hospice VBID (100 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon C
The Medicare Advantage Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) Hospice Benefit Component demonstration entered Phase 3 January 2023. Most MA Organizations have chosen to volunteer participation for at least some of their MA Plan Packages, which makes Hospice care among their benefit offerings. The four-year demonstration program started in January 2021 and... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Jordan Holland MBA
Vice President, Value-Based Contracting
Compassus
Faculty
Melinda Gaboury COS-C
Chief Executive Officer
Healthcare Provider Solutions, Inc.
Faculty
Ted Cuppett CPA
Director
The Health Group LLC
Faculty
Theresa Forster
Vice President for Hospice Policy and Programs
National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC)
Track(s)
504. Women in Leadership Panel (100 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon D
Everyone has a story to tell. Women leaders are no different. It can be challenging for some women to be the protagonist of their own tale. This panel will discuss the stories of four successful women. The challenges of women in business will be discussed. Many ways to overcome adversity... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Kassie Hodge MSN, RN, CHPN
Chief Executive Officer
Serve Link Home Care
Faculty
Sarani Doshi MHS
VP of Corporate Financial Planning and Analysis
VNS Health
Faculty
Tiffany Karlin
Principal, Senior Living and Services
Wipfli
Faculty
Tonya Gray MSHA, CPA
Director, Home Health Care & Home Services
UW Health Northern Illinois Home Health Care (formerly SwedishAmerican Home Health Care)
Faculty
Tricia Smith ACHCE, MHA
CEO / President
Wilshire Health & Community Services, Inc.
Track(s)

Tuesday, July 18, 10:30 AM - 11:20 AM

601. Visit Utilization Management Under PDGM (50 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon A
Clinician shortages have dramatically impacted visit utilization trends since the implementation of PDGM. The advent of Value Based Purchasing in 2023 places an additional emphasis on positive outcomes and other patient care measures which makes providing appropriate, quality care much more important. This session will dive into patient care management... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Daniel Reese MA, MBA
Executive Director
IntellaTriage
Faculty
Trisha Crissman MA
Vice President and Chief Operating Officer/ Home Care and Hospice Division
CommonSpirit Health at Home
602. Work with & Get Paid by Medicare Advantage Plans (50 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon B
Medicare Advantage plans are proliferating amongst Medicare-eligible people, with enrollment doubling since 2007. As a result of this growth, working with Medicare Advantage is becoming an integral part of home health care throughout the United States. This session will help you overcome common problems that agencies have when working with... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Brent Korte MHA
CEO
Frontpoint Healthcare
Faculty
Erin Masterson
Consulting Director
SimiTree
603. Using Budgeting & Forecasting to Drive Strategy and Operational Success (50 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon C
The home care and hospice industries are facing many challenges, including insufficient payment rate increases, margin compression, workforce shortages, and changes in payer mix. Budgeting and forecasting are two similar, but different, management tools that can help drive strategy and operational plans for success. To use these tools successfully, it... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Amber Popek CPA
Partner
FORVIS
Faculty
Beau Sorensen
COO
VisionBound
Faculty
Mike Simione MBA
Director
SimiTree
604. How Home-Based Programs Partner to Address Universe of Post-Acute Demands (50 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon D
All organizations are seeking creative ways to provide the right level of care at the right time to ensure quality outcomes and patient satisfaction. Additionally, it is increasingly important to coordinate programs longitudinally to better manage total cost of care and reduce avoidable hospital readmissions. This is true in risk-based... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Anthony Spano MS
Director of Client Development
Netsmart
Faculty
Florence Kariuki RN MHA FHELA
Chief Clinical Officer
Health Recovery Solutions

Tuesday, July 18, 11:30 AM - 12:20 PM

701. Succession Planning: Are You & Your Business Ready for the Next Level? (50 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon A
Every business will transition, but not every owner will have the chance to actively participate in the process. To affect a successful transition, a business owner should start by understanding if their business CAN be transitioned in its current state. The ideal state for a Business Transition is what we... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Paul Lally
Principal
Wipfli LLP
Faculty
Tom Cox
Principal
Wipfli
702. Referral Management: Strategic Tactics & Tools to Capture High-value Market Share (50 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon B
Managing a strong referral source with a strategic view is now more than ever important, as organizations plan how to use limited clinical resources to drive the healthiest margins. A closer look into sales strategies with a focus on payor mix, acuity mix, and market differentiators begin to support tactics... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Kara Justis MBA
VP of Strategic Consulting
Trella Health
Faculty
Melanie Stover OT, MBA, MS/ISM
Owner
Home Care Sales
Faculty
Stephanie Johnston MBA
President and Chief Executive Officer
Transcend Strategy Group
703. Determining Your Exit Strategy: When, How, & How Much? (50 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon C
If you own a home health or hospice agency and you don’t intend to pass it along to a child or other close relative, you need an exit strategy, and no surprise, the sooner you begin to plan for it, the better the outcome. In this session, we’ll cover three of... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Andy Maish MS, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
AA Care Services/Sentinel Homecare
Faculty
Joe Lynch
Partner and Managing Director
Stoneridge Partners
Faculty
Russ Krengel MBA
Co-Founder & CEO
Kindful Health
Faculty
Tom Lillis
Partner
Stoneridge Partners
704. Staff Productivity: Where Clinical Practice & Financials Meet (50 Minutes)
  • Room: Grand Salon D
The examination of productivity standards is essential to financial success. With new data to consider, this session will provide current industry benchmarks to help you determine how your organization is performing. In the current staffing climate, it is more important than ever to understand the financial expectations and the potential... Read More
Speaker(s)
Faculty
Jenna Kowalski MBA, BSN, ACHM
Vice President, Clinical Innovation
Health Recovery Solutions
Faculty
Patty Upham RN
Vice President of Clinical Services
Health Recovery Solutions