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2017 Annual Conference and Exposition
Kalahari Resort Poconos‎
250 Kalahari Blvd
Pocono Manor, PA 18349
USA
877-525-2427

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Tuesday, May 02, 2017, 7:30 AM to Thursday, May 04, 2017, 12:00 PM EDT
Category: Event

 

 

Join PHA May 2-4, 2017 for two and a half days of education, networking, and fun at our Annual Conference and Exposition!  16.5 Nursing CEs are available. A detailed session schedule is below. Click here to download the conference brochure.

 Register Now!

Early Bird Rate (Expires Friday, March 31)

PHA Member                                                  Non-member
First Registrant from Agency: $535             First Registrant from Agency: $680
Each Additional Registrant: $510                 Each Additional Registrant: $660

General Rate (After Friday, March 31)

PHA Member                                                 Non-member
First Registrant from Agency: $595            First Registrant from Agency: $740
Each Additional Registrant: $560                Each Additional Registrant: $715

One Day Passes

Tuesday, May 2, 2017
PHA Member: $365                                         Non-member: $465

Wednesday, May 3, 2017
PHA Member: $365                                         Non-member: $465

Thursday, May 4, 2017
PHA Member: $225                                         Non-member: $325

Room Block

Cut-Off: April 10, 2017
Reference: PA Homecare 2017
Rate: $155 per night
Reservations:
1-877-525-2427

 

Detailed Session Schedule

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

7:30 – 9:00 a.m.                    Registration, Continental Breakfast

9:00 – 9:30 a.m.                    Welcome

9:30 – 11:00 a.m.                 General Session: What Really Matters at the End of Life (1.5 CEs)
                                                             BJ Miller, MD

Dr. BJ Miller is one of the pre-eminent speakers on palliative and end of life care. Drawing on his expertise as a physician, former Executive Director of Zen Hospice Care, and as a patient, he is an advocate for a healthcare system that minimizes unnecessary suffering and maximizes quality of life. Dr. Miller has lectured widely on all aspects of palliative care, as well as person-centered care, the therapeutic potential of aesthetics, and how to design for life. His TED Talk, “What Really Matters at the End of Life,” is a moving reflection of his vision to make empathic end-of-life care available to all, and has garnered more than four million views to date and ranked among the Top 15 Most Viewed Talks of 2015.

11:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.      Concurrent Sessions

General Track: When the Government Comes Knocking: What is a Provider to Do? 
Renee H. Martin, JD, RN, MSN, Partner, Dilworth Paxson, LLP
This session will provide useful knowledge regarding how an agency and its staff should respond when a Federal or State investigator appears at your office or contacts an employee at home. Knowing how to respond correctly will serve to preserve your rights, establish rapport with the investigator and agency to move the investigation to a successful conclusion for your agency. The crucial role of an effective Compliance Program will be highlighted.

Home Health Track: Engaging Employees to Deliver Superior Patient Experience (1.25 CEs)  
Stephanie Finnel, Associate Director, Research, Analytics, & Innovation, BAYADA Home Health Care,
Emilie Bartolucci, Manager, Client Experience, BAYADA Home Health Care    
    
How can home health and homecare agencies improve patient experience to maximize value-based purchasing reimbursement? Data show that agencies with higher employee engagement have higher patient experience ratings. Learn about one agency’s programs to connect employees and patients and how it provided service training to employees and recognized them for using it to enhance patient experience.

Hospice Track:  An Ethical Dilemma: Full Code Status in the Terminally Ill (1.25 CEs)
Sarah Lohman, RN, MSN, NEA-BC, Chief Clinical Officer, Hospice of Central Pennsylvania

This presentation will be an overview of the issues surrounding full code status in the terminally ill patient. How can healthcare professionals better facilitate code status discussions for these patients? How does full code status fit in with hospice care? Be a part of the discussion!    

Private Duty Track: The Harvard Medical School In-Home Program and Case Studies of Home Care Tapping into Accountable Care Organizations
Bobbie Jo Price, ClearCare Online
The Harvard Medical School In-Home Care program is a large-scale, three-year research program with the objective to prove the impact of homecare on cost and outcomes. Hear updates on how this and other data-driven initiatives are performing to get homecare a seat at the table and hear multiple case studies of how private-duty homecare owners have had success (and failure) with tapping into ACOs.

12:30 – 2:30 p.m.                 Lunch and General Session: Building Real Relationships in the Digital World
                                                            Jonathan Mann, The Conference Troubadour

Jonathan Mann is the Guinness World Record holder for most consecutive songs written. He’s been writing and releasing a song day for over seven years. Jonathan has spoken and performed all around the world, and was interviewed and performed live on the Rachel Maddow Show, the Anderson Cooper Show and at TEDMED. Steve Jobs used one of Jonathan’s songs to open a press conference, saying that he “couldn’t help but want to share it.”

2:45 – 4:00 p.m.                   Concurrent Sessions

General Track: Outsourcing vs. Insourcing: Knowing What Business Functions to Outsource and When (1.25 CEs)
Matthew Capell, Chief Executive Officer, FHS SeniorCare Payment Solutions
Outsourcing can help agency owners stay focused on high-level strategy aimed at profitable revenue growth. To leverage your team’s core competencies, you must outsource extraneous functions to companies that deliver expertise. Learn how outsourcing can engender cost- and time-savings and enable lean teams to achieve operational efficiencies.

Home Health Track: COPs Are Here! Building Home Health QAPI Infrastructure: Preparing for Future Success Today (1.25 nursing CEs, 1.25 board approved OT CEs, PT CEs pending)
Christine Smith, Director Alignment & Performance Improvement, UPMC Community Providers Services Home Health and Hospice
Thelma Dibble, BSN, RN, Vice President, Quality, UPMC Community Providers Services Home Health and Hospice

Learn how one home health organization integrated Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement (QAPI) infrastructure, including sample streamlined QAPI documentation tools, into home health and hospice operations to position themselves for success under ever changing and more stringent quality of care and reimbursement models including QAPI regulations and Value-Based Purchasing models. 

Hospice Track: Community Based Palliative Care Programs: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1.25 CEs)
Sarah Lohman, RN, MSN, NEA-BC, Chief Clinical Officer, Hospice of Central Pennsylvania
This presentation will give an overview of community-based palliative care programs. The focus will be not only on the good that they can do for patients, but also the struggles these programs can be for organization in terms of reimbursement and conversion to hospice. 


Private Duty Track: MLTSS on the Horizon
Representatives from the Office of Long-Term Living
Community HealthChoices implementation is set to begin in January 2018 in the Southwest and in July 2018 in the Southeast. The rest of the state will be implemented as scheduled in January 2019. Hear the latest updates on the transition to managed long-term services and supports and learn what your agency should be doing now to prepare from representatives from the Office of Long-Term Living.

4:00 – 6:30 p.m.                    Welcome Reception in Exhibit Hall

 

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

8:00 – 9:00 a.m.                   Continental Breakfast in Exhibit Hall

9:00 – 10:00 a.m.                 General Session: Tales of the Fortune Cookie
                                                          Rodney L. Whitlock, Vice President, Health Policy, ML Strategies

What does the future hold for Medicare and Medicaid? Get a glimpse of the possibilities from a veteran healthcare policy professional with more than 20 years of experience working with the U.S. Congress. Rodney managed the Patients’ Bill of Rights, which passed the House in 1999 and 2001. In February 2005, he joined the Finance Committee Staff as a health policy advisor and was lead Senate staffer for the Medicaid provisions of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006.

10:15 – 11:30 a.m.              Concurrent Sessions

General Track: Reducing Hospital Readmissions in the Elderly Population with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (1.25 CEs)
Amy Craven, PT, MS, DPT, Vice President, C&V Senior Care Specialists
Katherine Johnson Vanderhorst, RN, BSN, President, C&V Senior Care Specialists

In the U.S., one in seven hospital admissions of people with Alzheimer’s are potentially avoidable and cost Medicare $2.6 billion annually. Alzheimer’s Disease, because of its effect on memory, thinking and behavior, can significantly interfere and complicate the management of other chronic conditions, increasing the risk for hospitalization that may be preventable with proactive care. This presentation will address caregiver education to recognize the behavioral issues and teach strategies to deal with the behaviors that can ultimately reduce avoidable hospitalizations, improve patient outcomes, and lower costs.

Home Health Track: CGS Billing and Clinical Updates for Home Health (1.25 CEs)
Sandy Decker, RN, BSN, Senior Provider Education Consultant, CGS
Nykesha Scales, Senior Provider Education Relations Representative, CGS
Hear about all the latest billing and clinical updates for home health direct from CGS, the Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) for Pennsylvania.

Hospice Track: Utilizing Research to Assess Impact of Hospice Care and Complementary Health Approaches on Adult Hospice Patients (1.25 CEs)
Toni Marek-Mazzariello, RN, BSN, CCAP, St. Luke’s Home Health and Hospice
Jesse Dulin-Soto, RN, IAC, CHPN, St. Luke’s Home Health and Hospice
Theresa Nemeth, MS, BSN, RN, St. Luke’s Home Health and Hospice

This presentation will detail the findings of an IRB-approved research project conducted by two aromatherapists in 2016 with St. Luke’s Hospice adult population. The aim of the research is to determine patients’ perception of their quality of life in hospice care and the impact of aromatherapy.

Private Duty Track: Building Workforce across Generations: Recruiting and Retaining an Age-Diverse Workforce
Melody Lenox, Vice President of Human Resources, Axxess
A talent gap is forming as Baby Boomers age into retirement and Millennials climb the corporate ladder. Recruitment strategies to attract, recruit, retain and motivate young people need to rely less heavily on traditional pay and benefits, and focus more on creating welcoming cultures.


11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.        Lunch with Exhibitors

1:15 – 2:30 p.m.                   Concurrent Sessions

General Track: Social Media for Recruiting and Awareness
Erica Metzger, Social Media Manager, BAYADA Home Health Care
These days, everyone has a Facebook page…including your potential employees and consumers! Learn how to use Facebook for recruiting qualified employees, as well as to build brand awareness for your agency in your community. Learn about setting up pages and boosts, how to target the right audiences, track your ads, and more!

Home Health Track: What Does Behavioral Health Have To Do with Outcomes? Learn Why Integrating Behavioral Health with Chronic Patient Care Can Improve Star Ratings (1.25 CEs)
Katherine Johnson Vanderhorst, RN, BSN, President, C&V Senior Care Specialists
Amy Craven, PT, MS, DPT, Vice President, C&V Senior Care Specialists

Many homecare patients have co-existing chronic and behavioral health problems that are not dealt with. If not addressed, problems like anxiety and depression leave patients unable to manage diabetes, congestive heart failure, COPD and other serious medical conditions. This presentation will provide statistics on the prevalence of psychiatric issues among the homebound elderly and explain why failure to identify or deal with these conditions affects compliance and outcomes. The steps to implementing successful behavioral health care in your agency will be discussed.

Hospice Track: CGS Billing and Clinical Updates for Hospice (1.25 CEs)
Sandy Decker, RN, BSN, Senior Provider Education Consultant, CGS
Nykesha Scales, Senior Provider Education Relations Representative, CGS
Hear about all the latest billing and clinical updates for hospice direct from CGS, the Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) for Pennsylvania. 

Private Duty Track: Understanding the New Direct Care Worker Policy Clarification
Representatives from the Department of Health
Last November, the Departments of Health, Human Services and State issued a policy clarification, which expanded the services direct care workers (DCWs) may provide to help individuals remain as independent as possible in their own homes. Since that time, there have been many questions raised about the specifics of the clarification. This is your opportunity to ask these questions to representatives to the Department of Health.  

2:45 – 4:00 p.m.                   Concurrent Sessions

General Track: 60 Tips in 60 Minutes: Improve Your Bottom Line with These Practical Workers’ Compensation and Safety Tips
Jon Accardi, AVI Risk Services
Don Widdicombe, AVI Risk Services
Bernadette Heckman, AVI Risk Services
This fast paced session will cover 60 practical workers’ compensation and safety tips in 60 minutes. Learn how to keep your workers safe and reduce your work-related injury costs from these experiences workers’ compensation and safety professionals.

Home Health Track: Financial & Management Aspects of OASIS-C2 (1.25 CEs)
Melinda Gaboury, CEO, Healthcare Provider Solutions, Inc.
OASIS data is key in determining an agency’s reimbursement, not to mention supporting evidence of the quality of care an agency provides. This session will discuss the how to calculate the HHRG, corresponding HIPPS code and determine case-mix weight. Learn how to establish processes that need to be strengthened at agencies regarding OASIS-C2 completion and review.

Hospice Track: Home Health and Hospice Aides and Compliance (1.25 CEs)
Bobbie Warner, RN, BSN, Director, Accreditation, Community Health Accreditation Partner
Home health and hospice aides play a huge role in the day-to-day care of patients at many agencies. As a result of this growing role, agencies can face a number of challenges when it comes to collaboration with aides as well as documentation and following a plan of care. During this session, presenters will walk through some of the common stumbling blocks that many agencies encounter during site visits. Learn the tools you need to confidently prepare for a site visit, taking the critical support provided by aides into consideration.

Private Duty Track: The Affordable Care Act: Where It Stands Now & What the Future May Bring
Tom Collins, Esq., Buchanan Ingersoll and Rooney
Jacob Theis, Esq., Buchanan Ingersoll and Rooney
This presentation will include a discussion of the financial hardships many agencies have faced because of the Affordable Care Act’s mandates, as well as an update on the shifting political landscape surrounding the ACA. Learn what challenges the labor provisions present to homecare providers. 

4:15 – 5:15 p.m.                   General Session: The Boomer Future of Healthcare

                                                              Matt Thornhill, Founder and President, Boomer Project
                                                                      & GenerationsMatter

Matt is considered to be the nation’s authority on generational dynamics. Some 14 years ago he partnered with SIR Research to launch the Boomer Project, and recently morphed it into GenerationsMatter. His firm provides insights and consulting services to help organizations better understand generational dynamics in the workplace and marketplace. Matt’s opinions and insights are sought by media around the world. He’s appeared on NBC, CBS, CNBC, and in articles in BusinessWeek, TIME, The Washington Post, The New York Times and countless others.

6:00 – 9:00 p.m.                   Safari Party & Dinner

 

Thursday, May 4, 2017

8:00 – 9:00 a.m.                    Buffet Breakfast

9:00 – 10:00 a.m.                  Awards Presentation

The Honorable Teresa Osborne
Pennsylvania Secretary of Aging

10:00 – 11:00 a.m.               PHA Annual Membership Meeting

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.      General Session: Competition is Fierce in All Homecare Sectors: Stand Out in Your Market!
                                                                Steve “The Hurricane” Weiss, President & CEO, Hurricane Marketing Enterprises

Lions, Tigers and Bears...Oh My! Two heads are better than one and three is all the more fun! By calling upon synergistic service providers (Lions, Tigers, and Bears - Home Health, Hospice and Private Duty) in your area you can begin to grow your business exponentially. In this dynamic presentation, Steve “The Hurricane” covers the effective techniques to form strategic partnerships, how to create self-duplication of marketing efforts, methods of leveraging relationships, co-marketing and co-sponsoring. You will discover how to cultivate the partnerships that lead to success! Home health, hospice and private duty providers…don’t miss this unique Hurricane Marketing Boot Camp!