Earn 9.25 Continuing Nursing Education Contact Hours

9.25 contact hours for this continuing nursing education activity have been approved by the Arizona Nurses’ Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. Please contact Lisa Selman-Holman at Selman-Holman & Assoc LLC for more information about contact hours. E-mail her at: CEUs@decisonhealth.com.

Your Turn
This is the best way to master the changes -- learn by doing! These special sessions have you put pen to paper to work out the answers to new OASIS payment questions and puzzle out how the PPS changes will impact your agency -- both operationally and financially!

BONUS: You’ll get extra copies of all the exercises to use as ready-made in-service training programs back at your agency!

8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. — Registration & Continental Breakfast

9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.  — Master the basic building blocks of the complex new PPS system
The proposed PPS changes contain many complex layers. You need to understand these layers so you can train staff and ensure accurate payments. During this session you will break down the changes into manageable sections so you can set priorities for staff training and operational changes specific to your agency. This is the most important step you’ll take in protecting your agency from reimbursement losses under the new rules. You’ll discover:

1. Which OASIS and ICD-9 codes will drive the new set of 153 HHRGs.
2. Which agencies will be most affected by the changes – large v. small, for profit v. not-for-profit, through data analysis.
3. How increased reimbursement for LUPAs and elimination of the SCICs will affect your bottom line.
4. Whether you need to resubmit the RAP when you incorrectly predict therapy.

Tools: You’ll get copies of key tables from the regulation to calculate the financial impact on your agency.

10:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. — Refreshment Break

11:00 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. — Accurate therapy using an OASIS-driven case-management program
Arnie Cisneros, PT and co-owner of Home Health Strategic Management
The payment rules for therapy visits can wreak havoc on your financials if you’re not prepared. Under the proposed therapy changes, you'll receive an average of $799 more for late-episode patients who receive six to nine therapy visits, $854 less for early-episode patients who receive 10 therapy visits and nearly double the payment for 20+ therapy visits.

Get a good seat at this session for an expert analysis of the financial impact of the proposed thresholds. You'll also receive a step-by-step guide for making cost-effective operational changes including how to:

1. Predict the correct number of therapy visits – your accuracy is so important here under the new rules!
2. Use the OASIS functional questions to drive the number of therapy visits.
3. Document the need for therapy to avoid over-utilization.

Your Turn: In this practice session, you'll put these lessons to work with your fellow attendees and review a series of real-life OASIS documents. You’ll work out the most cost-effective care plans, including the correct number of therapy visits.

Training Tools: You’ll take home copies of real-life OASIS scenarios to practice predicting therapy utilization with staff.

12:45 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. — Lunch provided

2:15 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. — PPS changes target ICD-9 sequencing and accurate code selection
Anne Rambusch, general manager and administrator, Interim Health Care
The ICD-9 codes that you choose are the biggest financial drivers in the new payment system.  For example: Report the wrong codes for a post-hip fracture patient under the new PPS rules and you could lose $1,200+ per episode. In this session you'll receive a simple breakdown of the coding changes that you can take back and train your clinical and coding staff on. ICD-9 changes in the new system mean you can:

1. Get clinical domain points for more than one code in M0246.
2. Use V codes in M0230 and M0240, when necessary.
3. Receive points for additional case-mix codes, including CHF, cancer and psych disorders.

Your Turn: In this practice session, you'll test your new-found skills by working with your peers to code patient scenarios for high-dollar diagnoses. You’ll see exactly how the changes affect reimbursement compared to current coding requirements.

Tool: You’ll get a practice coding competency patient scenario to use in your training for clinicians.

Just added
5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. — Wind-down & Networking Reception
Please join us at the Omni for drinks and hors d'oeuvres. It’s a nice chance to mingle with your fellow attendees, the program presenters, vendor staff and relax before you enjoy the Riverwalk

7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. — Continental Breakfast

8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. — M0110 / M0470 / M0800 / M0520 – New OASIS payment questions
Julie Vandre, RN, COS-C, supervisor, McBee Associates
CMS will pay as much as $1,097 more for late-episode patients. But your staff has to answer the OASIS correctly to get this money. Train your staff to ensure they get accurate and consistent information to answer the brand-new OASIS question M0110 (episode timing). You'll also walk away from this session with tips for answering new OASIS payment questions including M0470 (current number of observable pressure ulcers), M0800 (injectable meds), and M0520 (urinary incontinence)

Your Turn: In this practice session you’ll take an OASIS competency quiz to assess your ability to navigate the nuances of these payment questions.

Tools: You’ll get an OASIS competency tool to take back and use in your staff training and assessment program.

9:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. — Refreshment Break

10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. — Bandage your wound care program,
prevent financial infections
Julie Peterson, Senior consultant, Delta Health Technologies
Under the new system, you could get as much as $1,246.47 more for your episodic payment and $367.34 for your non-routine supply payment for early episode wound patients with 14 or more therapy visits. But only if your clinicians code the OASIS wound questions and ICD-9 codes correctly. Under the new PPS model, CMS will place more weight on OASIS wound questions, such as M0450 (number of pressure ulcers), M0460 (stage of pressure ulcer) and M0476 (status of stasis ulcer) and wound diagnoses listed in M0246.

The problem is that clinicians often have trouble distinguishing between different types of wounds. Come to this session and you'll receive tips to:

1. Train clinicians how to identify and stage wounds.
2. Document sufficiently to support coding and payment.
3. Accurately select ICD-9 wound codes.

Your Turn: In this practice session, you’ll walk through wound patient scenarios to correctly complete the OASIS form and pinpoint how the OASIS answers you choose drive your episodic payment and supply reimbursement.

Tools: You’ll get a set of laminated tip sheets to help your staff identify and stage  wounds more accurately.

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.  — Impact Report for Your Agency – OCS reveals individual agency reports
Amanda Twiss, president and co-owner, Outcome Concept Systems
Come to this session and you'll receive individualized agency reports that provide exclusive data on how the PPS changes will impact your bottom line. These are customized reports based on your agency’s patient population and geographic location. You'll also receive expert analysis of your agency-specific report, including tips for using this data to secure the money you deserve.

12:30 p.m. — Adjourn

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