3/12/2024 J6/JK Home Health POE Advisory Group Meeting
Meeting Minutes
Meeting Time: 1:00 p.m. ET
Member Attendees: Sherie Adam, Carla Alexander, Abizer Ali, Mildred Anderson, Mary Barry, Vickie Brand, Margret Carandang, Sue Carosa, Caren Chalfant, Dean Chalios, Pat Conole, Vicki Cordi, Craig DeVoe, Elaine Flores, Pete Frye, Joseph Furtado, Leah Gordon, Nancy Grissom, LeighAnn Howard, Shelly King, Stephanie Lee, Cheryl Levesque, Brianna Lindell, Marleen Mohamed, Christine Mahoney, Editha Mallari, Gunjan Manchanda, Mindy Martinez, Susan Mattera, JuliAnna Meyer, Katie Monastiere, Jill Nance, Nicholas Oliver, Chris Pankratz, Richard Pascarelli, Colleen Pierro, Masha Rudakov, Mary Jane Ruppert, Lisa Schweitzer, Dipa Shah, Beth Slepian, Jennifer Stark, Angeline Vallega, Katie Wehri, Patricia Whitman, Tracy Wodatch
National Government Services Associates: Charity Bright, Emily Fox-Squairs, Erin Musumeci, Christa Shipman
Agenda
- Welcome
- PEX Updates
- NGSConnex Update
- Completed and Upcoming Education/Advisory Recommendations from 10/24/2023
- 2024 Education Discussion
- Updates/Reminders
I. Welcome
Christa Shipman/Emily Fox-Squairs, NGS
Christa welcomed everyone to the meeting and the many new members. It’s amazing to have so many new providers join the group! Emily echoed that sentiment and introduced herself as the manager of Part A and HHH POE and reminded everyone the purpose of the POE AG is to help us develop education and provide feedback from the provider perspective to enhance our educational offerings. Christa reviewed the agenda for the meeting and showed where on our website the POE AG information is housed, including the Mission and Charter, Meeting Schedules, and Meeting Minutes. The meeting was then turned over to Charity Bright to start with NGSConnex Updates.
II. PEX Updates
Alicia Forbes, NGS
Alicia was not able to join the meeting for the PEX Update; however, she sent the following information to include in the minutes:
We’re always looking for and appreciate feedback from our providers. Your ideas and recommendations help drive improvements to our website.
Providers suggested that we display the events in a list and show more on the same page. We listened and are excited to share that we’ve implemented these changes. Now you’ll see more events at a glance making it easier to plan ahead.
On the events page you have the option to search events by:
- Keyword (e.g., NGSConnex, enrollment, revalidation)
- Date range (from date and to date)
- Current and Past Events
Events are now displayed in a list and show more on the same page. Here you can obtain handouts and register for the event.
Meaning of the icons:
- Handout available
- Waiting for handout to be posted
- No handout will be given for this event
To display more information on the event, select the dropdown navigation arrow.
III. NGSConnex Updates
Charity Bright, NGS
Charity shared a reminder that providers can get a copy of their 1099 tax form in NGSConnex under the Financials tab. The LSO for your agency has access to get a copy of the 1099 for 2023 and 2022 (if needed). She also reminded everyone that providers can respond to Claims ADRs and Medical Review ADRs in NGSConnex.
If anyone has ideas for enhancements or improvements to NGSConnex, please share with us (NGSHHHPOE@elevancehealth.com) and we will share with Charity.
IV. Completed and Upcoming Education/Advisory Recommendations from 10/24/23
Christa Shipman, National Government Services
Christa reviewed the education sessions completed since the last POE AG meeting. She also reviewed the podcast episodes that have been released so far. As a reminder, the links to the HHH Podcasts on Apple and Spotify are under the Apps on our website. We also still have YouTube videos, which have recently been categorized to find them easily. The complete Home Health Billing series is now available, as well as HHH Educational Videos, and the HHH On-Demand Videos playlist which includes the HHH webinars conducted each month. Christa also reviewed the recommendations members offered during our last meeting and the updates on those suggestions.
V. Education Discussion
All
The following topics were discussed regarding POE education for 2024:
- It would be great to have a Home Health 101 for field clinicians and new staff from NGS to include topics like eligibility, documentation, etc.
- Training for nurses on how to do admissions and follow-up visits would be helpful as well.
- Another good topic would be training to go over medical necessity and skilled need.
- Also develop Home Health 101 for nonclinical support staff
- An overview roadmap – a flowchart starting with the referral – on how home health works
- FTF encounters are still an issue – the checklist brought up during the last meeting would be helpful to have available.
- The Home Health Documentation Checklist was posted to our website and is currently available for home health providers (under Education > Medicare Topics > Home Health Eligibility).
- Post-tests for learning modules
- Would there be a way for NGS to do a traveling road show again to be more affordable and inclusive of providers of all sizes and budgets?
- NGS is looking to provide the yearly Summit in different locations so all providers from JK and J6 have different options for travel and locations to attend. The Summit in Vegas is an affordable option for many since the registration cost is very low for the three days of education, and the room blocks offer a way to book rooms at a decent rate. We are also looking for future venues that are affordable to fly to like Vegas.
- It would be helpful to have an email go out monthly pointing providers to resources/platforms and different educational offerings like newly developed articles, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc. Maybe alternate for billers and clinicians.
- Maybe create a podcast or some type of learning module around the 30-day therapy reassessment, e.g., scenarios around what to do if for example the patient is too weak for the reassessment when it is due yet is not ready to be discharged.
VI. Updates/Reminders
All
The June POE AG is an in-person meeting and a wonderful opportunity to meet face-to-face, network, and join the conversation in a different setting. We would love to have a great turn-out for the June meeting – please consider joining us on June 11th!
The 2024 HHH MAC Collaborative Summit will be at the Flamingo Las Vegas again this year! The 2024 dates are October 2-4. The Summit is three days of education with speakers from all three HHH MACs, as well as many other organizations such as CMS, the OIG, UPIC, beneficiary advocacy groups, and more. We will have registration open soon, so look for an announcement in our Email Updates and information on our website on how to register for the Summit. Please spread the word! We’d love to have another sold-out event this year.
For new members who have not signed up for our Email Updates, the link to sign up on our website is at the top of the page once signed into the HHH portal:
Emily noted we recently published an article regarding the cyber-attack and information on accelerated and advance payments for providers: Change Healthcare/Optum Payment Disruption (CHOPD) Accelerated and Advance Payments for Part A Providers and Part B Suppliers Frequently Asked Questions.
As always, you are welcome and encouraged to send any ideas or topics for education to us as NGSHHHPOE@eleveancehealth.com.
Meeting adjourned