Technology & Innovations in Home Care | Compliance Considerations for TX Agencies

Program Description:

Technology is becoming increasingly important for homecare agencies, but with innovation comes responsibility. Agencies must understand that adopting new tech doesn’t guarantee regulatory compliance or protection from citations. It's essential to choose technology that fits the agency’s needs and to evaluate and document its effectiveness as part of the QAPI (Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement) plan. Agencies should stay informed, exercise caution, and ensure proper oversight to avoid legal or enforcement issues.

HCSSA Topic(s) Addressed:

• §558.259[d][4] agency responsibilities
• §558.260[a][3] basic principles of management in a licensed health-related setting

Education-Training Credits:

• TX HCSSA Administrator/Alternate Continuing Education
  • 1.0 Clock Hr(s)

About the Presenter(s): Rosalind J. Nelson-Gamblin

Rosalind has been a public speaker and facilitator for home care and hospice since 2000. In August 2022, Rosalind retired from a 33-year career in state government ending at Texas Health and Human Services, where she was a senior policy specialist for regulation of long-term care including hospice, home health, and personal care, supportive palliative care, assisted living, and day activity and health services industries. As a health care consultant, Rosalind is passionate about assisting entity leaders to understand and overcome compliance challenges while advocating for quality of life and quality of care for clients, residents, and patients. She continues to analyze state and federal legislation for impact to providers and consumers, review state regulations, develop and deliver continuing education and training to providers, and provide guidance to industry leaders through state and federal survey preparation activities, such as mock surveys and leadership mentoring. Rosalind is a subject matter expert for federal/nationwide standards and possesses a keen understanding of accreditation for home health and hospice care. Rosalind is well-versed in the regulations for the settings where home care is delivered, including nursing/skilled nursing, assisted living, intermediate care for individuals with developmental disabilities, and independent living settings. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Texas ~ New Mexico Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. She is an avid gamer, loves comics and reading, and resides in Austin with her husband, son, and cats.

About the Presenter(s): Brian W Lebanion

Brian has more than 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry and provides consulting services for all aspects of home health care and hospice, including operations, reimbursement and education. He specializes in comprehensive consulting services offering clients and providers survey/licensure coaching, clinical review and training, financial and revenue cycle management, third-party audit response, and quality assurance/performance improvement training.

About the Presenter(s): Heidi Kocher

Ms. Kocher is a partner with Liles Parker and has over 20 years of experience in health care legal and compliance-related issues, representing all kinds of health care providers of all size. Her experience includes serving as a chief privacy officer and interim chief compliance officer at a medical device manufacturer. She also served as an outside compliance expert to a hospital and a clinical laboratory that were under Corporate Integrity Agreements. She has significant reimbursement experience, responding to and defending audits, addressing coverage policy issues, challenging denials, recoupments, and loss of billing privileges, obtaining HCPCS codes, and other reimbursement related issues. Her experience also includes implementing Corporate Integrity Agreements, guiding clients through voluntary self-disclosures and seeking advisory opinions from the OIG. In acknowledgement of her expertise, Ms. Kocher has served as a lecturer in the Biomedical Engineering department at the University of Texas at Dallas. Ms. Kocher is licensed in Texas and Maryland and Certified in Healthcare Compliance.

About the Presenter(s): J'non Griffin

J'non is a 34 year veteran of home care as an RN. She received her Master’s Degree in Health Care Administration in 2005. She has experience as a field nurse, director and executive with home health and hospice agencies, both large and small. J’non is certified as a Homecare Coding Specialist-Diagnosis (HCS-D), Certified in OASIS competency, COS-C, Certified in Homecare Coding Specialist-Hospice (HCS-H), Home Care Specialist-Compliance (HCS-C) and is an AHIMA approved ICD-10-CM trainer/ambassador. J’non is an accredited ACHC and CHAP consultant. She has presented several webinars, and has been a nationally recognized speaker on a variety of subjects.