Don’t miss our Congressional Update section for a vital story about the VA Mission Act
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Register for the 2019 HCAOA Congressional Fly-in On July 24-25
HCAOA invites you to participate in the upcoming 2019 Congressional Lobby Day scheduled for July 24-25. The program will begin on the afternoon of Wednesday, July 24. The schedule will include briefings on important federal and state issues impacting the home care industry, presentations from HCAOA staff and legislative consultants on how to discuss home care industry concerns with members of Congress. Meetings with your elected Representative and Senators will take place the following day on Capitol Hill.
We cannot emphasize enough the value of having HCAOA members participate in this annual event. This activity is vital to our overall advocacy efforts and will assist as we work to address state and federal advocacy issues impacting the home care industry.
We will be preparing materials for you to discuss and leave with your Senators and Representatives, and will provide guidance to assist HCAOA members with scheduling Hill visits with lawmakers.
Register HERE for the 2019 HCAOA Congressional Lobby Day!
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2019 Caregiver Of the Year Award – Nominate A Caregiver Today!
Do you have a caregiver in your company who has consistently gone above and beyond the call of duty? Have they exhibited compassion, empathy, and respect in the delivery of care to your clients and their families? Have they improved the quality of life, exemplified extraordinary commitment, acknowledged and met the needs of your clients and families? If so, the HCAOA encourages you to nominate a member of your staff to be considered for the HCAOA Caregiver of the Year Award!
HCAOA will announce the Caregiver of the Year Award during the Annual Leadership Conference with the theme, Be An Oasis In Your Community in Tucson, AZ. The award will be presented during the Annual Business Meeting during the Annual Leadership Conference. The winner will receive a cash prize of $1,000 as well as $500 towards their travel to the conference.
The Caregiver of the Year Award is open to member companies only. Only one nomination per member company is permitted. Both the final award recipient and nominator must be available to attend the conference. Submit your nominations today!
Please review the information below on eligibility and criteria for submitting nominations.
Purpose of the Award
The 9th Annual Caregiver of the Year Award is to recognize the caregiver from a member company who demonstrates extraordinary commitment to the delivery of quality care to clients and their familiar.
Eligibility
Any caregiver from a member company may be nominated. However there is a limit of one nomination per company. Both the award recipient and the nominator must attend the Annual Leadership Conference in Tucson, AZ on September 22-23, 2019.
Criteria
Nominees should demonstrate the following characteristics:
- Exemplifies extraordinary commitment to clients and families while following company policies and procedures
- Shows compassion, empathy and respect in the delivery of quality care for clients and families
- Acknowledges and meets the unique physical, emotional and practical needs of clients and families
- Improved the quality of life for clients and families
- Must be a Voting member of HCAOA
Please click on the button below to nominate a caregiver today!
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Register Today For These Upcoming Webinars!
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Liam Degnan, Senior Account Manager, Compliancy Group
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Liam is a Senior Account Manager at Compliancy Group. In his current role, he is responsible for advising health care decision makers help solve their HIPAA compliance needs. His background in risk management provides him with extensive knowledge in the HIPAA regulations and standards. Liam has now taken on handling HIPAA compliance for home care and hospice facilities.
Compliancy Group’s web-based compliance solution, The Guard, helps businesses address HIPAA compliance with guided, ongoing support. The Guard is the most trusted HIPAA compliance tool in the industry, and has helped thousands of clients Achieve, Illustrate, and Maintain compliance with confidence.
HIPAA & Cybersecurity: Do I Need to be HIPAA compliant?
Date: May 30, 2019
Time: 2:00pm EST
Presented By: Liam Degnan, Compliancy Group
In this webinar, our goal is to break down HIPAA compliance by walking you through the ins and outs of the regulation since the moment it was enacted in 1996. Through the years, HIPAA has undergone significant revisions and amendments. For that reason, it’s essential to keep up-to-date with the latest regulatory changes. Though it was once just another regulation, HIPAA has become a cultural issue for health care organizations of all kinds, affecting how to run a practice and the means of doing business.
Now, you may be asking yourself, "Do I Need to be HIPAA Compliant?"
Tune into this exclusive webinar to find out what you can be doing about your HIPAA compliance to protect your practices from OCR audits and fines!
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Social Media and HIPAA Compliance: Protecting Your Practice in the Digital Age
Date: June 25, 2019
Time: 2:00pm EST
Presented By: Liam Degnan, Compliancy Group
Managing social media use and HIPAA compliance can lead to some of the most common misunderstandings healthcare providers face. Employees who aren’t properly trained on HIPAA and social media can expose your organization to HIPAA violations and costly fines!
Whether your practice is using Facebook to attract new clients, or your employees are posting about their workday on Twitter, improper use of social media can lead to major HIPAA violations. Especially now that smart phones and access to apps like Instagram and Snapchat are on the rise, more of these violations have been making the headlines than ever before.
The question becomes: How can your business use social media without violating HIPAA privacy and security requirements?
In this webinar, we outlined exactly how to protect your business by managing how your employees use social media. You’ll get concrete examples of how to create effective policies surrounding uses of phones and social media around the office, as well as real life examples of HIPAA breaches that have occurred as a result of improper social media usage.
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Secure Your Spot at the 2019 Annual Leadership Conference!
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Made up of nearly 3,000 business owners representing communities across the country, HCAOA members represent millions of dollars in purchasing power. If you are a company that serves the home care market, you don't want to miss the opportunity to interact directly with company decision makers at an event that is guaranteed to attract top leaders from across the industry.
The 2019 HCAOA Annual Leadership Conference will take place at the JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort in Tucson, AZ on September 22-23. During the conference, attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the latest home care innovations, business strategies, as well as best practices and methods. This year's conference theme is Be An Oasis In Your Community.
The conference allows you to simultaneously introduce your company's latest products and services, and gain valuable feedback from potential customers. This ability to reach an ever-expanding audience can cultivate new leads, increase sales metrics and help your company build new relationships.
Who Attends the Conference?
Our conference is unlike any other national home care industry meeting because participants are company leaders who are intent on expanding services within their individual markets across the country. With a variety of event opportunities throughout the conference-trade show breaks, meal functions and an opening night reception-there is no shortage of platforms to interact with key decision makers and drive your brand's message to conference participants.
Registration
Vendor company registrations are time and date stamped, therefore those who register first will have the first booth selection or sponsorship selection on a first come first serve basis. Please note the 2019 Exhibit Hall floor plan will be finalized in the coming months and the HCAOA will reach out to each vendor to schedule their booth selection.
Don't forget to look for these new opportunities in the 2019 Sponsorship Prospectus:
- Vendor Spotlight Sponsorship
- Networking Reception Sponsorship
- Hyrdroflask Sponsorship
Or secure one of these best-selling sponsorships:
- Bronze Sponsorship
- Caregiver of the Year Sponsorship
- Registration Bag Insert Sponsorship
To learn more about exhibit and sponsorship opportunities, please see the 2019 Annual Leadership Conference Sponsorship Prospectus.
Thank You to our current 2019 Annual Leadership Conference exhibitors and sponsors.
We look forward to seeing you in Tucson, AZ this fall!
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We hope you'll be at the Georgian Terrace in Atlanta on Thursday, June 13th, for the HCAOA Georgia Chapter meeting. Don't miss out on the opportunity to network with your colleagues in the home care industry, receive an update on the latest legislative happenings, and discuss recent developments in the industry.
Date/Time: Thursday, June 13, 10am - 1pm
Location: Georgian Terrace Hotel
659 Peachtree Street NE | Atlanta, GA 30308
Click HERE to register.
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HCAOA Connecticut Chapter Meeting
The Connecticut Chapter of the Home Care Association of America will hold its May Chapter Meeting on Tuesday, May 21, at the West Hartford Senior Center. The agenda will cover legislative updates, HCAOA Connecticut's educational events, and a roundtable discussion of pressing issues in the home care industry.
Click here to register.
What: HCAOA Connecticut May Chapter Meeting
When: Tuesday, May 21, 9:00am EST
Where: West Hartford Senior Center | 15 Starkel Road, West Hartford, Conn.
LEGISLATIVE ALERT: Contact your Legislators in Hartford to Protect Your Home Care Business and Employees
Connecticut Senate Bill 1051 has passed through committee and now goes to the floor of the Connecticut General Assembly. The bill would impose broad and severe restrictions on the ability of home care providers to expand their offerings and grow their businesses, and opens caregivers up to major privacy risks. All told, the bill would:
- Require home care agencies to collect personal, identifying information about employees and submit it to the Department of Consumer Protection.
- Make much of that personal information available for public disclosure and to an 'employee organization'.
- Mandate 16 hours of paid training and 8 hours of paid continuing education annually for caregivers by home care agencies.
- Require home care agencies to submit annual cost reports and audited financial statements to the Commissioner of Consumer Protection.
We have prepared an easy-to-complete email message that you can send to your member in the State Senate and House to alert them to the ill effects of this legislation on businesses, workers, and Connecticut's elderly population.
LET'S ALL PARTICIPATE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
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HCAOA Illinois
HCAOA Illinois 2019 May Conference a Huge Success!
On Tuesday, May 14, HCAOA Illinois held their second state conference at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Lisle, Illinois. The meeting began the evening before with an opening reception where attendees could network with each other, speakers, exhibitors and sponsors. On Tuesday morning the Conference began with a welcome address by Chapter Chair, Katie Fielmann. The conference Keynote Speaker was Jim White who gave a well-received presentation on improving the customer experience.
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HCAOA Illinois Conference Keynote Speaker, Jim White
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There were also presentations on medical cannabis in Illinois, with speaker Meredith Duncan addressing the legal aspects and Morgan Kingsland providing an overview of medical cannabis in general. Attorneys, David Alfini, Aimee Delaney and Adam Guetzow gave a joint presentation on how to best to contract with other home care providers while maintaining regulatory compliance and avoiding a joint employer classification.
After a delicious lunch, attendees participated in a wonderful panel discussion on caregiver recruitment and retention, sharing best practices regarding lowering caregiver turnover rates.
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Attendees enjoying a refreshment break and mingling with exhibitors
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The conference concluded with a presentation by Jack Fleeharty of the Illinois Department of Public Health on requirements for home care providers in the state. Following Mr. Fleeharty’s presentation, Chapter Chair, Katie Fielmann closed the meeting by raffling prizes donated by our generous exhibitors and sponsors.
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Jack Fleeharty from IDPH presenting on requirements for home care providers
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The event was well attended and attendees had the opportunity to mingle and network with the speakers and exhibitors. HCAOA Illinois would like to thank Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP for their sponsorship and a special thank you to Elderwerks Educational Services who provided CE credits. A big thank you to all our other exhibitors.
If you were unable to attend this year’s conference, please plan on attending next year, which will be even bigger and better! If you are interested in serving on the conference planning committee please contact Nataly Schwartz at nataly@hcaoa.org
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The need for mobile printing has never been greater. Now you can print full-page documents practically anywhere – from your smartphone, tablet or laptop. Learn how printing at the point of care is saving clinicians time and helping with compliance, while improving productivity patient safety. Try a full-page mobile printer for free. www.brothermobilesolutions.com
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HCAOA California
Upcoming Webinar – Unionization Issues: What You Need to Know about AB 2455 and Beyond
AB 2455, a law that will require the Department of Social Services (DSS) to provide labor organizations with the names and personal contact information of home care aides, is scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2019. Considering the potential legal pitfalls presented by this law, HCAOA California is hosting this webinar to provide information on the potential impact on home care providers and how you can mitigate legal liabilities and risk when communicating with caregivers about their rights under AB 2455. Furthermore, as DSS structures a regulatory framework to implement the law, we plan to interpret the most updated information available from DSS.
Date: May 17, 2019
Time: 10:00am PT
Presented by Robert E. King, Esq., Legally Nanny®
Register HERE
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Veterans Access to Home Care Providers is Changing
The VA Mission Act was signed into law on June 6, 2018, replacing the VA Choice Act. The Mission Act contains significant new caregiver supports for all veterans, but the changes are not without some confusion. On April 10, 2019, the VA issued a letter to home care providers who are providing services to veterans. The letter notified them of changes to come stating that the VA would be using Veterans Care Agreements (VCA) instead of existing contracts and that this would begin as of June 6, 2019.
HCAOA looked into the VCA and found that no such resource currently exists for home care providers to complete and in fact regulations governing this area have only been completed by the VA in recent days.
Potentially good news is that an official high up in the VA has indicated to HCAOA that a decision to extend existing contracts to September 30, 2019 has been approved in order to make sure that care is not disrupted while the VCA rollout occurs. The VA plans to have the VCA agreement template out in the field within the coming weeks they tell HCAOA.
HCAOA will keep you updated if there are further updates on this topic.
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Trump Receptive to Bipartisan Deal on the FY2020 Budget
As reported by Politico, President Donald Trump left a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on May 14th seemingly open to a deal with Democrats to raise the budget caps in the fall, potentially avoiding a budget battle and possible government shutdown.
While Trump did not commit to anything, it was reported that the president is notably warmer than some of his staff on the possibility of avoiding blunt budget cuts in the fall that will hit if there’s no new fiscal.
If no deal is reached, automatic budget cuts go into place meaning defense spending will be cut by $71 billion, while about $55 billion in domestic spending will be slashed. This drama will play out further this fall.
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Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX)
For the next several weeks we will focus on new members of Congress. The first is Rep. Colin Allred of Texas.
Colin Allred, a civil rights attorney and ex-NFL linebacker, says he wants to tackle the issue of expanding access to health care for constituents in a state where health care coverage is among the lowest in the nation.
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Following graduation from Hillcrest High School, Allred earned a full-ride football scholarship to Baylor University, 90 minutes south of Dallas, where he earned a bachelor’s degree.
On the cusp of his law school studies at the University of California at Berkeley, Allred deferred acceptance and signed with the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent. Allred played 32 games over four seasons beginning in 2007.
During law school, he got an internship in the White House Counsel’s office. He later was a civil rights attorney at the Washington, D.C., office of Perkins Coie LLP. Then, he worked for Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro in the Office of General Counsel until the end of the Obama administration, when he returned to Texas.
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Home Care Association of America
444 N. Capitol Street NW, Suite 397, Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 800-22-HCAOA Email: info@hcaoa.org Website: www.hcaoa.org
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