Home Health & Hospice Week

Outcomes, referrals also catch industry's interest in Seattle.

The home care industry continues to grow under the prospective payment system--and so does the National Association for Home Care & Hospice's annual meeting.

About 2,700 attendees and 1,200 vendor representatives gathered on the West Coast Oct. 23 through Oct. 26 for the trade association's 24th annual meeting, NAHC says. That's up from about 2,500 participants last year, while vendor numbers held steady. "About 3,900 people tromped into Seattle," says NAHC spokesperson Richard Brennan. "That's quite a significant turnout," Brennan tells Eli.

Eli reps noted these meeting highlights:

• Outcomes. Many well-attended sessions fo-cused on improving a variety of patient outcomes. Fazzi Associates issued a project report on the hospitalization reduction study cosponsored by NAHC and Briggs Corp. The study involving more than 200 agencies identifies best practices for reducing hospitalization in home care patients. For a list of the 15 best practices identified and other information about the study, go to www.fazzi.com/coffee.pdf.

• P4P. Medicare's looming pay for performance payment mechanisms included in fiscal year 2006 budget proposals may be one of the factors driving agencies' interest in patient outcomes.

While the exact details of P4P haven't been nailed down yet, HHAs should expect some sort of performance payment component to take effect soon, warned Pamela Teenier, Assistant VP over Medicare operations for Gentiva Health Services, in one session (see related story, in the following article).

Providers were following congressional legislative action closely, with NAHC urging HHAs to contact their representatives in Washington.

• Therapy. In contrast to previous years, this year's meeting included a multitude of sessions focused on home care therapy services. "There even were blocks of time with more than one [therapy session] to choose from," noted attendee Cindy Krafft, director of rehabilitation services with OSF Home Care based in Peoria, IL. Like many other sessions, the therapy programs focused on patient outcomes, Krafft observed.

• Business diversification. Multiple sessions urged Medicare-only HHAs to diversify into private pay and other business lines. Medicare and Medicaid funding for home care will shrink and agencies will have to fund their mission with private pay revenues to survive, predicted Joseph Jackson with ElderCare Advisors Inc. in Lenox, MA during his presentation.

• Referrals and marketing. HHAs' lifeblood is referrals, and the subject received full attention at the meeting. Numerous sessions offered suggestions ranging from physician cold call tips to internal sales strategies to gauging referral sources' needs.