From the Executive Director
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Our centuries-old Vermont tradition of Town Meeting Day is just days away.
While this year the presidential primary is getting a lot of the attention, important local business will also be conducted on Super Tuesday.
Throughout the state, Vermonters will vote on their school and town budgets. Some will vote by Australian ballot. Others will wade through budget items on paper copies of town reports in school auditoriums, defending their priorities to their neighbors using Robert’s Rules and aided by the dry humor of a moderator. This year, I’m on the ballot myself, running for a seat on the new unified school district board in my community. Whichever forum is used for your city or town, please participate!
One of the items that will likely appear in your town’s budget will be an allocation for your local home health agency. It may appear as part of a social services line. It may be on a list of non-mandated appropriations, all of which will be put to a vote together. In my town, it gets its own article—#11. Every town report is different. What’s the same across the state is the need for towns to support their local home health organizations.
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PDGM
Home health and hospice agencies across the country are about 8 weeks into the implementation of the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM), the biggest change to home health payment in the 21
st
century. The financial impact on Vermont home health and hospice agencies is not yet known. In March and April, our federal partners at the National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC) are sponsoring 12 intensive seminars at locations around the country in March to share lessons learned so far and help agencies succeed in the new environment. Registration details are available
HERE
.
Public Charge Rule
Our partners at NAHC report that on January 27, a sharply divided United States Supreme Court narrowly decided in favor of allowing the controversial
Department of Homeland Security rule
, better known as the “Public Charge” rule, to go into effect while lower courts consider legal challenges. The rule is likely to make it more difficult for poor immigrants to receive green cards.
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SFY2021 Budget
Last week, VNAs of Vermont Executive Director Jill Mazza Olson testified before both the House Appropriations and House Ways and Means committees. She urged House members to support the Choices for Care program through Medicaid reimbursement and home health provider tax relief.
Telehealth
The House Health Care Committee took testimony on
H.723
, a bill that requires health insurance reimbursement for expanded telehealth services. The primary focus of the bill is coverage for “store and forward” services. “Store and forward” is the term for communication that is “asynchronous”—more like email (the people communicating are not working at the same time) than like Skype (live video conferences). For example, a dermatologist might review images sent by another provider. The bill has broad support. Some controversy arose during committee deliberation when the Vermont Medical Society proposed an amendment on prior authorization that is opposed by the payers.
Miscellaneous Health Care Bill
The Senate Health and Welfare committee took testimony this week on
S.290
, a miscellaneous health care bill that would, among other things, create a two-year ACO budget review cycle, require Green Mountain Care Board oversight of community mental health center budgets and create ACO oversight requirements, many of which are redundant to existing requirements. The bill has received little support from the health care provider community. This week, the Green Mountain Care Board proposed a number of substantive changes to the bill.
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Bob Kinsel, Vermont Edition, VPR
Calvin Cutler, WCAX
WCAX
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Educational Opportunities
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Materials Available Online
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Home Health Aide/LNA Training Materials
Caring Connection newsletters and support materials are available for your use in supplementing in-house staff training.
Additionally, we offer a few recorded webinar series on specific topics that are pertinent to LNAs, aides and other direct care providers. Here are some examples with the first video in each series unlocked so you and your team can determine if online learning appeals to them:
I
nstructors:
Katherine Vanderhorst, RN, BSN and Amy Craven, PT, MS, DPT from C & V Senior Care Services. They are experts in behavioral health and dementia treatment in home care settings.
Purchase entire series
here
Instructors:
Jennifer Gullison, RN, MSN, COS-C, is the Clinical Director at Cornerstone VNA, Rochester, NH.
Elizabeth DeFeo RN, WCC, OMS, CWOCN, is the Wound, Ostomy & Continence Specialist
Purchase entire series
here
There is no limit to the number of views or staff that can be trained from your agency once purchased.
Other Materials Available Online
Video of classroom session available for purchase
Hosted by NAHC
"Opiods: What You Need to Know" training materials
Compiled by SASH
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Webinars and In-person Events
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February 25
Noon to 1
Hosted by OneCare
Webinar
Part of the Caring Connections Monthly Aide and LNA series
March 12
3 to 4 p.m.
Hosted by VNAs of Vermont
Webinar
March 17
11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Hosted by VNAs of Vermont
Webinar
Use code
2020PDGM to enroll
March 30, 2020
AC Hotel
Worcester, MA
Part of the Caring Connections Monthly Aide and LNA series
April 9, 2020
3 to 4 p.m.
Hosted by VNAs of Vermont
Webinar
Grappone Conference Center
Concord, NH
November 21, 2019
8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Hosted by the Home Care, Hospice and Palliative Care Alliance of New Hampshire
In-person event
Concord NH
March 16 to 20
Hosted by VNAs of Vermont
In-person event
April 8, 22, May 6, 20 and June 3, 17
The Common Man Concord
Concord, NH
9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Hosted by VNAs of Vermont
In-person event
June 24, 25. Exam on June 26.
Fireside Inn, West Lebanon, NH
Hosted by VNAs of Vermont
In-person event
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