WEEKLY NEWS INSIDER
January 11, 2016
In This Issue
Help preserve service delivery in
CT: Contact Congress
Contact Connecticut members of U.S.
Congress to preserve rural services
CT Comp and CASE Partners
join forces in merger
CMS issues instruction for
payment of ACP services
Sacred Heart offers tuition
discount to Assoc. Members
Study: Remarkable growth in
Home Care and Hospice
Upcoming Meetings & Events
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Career Center
Health Information
Manager
Visiting Nurse Services of CT
Clinical Manager
Visiting Nurse Services of CT
View our
career center
for complete listings.
The delivery of home health services in rural areas is
significantly more costly because of the extra travel time to
cover long distances between patients, higher transportation
expenses, and other factors unique to rural service delivery.
Home health agencies in rural areas are often smaller than
urban agencies with fixed costs that must be spread over
fewer patients and fewer visits.
As discussed in the recent NAHC article, the home health
rural add-on payment was instituted by Congress to mitigate
the financial pressures on rural home health agencies and the
related access barriers encountered by rural residents.
Please help us support efforts to extend the rural add-on
by encouraging your national Senators to co-sponsor S. 2389.
Please take one minute to use NAHC's Legislative Action
Center here and speak up for clients in rural areas who need
care.
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Connecticut Computer Service and
CASE Partners join forces
As of January 1, 2016, Connecticut Computer Service, Inc.
(CTComp) and CASE Partners (CASE) have merged to
provide customers a more comprehensive and integrated
services portfolio.
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Quick Links
Association Website
Find An Agency
Communications Toolkit
Member Referral Guide
Contact Us
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"These service offerings will be united with the intention of
providing a greater market vision pertaining to a Hybrid Cloud
and On-Premise world of tomorrow," said Ralph Carbone, Jr.,
CEO at CTComp. "Our solutions and services will now
encompass a variety of aspects pertaining to Datacenter,
Network, Collaboration, Security, End-Points, Web
Development, Systems Integration, Salesforce & CRM,
System Architecture, Training and Managed Services. We
feel this is a key differentiator for us in the market as we look
ahead."
See more of what this new partnership has to offer here...
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CMS issues instruction for payment of
Advance Care Planning services as part
of Annual Wellness Visit under Part B
Source: NAHC
On October 30, 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services (CMS) made public a final rule governing Medicare
Revisions to Payment Policies under the Physician Fee
Schedule and Other Revisions to Part B for CY 2016, which
includes information on payment for advance care planning
(ACP) services. The Rule was published in the Federal
Register on November 16. Previous NAHC Report coverage
on the rule is available here and here. As part of the final rule,
CMS announced activation of:
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CPT code 99497 [Advance care planning including
the explanation and discussion of advance directives
such as standard forms (with completion of such
forms, when performed) by the physician or other
qualified health professional; first 30 minutes, face-toface with the patient, family member(s) and/or
surrogate]; and
An add-on CPT code 99498, [Advance care planning
including the explanation and discussion of advance
directives such as standard forms (with completion of
such forms, when performed), by the physician or
other qualified health professional; each additional 30
minutes (List separately in addition to code for
primary procedure)]
For the complete article, click here...
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Sacred Heart offers Association
Members 10% tuition discount for online
RN-BSN, RN-BSN-MSN, or MSN
programs
The Connecticut Association for Healthcare at Home is
pleased to announce we are partnering with Sacred Heart
University's College of Nursing to provide Association
members with a 10% discount on published tuition rates for
those agency employees wanting to pursue their RN-BSN,
RN-BSN-MSN, or MSN! Here's a little information on the
program:



SHU's online Nursing Programs are rigorous
programs designed to meet the needs of the working
career nurse seeking superior clinical, managerial &
educational skills.
The Nursing Degree Programs include the RN to
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN-BSN), the RN to
Bachelor to Master of Science in Nursing (RN-BSNMSN), and the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN).
SHU's Online Nursing Programs have been ranked
among the top Universities in the North region (2015),
as well as among the institutions with the best online
programs. Furthermore, the MSN program has also
been ranked among the Top 50 Best Value Online
MSN Programs of 2015 by Value Colleges.
Click here to learn more!
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William A. Dombi, NAHC VP for Law,
explains study documenting remarkable
growth in Home Care and Hospice
Source: NAHC
On December 16, 2015, the Foundation for Hospice and
Homecare and the National Association for Home Care &
Hospice (NAHC) held a press conference (see previous
NAHC Report article here) to present the findings of a study
documenting that home care and hospice nurses, therapists
and aides who serve chronically ill, elderly and disabled
patients drive nearly 8 billion miles each year. The press
conference included remarks from a number of experts, and
NAHC Report will publish a series of articles providing indepth coverage of their remarks and testimony.
Read more here...
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Upcoming Meetings & Events
Date: January 11
Event Type: Committees
Title: Government Relations Committee Meeting
Time: 9:00 - 11:00 AM
Date: January 14
Event Type: Education
Title: Home Health Therapy Resources Webinar Series
Time: 12:00 - 1:30 PM
Register
Date: January 14
Event Type: Committees
Title: Future of Healthcare at Home Committee Meeting
Time: 2:00 - 4:00 PM
Date: January 14
Event Type: Education
Title: Spring 2016 Home Health Aide Teleconference
Series: The Aide's Role in Skin Care/Decubitis Ulcers
Time: 3:00 - 4:00 PM
Register
Date: January 15
Event Type: Board of Directors
Title: Board of Directors Retreat
Time: 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Date: January 19-21
Event Type: Education
Title: Northeast Home Health Leadership Summit
Time: 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Location: The Colonnade Hotel, Boston, MA
Register
Date: January 22
Event Type: Education
Title: NGS Webinar:JK/J6 Ordering & Certifying Medicare
Home Health Services
Time: 12:00 - 1:30 PM
Register
All workshops and meetings are held at 110 Barnes Road,
Wallingford - unless otherwise noted. Please register for
SIG meetings on cthealthcareathome.org. For upcoming
events check out our online calendar of events. Please call
203.265.9931 with questions or register online by visiting
www.cthealthcareathome.org.
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©2016 Connecticut Association for Healthcare at Home. All rights reserved.
110 Barnes Road, Wallingford, CT 06492
P: (203) 265-9931 F: (203) 949-0031 E: cahch@cthealthcareathome.org