NAHC’s 18th annual conference and expo gets under way in CA
NAHC’s 18th annual conference and expo gets under way in CA
By LEE LANDENBERGER
HHBR Managing Editor
SAN DIEGO The struggle of home care, whether on Capitol Hill or against illness, took center stage this weekend in southern California as the largest of the nation’s five home care associations convened its 18th annual meeting.
More than 4,000 members of the National Assoc iation for Home Care (NAHC; Washington) came from across the nation to learn more about their craft through 130 niche educational programs with names such as Integrating the Guidelines for the Cardiac Patient into Practice and Pressure Ulcers in the Home: Current Practices and Innovations. Attendance was slightly higher this year than it was at last year’s NAHC annual meeting in Atlanta, though much lower than 1997’s meeting in Boston, which sported about 5,700 members.
But in addition to the seminars, members also wanted to hear NAHC’s upper-level management talk about when the sun may pop out from behind the gray clouds created by the storm front known as the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA).
What they got were updates from the struggle that goes on inside the Beltway between NAHC and the federal government, and the expressed hope that the hardships created by the BBA would dissipate in a flurry of favorable legislation and court rulings. Mary Suther, chairwoman of NAHC’s board of directors, acknowledged that the past 18 months have been difficult for her organization and its rank and file, but she added that NAHC has a 90% retention rate and more than 600 new members in the past year.
But some exhibitors said they felt that attendance at the meeting was low because of frustration with government regulations that have cut deeply into business. "Some people feel they’ve been unnecessarily penalized and have given up," one exhibitor said.
Theresa Forster, NAHC’s vice president of policy, said that about 2,500 home care agencies closed up shop in 1999, and "that’s a conservative number," she added. NAHC’s goals remain, Forster said, the elimination of the 15% cut in Medicare reimbursement scheduled for October 2000, relief from overpayments, and an increase in per-visit limits. She pointed to the 14 bills introduced to Congress in 1999 to reform the effects of BBA.
"We are on the cusp of change," she said on Sunday, "more so than in the past couple of years."
Other concerns to be addressed in Washington by NAHC, according to Mary St. Pierre, the association’s regulatory affairs director, include elimination of the 15-minute increment for reporting, refining OASIS, and regulating the implementation of surety bonds.
But the politics of Washington took a step back on the exposition floor as about 550 exhibitors plied their wares to the membership. According to NAHC, keeping abreast of new products and applications was the No. 1 reason for attending the meeting.
NAHC officials have a booth on the exhibition floor for those anticipating next year’s annual meeting, which will be held in New Orleans. In the meantime, this year’s meeting continues through today, Tuesday, and will conclude Wednesday afternoon.
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