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Each NHIA concurrent session has been organized within the following educational track content areas (and are marked with the below icons to assist you with your program selections):
TRACK PROGRAMMING
 = Clinical  = Management  = Reimbursement  = Sales & Marketing
Go to:
Sunday, March 9
Monday, March 10
Tuesday, March 11
Educational Program
All programs are listed below by time—for a listing of concurrent sessions by education track, please refer to the Session Planner.
Wednesday, March 12
7:00 – 8:45 a.m.
Breakfast Symposium:
USP <797>: New Requirements for Compounding Sterile Preparations
Supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Hospira Worldwide, Inc.
Hyatt Regency Phoenix
ACPE #207-999-08-181-L01-P
VNA Approver Number:
Pharmacy & Nursing Continuing Education Contact Hours: 1.5
Session Summary:
Always an exceptionally “hot topic” in our field, this symposium will be presented by members of the USP Sterile Compounding Expert Committee and will offer a thorough review of the current status of regulations affecting sterile compounding—including an update on USP Chapter <797> revisions, as well as USP’s role in standards of practice. Come and learn about the implications of USP Chapter <797> changes for pharmacy organizations compounding sterile preparations.
Faculty: Eric Kastango, MBA, RPh, FASHP, President & CEO, Clinical IQ, LLC, Florham Park, NJ, and Donald Filibeck, PharmD, MBA, National Director, Pharmacy Services, Critical Care Systems, Nashua, NH
Educational Objectives:
- Explain the USP revision process and the ongoing role of USP in standards of practice.
- Summarize key changes proposed for the next USP <797> and their implications.
- Review the USP Chapters: contamination risk levels, personnel cleansing garbing and gloving, primary and secondary engineering controls, environmental monitoring, and cleaning and disinfection.
- Explain the evidence-based science behind the proposed changes in USP <797>.
- Describe plans for the future for USP <797>.
9:15 – 10:15 p.m.
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Choice of Concurrent Education Sessions (F)
Phoenix Convention Center—South Building |
23-F. Ensuring Patient Safety through Medication Reconciliation
ACPE #207-999-08-182-L05-P
VNA Approver Number:
Pharmacy & Nursing Continuing Education Contact Hours: 1.0
Session Summary:
- Recognize how medication errors are among the most common medical errors, harming at least 1.5 million people every year—and grasp how accurate medication reconciliation across the healthcare continuum will eventually reduce medication errors/delays, while streamlining the admission, transfer and discharge processes from one care setting to another.
- Hear how the Joint Commission has made medication reconciliation a National Patient Safety Goal and review the campaigns that several other national patient safety organizations have initiated to standardize processes across all healthcare settings.
- Explore medication reconciliation process improvement approaches and focus on the critical steps required to meet accreditation standards—with particular attention paid to the role of home infusion pharmacies when collaborating with hospitals and home health agencies.
Faculty: Brian Swift, PharmD, MBA, Director, Health Ventures, Jefferson Health System, Philadelphia, PA
Educational Objectives:
- Discuss the implementation of a medication reconciliation process improvement initiative at your home infusion organization.
- Describe the use of Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) in improving medication reconciliation processes.
Identify medication reconciliation best practices for home infusion providers.
- Describe the use of Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) in improving medication reconciliation processes.
- Discuss the implementation of a medication reconciliation process improvement initiative at your home infusion organization.
24-F. Achieving Accreditation though CHAP (Community Healthcare Accreditation Program)
ACPE #207-999-08-183-L03-P
VNA Approver Number:
Pharmacy & Nursing Continuing Education Contact Hours: 1.0
Session Summary:
- Receive a comprehensive overview of the CHAP accreditation process, utilizing its new web-based portal.
- Understand the important components of accreditation—with a detailed comparison of the old and new processes.
- Obtain useful tips about how to favorably plan for and attain CHAP accreditation at your organization.
Faculty: Ken Fagerman, RPh, M.M., VNA of West Michigan, Grand Rapids, MI
Educational Objectives:
- Identify CHAP five steps to accreditation.
- Compare old application processes with new processes.
- Describe the self-study process.
- Relate the self-study process to the site-visit process.
- Identify the components of the site-visit report.
25-F. Ensuring Private-Pay Collections Success
ACPE #207-999-08-184-L04-P
VNA Approver Number:
Pharmacy & Nursing Continuing Education Contact Hours: 1.0
Session Summary:
- Discuss how one of the most difficult aspects of infusion reimbursement is effectively collecting receivables from the patients you serve.
- Identify the critical areas to focus your private-pay collection efforts on—and discover key best practices that will successfully drive in more of this valuable revenue.
- Learn how to effectively address these ever-growing receivable accounts that have such a significant impact on your organization’s bottom line.
Faculty: David Bargmann, BS, MBA, Chief Operating Officer, and Lisa Bargmann, BS, Chief Executive Officer, Bargmann Management, LLC dba Homecare Collection Service, Akron, OH
Educational Objectives:
- Identify the financial impact patient receivables have on your business.
- Determine your current patient receivable recovery results to more effectively manage your patient A/R.
- Identify strategies to improve front-end intake processes for regulatory compliance and improved collections.
- List several identified best practices to effectively bill and collect patient pay receivables.
- Describe variable-cost solutions to help improve your bottom line.
26-F. Everyone Sells!—How to Create a Sales-Driven Company
ACPE #207-999-08-185-L04-P
VNA Approver Number:
Pharmacy & Nursing Continuing Education Contact Hours: 1.0
Session Summary:
- Recognize that for any business to succeed today, it is essential for all employees to know their responsibility to the customer.
- Comprehend how true sales-oriented companies that “put the customer first” are quickly taking the place of operationally-driven organizations with a more internal focus.
- Acquire tips and simple techniques for building a staff where “everybody sells”—and examine real-world examples of how to create a sales-driven environment within your own company.
Faculty: Anne K. DiRenzo, MS, Vice President of Business Development, MediLink Homecare, Inc.,
Hammonton, NJ
Educational Objectives:
- Identify strategies that contribute to home infusion business growth.
- Describe efficient sales and communication techniques that contribute to business growth in a home infusion organization.
- Identify ways the entire staff in your organization can contribute to increasing sales.
- List five ways to create a customer service-oriented organization.
- Describe ways to integrate customer service and business growth strategies into current operations at the participant’s organization.
10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
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Choice of Concurrent Education Sessions (G)
Phoenix Convention Center—South Building |
27-G. Patient Safety: Strategies for Preventing and Controlling Infections [C]
ACPE #207-999-08-186-L05-P
VNA Approver Number:
Pharmacy & Nursing Continuing Education Contact Hours: 1.5
Session Summary:
- Explore how preventing and controlling infections is an integral component of an effective patient safety program in all care settings—and review key strategies for providing care and infusion therapy in the home, given the especially unique infection prevention and control challenges that arise in this setting.
- Understand the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) hand hygiene guidelines, including how they are to be implemented in the home environment.
- Discuss approaches for reducing the risk of infection transmission associated with the use of medical equipment and supplies in the home—and what measures should be taken by home care staff to prevent the transmission of multi drug-resistant organisms (MDROs).
Faculty: Mary McGoldrick, MS, RN, CRNI® , Home Care and Hospice Consultant, Home Health Systems, Inc., Saint Simons Island, GA
Educational Objectives:
- Discuss the importance of infection prevention and control strategies as a patient safety initiative.
- Compare and contrast the World Health Organization’s (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and
- Prevention’s (CDC) hand hygiene guidelines.
- Describe strategies to reduce the risk of infection transmission associated with the use of medical equipment, devices and supplies used in the course of providing home care.
- Describe infection prevention and control issues specific to patients with multi drug-resistant organisms (MDROs) receiving care in the home.
- Identify methods to strengthen the infection prevention and control practices in the home care setting.
28-G. Accreditation the ACHC Way!
ACPE #207-999-08-187-L03-P
VNA Approver Number:
Pharmacy & Nursing Continuing Education Contact Hours: 1.5
Session Summary:
- Receive a thorough overview of the ACHC (Accreditation Commission for Health Care) standards.
- Grasp the core elements of the critical quality improvement standards as they specifically relate to home infusion clinicians and the management team.
- Discover ways to improve compliance with these standards via the quality improvement process.
Faculty: Sherry Hedrick, RN, BSN, MPH, Director of Clinical Compliance and Accreditation, Accreditation Commission for Health Care, Inc. (ACHC), Raleigh, NC
Educational Objectives:
- Describe the concept of accreditation and CMS deeming authority.
- Discuss the unannounced survey process.
- Identify critical ACHC standards for home infusion pharmacies.
- Identify several strategies to improve compliance with critical standards.
- Describe the relationship between infusion nursing standards and pharmacy standards.
29-G. Critical Contracting—Developing Successful Strategic Contractual Relationships
ACPE #207-999-08-188-L04-P
VNA Approver Number:
Pharmacy & Nursing Continuing Education Contact Hours: 1.5
Session Summary:
- Examine the essential elements of contracting for small and large companies—from the perspectives of both the home infusion business manager and reimbursement professional.
- Assess the art of negotiation, key strategies for effectively operationalizing contracts and approaches for sub-contracting with home health entities and/or other vendors.
- Discuss the key communications involved in cultivating strategic contractual relationships and learn how to obtain all appropriate documentation required in this process.
Faculty: Shelby Marshall, Vice President, Contract Management & Business Development, Critical Care Systems, Nashua, NH
Educational Objectives:
- Discuss health plan perspectives on negotiating infusion contracts.
- Identify the appropriate individuals within health plans with whom to negotiate.
- Identify negotiation strategies for your organization’s reimbursement and operational objectives.
- Describe concepts for effectively implementing contract requirements.
- Identify key components of vendor subcontract arrangements.
30-G. Remaining Ahead of the Competition through Therapy-Specific Selling and Niche Marketing
ACPE #207-999-08-189-L04-P
VNA Approver Number:
Pharmacy & Nursing Continuing Education Contact Hours: 1.5
Session Summary:
- Understand the basics of discerning opportunities for niche markets by emphasizing the strengths of your company—while also leveraging the weaknesses of the competition.
- Grasp the core building blocks of identification, implementation and continual assessment of niche strategies that produce long-term revenue generation (versus short-term successes).
- Cultivate no-nonsense approaches for matching your company’s capabilities with the most vital needs of referral sources—and learn how to constantly adjust niche marketing plans to remain ahead of competition.
Faculty: Helen Michener, Critical Care Systems, Shermans Dale, PA
Educational Objectives:
- Identify strengths and weaknesses of your own company in the eyes of key referral sources.
- Identify strengths and weaknesses of your competition in the eyes of key referral sources.
- Develop complete understanding of marketplace needs as expressed and described by top referral sources.
- Identify and implement strategies which match your company strengths with most vital needs of referral sources.
- Describe key elements of implementing ongoing monitoring strategies to constantly review and adjust niche marketing plans to remain ahead of competition.
12:15 – 1:15 p.m.
Box Lunch Symposium:
Actual Aluminum Content vs. Estimated Aluminum Content in Parenteral Nutrition
Phoenix Convention Center—South Building
Sponsored by 
ACPE #207-999-08-190-L04-P
VNA Approver Number:
Pharmacy & Nursing Continuing Education Contact Hours: 1.0
Faculty: Rex A. Speerhas, RPh, CDE, BCNSP, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH
NHIA is in the process of developing a one-hour “Box Lunch Symposium” for the last day of the 2008 Annual Conference—ensuring you have a chance to eat, while further feeding your hunger for knowledge!
1:30 – 2:30 p.m.
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Choice of Concurrent Education Sessions (H)
Phoenix Convention Center—South Building |
31-H. Diabetic Foot Infections: New Classification Tools
ACPE #207-999-08-191-L01-P
VNA Approver Number:
Pharmacy & Nursing Continuing Education Contact Hours: 1.0
Session Summary:
- Consider how patients with diabetic foot infections are frequently treated with intravenous antibiotics in the alternate-care setting—and review the Diabetic Foot Infection Guidelines published by the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
- Examine how these evidence-based consensus guidelines describe whether or not a diabetic foot ulceration is infected—and if infected, the severity of the infection, the organisms causing the infection and antibiotics needed to treat those organisms.
- Focus on how best to address the significant role of resistant organisms in these cases.
Faculty: Warren Joseph, DPM, FIDSA, VA Medical Center, Coatesville, PA
Educational Objectives:
- Discuss the pathophysiology for ulceration and infection of the diabetic foot.
- Differentiate the severity of diabetic foot infections based on criteria from the IDSA.
- Understand the Infectious Diseases Society of America Diabetic Foot Infection Guidelines.
- Define the role the MRSA plays in the diabetic foot infection.
- Determine appropriate antibiotic therapy for the treatment of the varying severities of diabetic foot infections.
32-H. Patient Satisfaction—How to Measure It and How to Improve It!
ACPE #207-999-08-192-L04-P
VNA Approver Number:
Pharmacy & Nursing Continuing Education Contact Hours: 1.0
Session Summary:
- Understand why it is so critical for alternate-site infusion organizations to collect patient satisfaction data—and then to utilize that data correctly to enhance company services, while growing business.
- Comprehend if you are you collecting the right kind of information and/or if you should you be gathering additional data from other sources—and ascertain if you are analyzing such data appropriately.
- Evaluate a mix of both theory- and reality-based examples to learn how best to assess your patient satisfaction program and further improve your organization’s performance.
- Faculty: L. Rad Dillon, Director of Clinical Support, Curlin Medical, Inc., Huntington, CA, and Melissa Leone, RN, BSN, National Director of Nursing, Apria Healthcare, Hamden, CT
Educational Objectives:
- Identify strategies for improving satisfaction data collection rates.
- Identify ways to expand the satisfaction evaluation process to include all customer types.
- Describe the best strategies for selecting and phrasing satisfaction survey questions.
- Provide a “core question set” of questions that could be used to standardize satisfaction data for home infusion therapy.
- Identify analytical pitfalls to avoid and best practices to use in the handling of satisfaction data.
- Identify ways to use satisfaction evaluation results to improve customer service.
- Describe how to best use satisfaction results in marketing efforts.
Faculty: L. Rad Dillon, Director of Clinical Support, Curlin Medical, Inc., Huntington, CA, and Melissa Leone, RN, BSN, National Director of Nursing, Apria Healthcare, Hamden, CT
33-H. Medicare Part D: Past, Present and Future Legislative Efforts
ACPE #207-999-08-193-L03-P
VNA Approver Number:
Pharmacy & Nursing Continuing Education Contact Hours: 1.0
Session Summary:
- Gain historical perspectives on how the Part D program came into existence.
- Join with your colleagues in discussion of the hurdles encountered in the first two years, the success and failures, and the gaps in coverage for home infusion therapies—and hear how NHIA intervened to correct many of these issues.
- Obtain an overview of NHIA’s role in drafting legislation to provide a meaningful benefit (specifically HR 2567), as well as the future prospects for Medicare recipients in need of home infusion therapy—and, most importantly, find out what you can do with your U.S. Representatives and Senators to get legislation passed.
Faculty: Bruce E Rodman MBA, Vice President of Health Information Policy, NHIA, Alexandria, VA; Cynthia E Berry Esq., Attorney at Law, Powell Goldstein LLP, Washington, DC; John R Magnuson, Vice President of Legislative Affairs, NHIA, Alexandria, VA
Educational Objectives:
- State the legislative history leading to the Medicare Part D program, projections of beneficiary counts and costs of the program.
- Describe NHIA’s advocacy actions and results pertaining to deficiencies in Part D for covering home infusion therapy.
- List key steps NHIA undertook in 2007 to obtain meaningful coverage for home infusion for Medicare beneficiaries.
- Recite key strategies NHIA is undertaking in 2008 to support passage of Medicare infusion legislation in the 111th Congress.
- Describe actions that you should be undertaking in support of passing needed Medicare legislation to cover infusion.
34-H. Cultivating an Effective Clinician Transition to Sales
ACPE #207-999-08-194-L04-P
VNA Approver Number:
Pharmacy & Nursing Continuing Education Contact Hours: 1.0
Session Summary:
- Grasp the different features of successful sales and clinical roles—and determine which characteristics are required to be effective at transitioning a clinician to a sales position.
- Recognize the common pitfalls and study key strategies for achieving productive outcomes when initiating such a role conversion—and appreciate how a clinical sales person can still serve an important clinical role in the organization.
- Explore how this approach can help your company better align often limited resources to attain improved sales results.
Faculty: Tracy Collins, RN, Infusion Partners, Knoxville, TN
Educational Objectives:
- List three attributes of a successful sales person.
- Identify the skills necessary for a clinical person to perform in a sales capacity.
- Name three characteristics that translate well from clinical to sales.
- Determine the major pitfalls that clinicians experience in the sales process.
- Identify strategies for clinicians to develop to overcome common pitfalls when transitioning to the sales role.
2:45 – 4:15 p.m.
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Choice of Concurrent Education Sessions (I)
Phoenix Convention Center—South Building |
35-I. Ensuring Clinical Documentation Meets the Needs of Your Reimbursement Team
ACPE #207-999-08-195-L04-P
VNA Approver Number:
Pharmacy & Nursing Continuing Education Contact Hours: 1.5
Session Summary:
- Review the everyday communication challenges that frequently exist between clinicians and the reimbursement team.
- Identify what the clinical staff knows about their patients that the reimbursement team needs to know in order to bill on a timely, accurate basis—and realize the benefits of a defined communication process to achieve this goal.
- Assess clinical documentation/communications from the clinical team to the reimbursement staff—and examine alternate communication methods to help further ensure success.
Faculty: Cindy Gricheck, RN, BSN, CRNI® , Manager, Infusion Operations, Air Products Healthcare, Monroeville, PA, and Vicki Wilson, Regional Director of Reimbursement for Infusion , Air Products Healthcare, Conshohocken, PA
Educational Objectives:
- List challenges to overcome when communicating pertinent information.
- Define what information needs to be communicated and to whom from the clinical staff to the reimbursement staff and vice-versa.
- Define the elements of successful communications.
- Identify various forms of communication.
- Describe benefits of communication from the clinical personnel to reimbursement department.
36-I. Disease Management Programs—Best Demonstrated Practices
ACPE #207-999-08-196-L01-P
VNA Approver Number:
Pharmacy & Nursing Continuing Education Contact Hours: 1.5
Session Summary:
- Receive an overview of the intent of disease management programs, including their benefits for both the alternate-site infusion provider and insurance company.
- Hear about two disease management programs that are currently being successfully managed by home infusion providers.
- Obtain valuable information and insights that will enable you to initiate similar programs at your organization.
Faculty: Melissa Leone, RN, BSN, National Director of Nursing, Apria Healthcare, Hamden, CT; Nita Meaux, RN, CRNI®, Director of Risk Management/ Heart Failure Program Director, Walgreens/ OptionCare, Montgomery, TX; and Kristie Jesionek-Brewton, RD, LD/N, CNSD, Lead Infusion Nutrition Support Dietitian, Apria Healthcare, Spring Hill, TN
Educational Objectives:
- State the pros and cons of providing a disease management program for a specific patient population.
- Identify three ways to market a disease management program to contracted payers.
- List three components of a successful heart failure disease management program.
- Identify how the home infusion patient benefits from a heart disease management program.
- Explain how nutritionally challenged patients can benefit from a disease management program.
- Identify two ways that the contracted payer can benefit from a comprehensive nutrition management program.
- Discuss the pros and cons of developing a disease management program in home infusion.
37-I. Sales Growth Indicators and Strategies: Outcomes to Success!
ACPE #207-999-08-197-L04-P
VNA Approver Number:
Pharmacy & Nursing Continuing Education Contact Hours: 1.5
Session Summary:
- Learn how home and alternate-site infusion professionals can maximize growth opportunities and measure productivity within the infusion sales arena—and, via active learning techniques, explore utilizing performance metrics to determine sales growth.
- Understand the factors impacting patient retention, service augmentation and resource availability to facilitate customer commitment.
- Analyze referral breakdown, effects of service delivery and clinical accountability, all in relationship to infusion growth potential and prospective market share—and recognize the need for a commitment between sales and operations to sustain a culture of support to ensure unified success.
Faculty: James Tanner, PA, Vice President, Sales and National Accounts, Wren Medical Systems, Gurnee, IL
Educational Objectives:
- Outline performance metrics to determine sales growth and patient revenue.
- State specific strategies intended to augment customer retention and their potential impact on infusion revenue.
- Identify how to extrapolate opportunities from referral trends that can enhance infusion revenue.
- Investigate the impact of service delivery and clinical accountability in gaining and securing infusion market share.
- Give an example of the need for a commitment between sales and operations to sustain a culture of support and unified success.
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