Conference Recording Bundle

AAPACN 2024 Conference Recording Bundle

Breakout Sessions Featuring LTPAC Experts

Experience the best of the AAPACN 2024 Conference. The AAPACN 2024 Conference Recording Bundle includes 14 education sessions and two general catalyst sessions from leaders and experts in the LTPAC field. Session recordings are a compilation of audio and video recordings from the live session, plus any Q&A that followed – all accessible in your AAPACN Learner Dashboard for up to one year.

The general catalyst sessions included are as follows:

Outlook and Mega Trends for Successful Skilled Nursing Providers | Mark Parkinson, President and CEO, American Health Care Association

Reigniting the Passion for LTC Nursing | Jack York, Founder and Chief Storyteller, TaleGate, LLC., and Amy Stewart, MSN, RN, DNS-MT, QCP-MT, RAC-MT, RAC-MTA, Chief Nursing Officer, AAPACN

The education sessions included are as follows:

The Person Behind the Number | Carol Hill, MSN, RN, NHA, RAC-MT, RAC-MTA, DNS-MT, QCP-MT, CPC, Hill Educational Services Inc.

Countless hours are spent analyzing quality measure data. How much of that time is spent focusing on the person behind the number? During this session, you’ll take a person-centered approach to quality improvement by not only understanding how the MDS-based measures are calculated, but more importantly, who makes up that measure. Utilizing the five whys, you will focus on identifying why the person is included in the measure to target improvement efforts that focus on the resident rather than the numbers.

Practical Strategies for Managing Behavioral Health Needs of Nursing Home Residents | Jacob Berelowitz, LNHA, LMSW, CPHQ, CCM, Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health in Nursing Facilities

Residents with serious mental illnesses and substance use disorders continue to be admitted to nursing homes, yet staff often lack skills and confidence in meeting their needs. Facility staff are focused on appropriate reductions in antipsychotics and psychotropic medications but are also concerned about managing resident’s symptoms after dose reduction. The speaker will focus on practical nonpharmacological approaches to meeting the behavioral health needs of residents.  Additionally, the speaker will provide an overview of the Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health in Nursing Facilities (COE-NF), a federally funded center that provides training, resources, and technical assistance to nursing facility staff to build capacity for meeting the needs of residents with behavioral health conditions. 

Ten of the Most Confusing MDS Coding Questions | Carol Maher, RN-BC, RAC-MT, RAC-MTA, CPC, Hansen Hunter & Co

Accurate MDS coding is required, but there are some MDS items that are frequently misunderstood and very confusing. Some MDS items have complicated or confusing instructions. The speaker will focus on the 10 most frequently asked complicated coding questions as identified from the AAPACN MDS community and from the speaker’s own email inbox.

VBP, QRP, QM, MDS, OMG! | Melanie Tribe-Scott, RN, BSN, DNS-CT, RAC-MT, RAC-MTA, QCP, Carmelite Systems, AAPACN Education Foundation board member, and Alicia Cantinieri, MBA, BSN, RN CHC, RAC-MT, RAC-CTA, DNS-CT, QCP, Zimmet Healthcare Services   

Oh my goodness! There are so many quality initiatives, updates, quality measures moving to different programs, freezing and unfreezing; it is difficult to keep track. The speakers will provide you with a better understanding of the ever-changing quality initiatives including VBP, QRP, and MDS-based Quality Measures. The speakers will also discuss how these programs impact reimbursement and quality incentives. You will learn strategies and best practices to improve quality measures and outcomes, so instead of saying “OMG,” you and your team can say “oh yes” to these quality initiatives.

Significant Change in Status: Quality Measures/Staffing Without Section G | Joel VanEaton, BSN, RN, RAC-CTA, MT, Broad River Rehab, AAPACN Education Foundation board member

With the removal of section G from MDS 3.0 v1.18.11, the residual implications are far reaching. CMS memo QSO-23-21-NH describes these significant changes. Along with this memo, CMS released updated versions of the Five-Star Users’ Guide and the Quality Measures User’s Manual detailing the specific technical specifications to the quality measures and staffing star calculations. The speaker will break these revisions apart so you will walk away with a better understanding of what to expect as these changes take effect.

Better Audit Outcomes Start with Solid Documentation | Jennifer LaBay, RN, RAC-MT, RAC-MTA, QCP, CRC, AAPACN

Recent audit trends show an increased risk of revenue loss due to lack of documentation. With more staffing challenges than ever, good documentation practices are becoming more and more difficult to implement. In this session, you will learn tips for implementing documentation processes to lessen the risk of recoupment.

PDPM (Lost?) Opportunities – Looking Back, Looking Forward | Beckie Dow, RN, RAC-MT, CHC, CPC-A, Maine Veterans’ Homes

The Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) was implemented shortly before a world-wide public health emergency. Are you missing opportunities in PDPM? Accurate documentation fosters accurate payment that can be proven in the medical record. During this session, the speaker will outline some past pitfalls of PDPM and look forward to provide insight and tips for PDPM accuracy and success.

Stay Ahead of Evolving QRP Requirements Through Data Analytics | Michelle Self, MA, CCC SLP, CMAC, Real Time Medical Systems, and Jennifer Roberts, RN, RAC-CTA, Aperion Care

The QRP continues to evolve and affect reimbursement. During this session, the speakers will explore how live data analytics helps post-acute care facilities better manage patient care and outcomes while ensuring compliance with the QRP measures. Learn how through early adoption and proper utilization of data-driven technologies, Aperion Care identifies trends, such as clinical system breakdowns or MDS coding opportunities, as well as tracks and manages clinical trends and insights which allows for appropriate assessment and reimbursement.

An Effective QAPI Program: How Do You Know? | Jessica Stucin, RN, BSN, LNHA, RAC-MT, RAC-CTA, and Linda Winston, RN, MSN, RAC-CT, RAC-CTA, DNS-MT, QCP-MT, both of MDS Consultants

As CMS continues its drive toward value-based delivery models, developing, implementing, and maintaining an effective QAPI program is essential. QAPI doesn’t have to be complicated or overly time-consuming. The speakers will help you learn to identify quick and effective strategies to get the most out of your QAPI program.

Conducting PDPM Audits | Jessie McGill, RN, BSN, RAC-MT, RAC-MTA, AAPACN

The recent 5 claim TPE process highlights the importance of auditing Medicare assessments before finalizing and submitting them to avoid potential adverse findings during a subsequent review. During this session, the speaker will explain how to interpret the HIPPS code for each assessment, how to use it to audit for appropriate documentation for coded MDS items, and how to look for missed reimbursement opportunities before submitting the assessment and Medicare claim.

The Ugly Truth About Care Area Assessments | Jessie McGill, RN, BSN, RAC-MT, RAC-MTA, AAPACN 

Nurse assessment coordinators (NACs) often loathe care areas assessments (CAAs)—they are time consuming, complex, and worst of all, require a lot of thought. NACs often voice frustration with the CAA process and question why completing them is required if no one else ever reads them. While NACs may have some valid points about CAAs and their frustration, there is much more to understand. During this session, the speaker will expose the ugly truth about just how important the CAAs are to meeting the unique needs of residents and achieving desired outcomes.

How to Succeed ADRs and TPE | Jennifer Rowe, BSN, RN, RAC-CTA, DNS-CT, QCP, C-NE, Trio Healthcare

The number of documentation requests received by the skilled nursing facility is continuing to increase. With both ADRs and Medicare TPEs, document checklists for medical record audits can be confusing and non-specific to navigate. How do you know if you’ve pulled all the necessary documents to adequately support the MDS? What exactly are auditors looking for? The speaker will demonstrate how to double check your medical record submission by examining the HIPPS code.

ICD-10-CM Coding Basics | Carol Maher, RN-BC, RAC-MTA, RAC-MT, CPC, Hansen Hunter & Co

ICD-10-CM coding accuracy is required for billing PDPM, MDS coding, accurate billing, and to correctly enter diagnoses in resident records at the highest degree of specificity documented by the resident’s physician/extender. One of the important functions of the MDS assessment is to generate an updated, accurate picture of the resident’s current health status which includes accurate ICD-10-CM coding. Nurses do not learn ICD-10-CM coding during formal nursing training but are required to identify active diagnoses for the residents. The speaker will provide basics of ICD-10-CM and identify how diagnosis codes impact PDPM, billing, Quality Measure, and MDS accuracy.

Running with SNF VBP: Do You Have the Right Gear? | Joel VanEaton, BSN, RN, RAC-CTA, MT, Broad River Rehab, AAPACN Education Foundation board member

SNF Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) has expanded since its initial measurement metric of rehospitalizations. CMS has approved eight measures that, when fully implemented in 2027, will have a significant effect on payment. If providers expect to retain any amount of the 2% withhold, they must embrace value-based purchasing principles, including health equity.