As contractual rehab service providers, we were compelled to provide better outcomes in our clinical patient programs to attract more business. When reimbursement concerns led to the era of case management, reviewing our cases with utilization representatives helped us identify efficient clinical pathways while still achieving patient success. The Balanced Budget Act gave us further insight into homecare management when we re-engineered our SNF contracts to address BBA reforms. We quickly noted that the adaptation of techniques required to address PPS changes also applied in the Medicare home health environment.

The resultant programming flexibility was a direct product of our SNF rehab style; achieve functional and safe return to home quickly, then efficiently establish (or provide) homecare services. This assertive, outcome-based model enabled us to provide services up and down the ever-evolving continuum of care. As Medicare established compliance regulations and voiced concerns regarding fraud and abuse, HHSM found their lean but efficient service model could do more than effect a single patient. At HHSM we developed the ability to help associates achieve desirable results with thousands of patients as we introduced our program to multiple agencies.

Eventually, our publishing and seminar ventures allowed us to refine and define our exciting clinical homecare training program. We currently provide a number of progressive home health tools and coaching services. Contact us for your opportunity to hear what we can do for your agency’s patients, staff, fiscal and quality outcomes.

The Remington Report - "Audits & Denials On The Home Health Front"; July/August 2009 www.remingtonreport.com

The Remington Report - "Potential Reforms For the Home Health Model" May/June 2009 www.remingtonreport.com

The Remington Report - "Medicare Solvency, PPS, Parts A & B"; March/April 2009 www.remingtonreport.com

Home Care Outcomes (Decision Health) Expert Advisor Column - "Functional Item Review Can Lead to Better Outcomes"; March 2009

The Remington Report - "Utilization Review: Combining Medical Care With Healthcare Resources": January/February 2009  www.remingtonreport.com

Caring Magazine - "Manage Therapy Utilization as a guide to Home Health Success": February 2009 www.nahc.org

ADVANCE for Occupational Therapists and OT Assistants (Merion Publishing) –“Rehab Takes Center Stage under 2008 Medicare Home Health Reforms”: March 31, 2008.

ADVANCE for Physical Therapists and PT Assistants (Merion Publishing) – Cover story“Rehab Takes Center Stage under 2008 Medicare Home Health Reforms”: February 25, 2008.

Home Care Outcomes (DecisionHealth) Expert Advisor Column “Formalize Your Case-Management System”: May 2007.

ADVANCE for Physical Therapists and Physical Therapy Assistants (Merion Publishing) Home Health Forum Print and Online question and answer columns bi-weekly since September 2005.

Home Care Association of Louisiana: Gulf Coast Home Care Conference; "A Brave New World for Medicare Home Health: Strategies for 2010 & Beyond" "Audits and Denials: Reports from the Home Health Front Line" July 18-19, 2010

Home Care Association of Florida; "RAC Audit Survival Guide Workshop" "Reports from the Home Health Front Line" June 21-22, 2010

Montana Health Care Association; "Home Health Therapy Road Show: New OASIS and PPS Payment System" June 15-17, 2010

Home Care Association of New Jersey; "Reports from the Home Health Front Lines" June 11, 2010

Iowa Alliance in Home Care; "Rethinking Home Care for the Future" "2010 Changes to Home Health - Strategies for Success" June 8-9, 2010

Home Care Association of Colorado; "S.U.R.C.H. - A Utilization Review Program for Home Health" "Audit Findings in Home Health" May 14, 2010

California Association for Health Services at Home; "OBQI Case Conference - A New and Productive Twist on Multi-Disciplinary Case Conferences" " Innovative PPS/P4P Strategies: An Interactive Demo" May 5,6, 2010

Missouri Alliance for Home Care; "Rock Your Agency with OBQI Case Conference" "Keep on Rockin with Innovative PPS/P4P Strategies" April 27-28, 2010

Southwest Regional Home Care Conference; "RAC Scrutiny: Audit Findings from RAC-Like Surveys" "S.U.R.C.H. - A Utilization Program for Home Health" April 21, 2010

Home Nursing Agency; "Innoviative PPS Strategies: A Home Care Survival Guide" March 18, 2010

Illinois Home Care Council; "Survival Guide for the Audit Era" March 11, 2010

Phoenix Home Health Care; "Home Health Reforms and Audits" March 6, 2010

Missouri Alliance for Home Care; "Survival Guide for the Audit Era" March 2, 2010

Home Care Association of New York; "Mastering The Tools For Successs, A Workshop for Nurses" February 25, 2010

Florida Home Care Association; "Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) Survival Guide" February 3,4, 2010

Kentucky Home Health Association; Conference, "UR for OASIS admissions and OBQI Case Conference scores" November 18 & 19, 2009

Missouri Alliance for Home; Audio Conference, "How to proceed in our contemporary homecare landscape" November 4, 2009

Health Care Synergy Seminar; "Staff utilization and various practices aimed to improve quality of care, while minimizing costs" October 30, 2009, Chicago, IL

Home Care Association of New York State, "Improving quality outcomes and documentation methods to enhance appraoches to care" October 26, 2009

Home Care Association of New Jersey; Seminar, "Prospective Payment System that governs Medicare Home Health" October 22, 2009

National Association Of Home Care & Hospice; OBQI Case Conference, October 10-14, 2009, Los Angeles, CA

Health Care Synergy, "Home Health and Reforms and Audits: Where do we go from here?" October 9, 2009, Los Angeles, CA

National Quality Outcomes & OASIS-C Conference; "Functional item review can lead to better outcomes: dyspnea, pain, urinary incontinence" September 15, 2009

Indiana Association for Home & Hospice Care; "Winning Strategies for Home Health and More" August 19, 2009

Kentucky Home Health Association Therapy Workshop July 30, 2009

Arnie Cisneros, P.T., president of Home Health Strategic Management, has provided clinical services, program development and management consultation in the areas of geriatric rehab, sports medicine and home health since 1979.  His clinical background is primarily orthopedic based from his tenure with The Ohio State University Sportsmedicine Department. 

He is renowned for his adaptation of traditional care philosophies to address current and future healthcare initiatives.  His status as a currently practicing clinician provides a working level insight into program development and care consultation needs for Home Health providers.  He authors "Home Health Forum", a bi-weekly column addressing contemporary homecare issues and is a contributor to "The Remington Report", Caring, and Decision Health publications.  He presents nationally on homecare topics including S.U.R.C.H. - UR for Home health, OBQI Case Conference, and PPS/P4P strategies.