Day One – Home Health Track

8:00 am

Grand Event Center

Registration, Breakfast, Networking with Exhibitors

8:30 am – 12:30 pm

Home Health Keynote Presentation by Palmetto GBA

Palmetto GBA is pleased to participate in the OCHCH Spring Financial Conference and deliver the 2026 Home Health Workshop entitled “Navigating the Essentials of Medicare.” This workshop is designed to equip home health providers with the tools they need to be successful with Medicare billing, coverage and documentation requirements. Read a full summary of the presentation below.

Palmetto GBA presentations award 4 Nursing Contact Hours.

★  Charles Canaan MPH, BSN, RN, CCA, CPC, CPB, CPMA, APM
Senior Provider Education Consultant
Palmetto GBA

★  Marlene Frierson
Senior Provider Relations Representative
Palmetto GBA

Due to the ongoing government staff travel ban, Palmetto presentations will be conducted live via Zoom. Q&A will be facilitated by Council staff and we do not expect any issues with content delivery and engagement.

12:30 – 1:30

Grand Event Center

Lunch & Networking

1:30 – 2:20

Operational Changes from the 2026 Final Rule to Improve your Home Health Outcomes

This session walks you through all the contemporary HH changes in the 2026 Final Rule, discusses rationale for the changes, and outlines Operational changes to make for PDGM/VBP success. Case Study demos of HH providers who are on the path to ongoing HH success with improved financial margins will be included. Home Health reforms continue with major programming and reimbursement changes outlined in the 2026 Home Health Final Rule. HH Providers seeking success will face new challenges related to the CAHPS survey and the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model, with reimbursement cuts occurring simultaneously. The result is a Home Health landscape considerably different from what most of us operated under during the PPS and early Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) era. When traditional operations fail to deliver under PDGM and in areas such as VBP and CAHPS, many providers find themselves behind the eight ball in terms of episodic margins. This instability threatens the financial viability of numerous HH agencies and hampers their ability to continue on their current care path. Currently, nearly half of all HH providers have negative overall margins. Don’t miss this session and align your care quality with improved financial margins in 2026.

★ Arnie Cisneros, PT
President
Home Health Strategic Management

★ Kimberly McCormick, RN, BSN
Executive Clinical Director
Home Health Strategic Management

2:30 – 3:20

HHVBP: Understanding the Reports and Tools to Increase your Positive Annual Revenue Percentage

We will review how to look at the HHVBP reports, and ensure leaders understand the payer sources included and excluded from each of the metrics. We will then discuss the consideration a leader needs to have once we understand what payer sources are included, from OASIS review, to HH-CAHPS. Finally, we will provide ideas and tools to implement change from the granular level, to the leadership level.

★  Katie Eisel
Payer Relations Director
OCHN

3:30 – 3:50

Best Billing Practices in a Changing Medicaid Environment

This workshop will focus on effective billing strategies, led by Derek Vester, a billing expert at GEOH with a proven track record of success. We will cover pre-billing practices, technical billing tips, and post-billing processes to avoid denied claims. Participants learn the importance of best pre-billing practices (authorizations, Sandata, visits) and technical billing practices (where to submit claims, procedure codes and modifiers).

★ Derek Vester
Director of Billing
GEOH

3:50 – 4:20

How to Improve Patient Outcomes Using Molecular Testing

★ Thomas Payne
COO
Patients Choice Laboratories

4:30 – 5:30

Grand Event Center

Networking with Exhibitors

Enjoy some time to meet our exhibitors and enjoy complimentary wine, beer, and non-alcoholic beverages courtesy of our sponsors.

5:30 – 7:00

Hofbräuhaus Columbus

Reception at Hofbräuhaus Columbus

Join us for a fun networking event at Hofbräuhaus Columbus. Located conveniently next to the event center.

800 Goodale Blvd., Columbus, OH 43212

Day One – Hospice Track

8:00 am

Grand Event Center

Registration, Breakfast, Networking with Exhibitors

8:30 – 9:20

Hospice Levels of Care: Navigating Scrutiny, Compliance Risk, and Financial Vulnerability

This session explores the four hospice levels of care and examines how increasing regulatory scrutiny is reshaping the financial landscape for hospice providers. As auditors and payers intensify their focus on clinical documentation, eligibility, and appropriate use of higher-acuity levels of care, organizations face growing exposure to audits, denials, and costly recoupments. Even minor documentation gaps or misuse of higher levels of care can trigger significant financial consequences, including repayment demands, sanctions, and long-term revenue cycle disruption.

★ Katherine Morrison MSN, RN, CHPN, CCS-HH
Director Advisory Services
WellSky

9:30 – 10:20

Increased Hospice Scrutiny:  Navigating Hospice Federal Audits

Hospice audits are growing in frequency and complexity. This session provides an overview of federal audit types, what each involves, and the most common denial reasons. Learn how to identify risk areas, strengthen documentation, and respond effectively to record requests. We’ll explore clinical and technical denials, key compliance practices, and strategies for success in ALJ hearings. Attendees will gain actionable tools to protect their organization, improve audit outcomes, and ensure compliance while maintaining high-quality care. At the end of the presentation, the attendee will understand Hospice Audit Priorities with the ability to identify key areas of focus for auditors, including clinical and technical denial trends, attendee will verbalize Improved Documentation Practices by learning strategies to strengthen medical necessity documentation and reduce claim denials and will describe how to Effectively Respond to Audit Requests by gaining insight on timely and accurate record submissions to auditors.

★ Kristie Meers, BSN, RN, CHPN
Chief Clinical Officer
Careficient

10:30 – 11:20

Panel Discussion:  Ohio is now Included in CMS’ Provisional Period of Enhanced Oversight (PPEO)

Hospice leaders and experts will discuss the Provisional Period of Enhanced Oversight (PPEO)—what it is, why it matters, and how enhanced CMS scrutiny impacts new and transitioning hospice providers in Ohio. The panel will also explore broader oversight trends and practical strategies to help agencies prepare and respond.

★ Moderated by Christina Andrews, Associate Vice President of Professional Services Partnerships, AXXESS
★ Jennifer Durbin, VP Quality and Compliance, Hospice of Northwest Ohio
★ Christie Kello, Program Director, Sanctuary Hospice
★ Kristie Meers, Chief Clinical Officer, Careficient
★ Katherine Morrison, Director Advisory Services, WellSky

11:30 am – 12:00 pm

Grand Event Center

Networking with Exhibitors

12:00 – 1:00

Grand Event Center

Lunch & Networking

1:00 – 5:00

Hospice Keynote Presentation by Palmetto GBA

Palmetto GBA is pleased to participate in the OCHCH Spring Financial Conference and deliver the 2026 Hospice Workshop entitled “Navigating the Essentials of Medicare.” This workshop is designed to equip hospice providers with the tools they need to be successful in Medicare billing, coverage and documentation requirements. Read a full summary of the presentation below.

Palmetto GBA presentations award 4 Nursing Contact Hours.

★  Charles Canaan MPH, BSN, RN, CCA, CPC, CPB, CPMA, APM
Senior Provider Education Consultant
Palmetto GBA

★  Marlene Frierson
Senior Provider Relations Representative
Palmetto GBA

Due to the ongoing government staff travel ban, Palmetto presentations will be conducted live via Zoom. Q&A will be facilitated by Council staff and we do not expect any issues with content delivery and engagement.

5:00 – 5:30

Grand Event Center

Networking with Exhibitors

Enjoy some time to meet our exhibitors and enjoy complimentary wine, beer, and non-alcoholic beverages courtesy of our sponsors.

5:30 – 7:00

Hofbräuhaus Columbus

Reception at Hofbräuhaus Columbus

Join us for a fun networking event at Hofbräuhaus Columbus. Located conveniently across the street from the event center.

800 Goodale Blvd., Columbus, OH 43212

Day Two, General Session

8:30 am

Registration, Breakfast, Networking with Exhibitors

9:30 – 10:20

The Innovative Leader – Differentiating Practice and Outcomes

Demography fuels the growth of healthcare at home, and its constricting workforce. Added regulatory, payor and public scrutiny consume the time, focus and energy of leadership teams, all while advances in machine learning and its application to healthcare at home are shifting how leaders best manage day to day clinical operations. Across the continuum of care at home, managing through change is made more effective by resting on foundational functional leadership concepts. Innovative clinical models can yield leadership time and sharpened focus, perfect for leaning into functional leadership approach. Join us to discuss how integrating machine learned data into long-standing theory can yield advocacy across all stakeholders, supporting top outcomes, growth, mission, and culture.

★ Cindy Campbell MHA, BSN, RN, CCS-HH
Senior Director Advisory Services
WellSky

10:30 – 11:20

GUIDE and Other Innovative Funding Models Seeking to Increase Home Care and Hospice Accessibility

This session will explore opportunities between home care organizations and healthcare providers to increase home care accessibility. New funding models from CMS enable health systems, even those not Medicare licensed, to pay for historically overlooked and underfunded activities. Remo Health is a virtual dementia specialty provider participating in Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE). With GUIDE, we offer home care services at no cost to our Medicare beneficiaries. The model is not perfect: margin is low; payment lags, and locating services in rural areas is challenging. Yet, CMS is incorporating feedback. Importantly, the model provides much-needed respite for the family caregivers of our dementia patients, ultimately reducing costly hospital stays. For Remo, it offers predictable monthly payments and agency over spending decisions. Although GUIDE is dementia-specific, additional models are materializing. Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions (ACCESS) and Make America Healthy Again: Enhancing Lifestyle and Evaluating Value-based Approaches through Evidence (MAHA ELEVATE) will be released in 2026. ACCESS will offer between-visit support for beneficiaries with chronic conditions, while MAHA ELEVATE will fund chronic disease prevention. In 2027, Long-term Enhanced Accountable Care Organization Design (LEAD) will additionally support dual-eligible and homebound individuals.

★ Megan Olshavsky, Ph.D.
Director of Operations
Remo Health

11:30 am – 12:30 pm

Grand Event Center

Lunch & Networking

12:30 – 1:10

Life Cycle of a Deal:  From NDA to Closing

This session is a practical, end-to-end exploration of how home care and hospice sales and acquisitions are structured, negotiated, documented, and closed. Taught by experienced transactional attorneys – Jeana Singleton and Amanda Kilway, this session walks participants through the lifecycle of a deal, beginning with the initial nondisclosure agreement and concluding at closing and post-closing considerations. Using real world examples, the session breaks down each key stage of a transaction, including preliminary agreements, term sheets and letters of intent, due diligence, definitive agreements, negotiation strategies, risk allocation, and closing mechanics. Participants will gain insight into how deals evolve over time, how legal and business objectives intersect, and how common issues are identified and resolved in practice.

★ Jeana Singleton
Member
BMD

★ Amanda Kilway
Attorney
BMD

1:20 – 2:00

AI Utilization and Risk Mitigation

This session examines the rapidly expanding use of artificial intelligence across the home care and hospice care industry and the legal, regulatory, and operational risks that accompany it. Taught by experienced attorneys – Jeana Singleton and Kate Crawford, this session provides a practical overview of how AI technologies are being deployed in clinical care, administration, research, and revenue cycle management. The course explores common AI use cases in healthcare, including diagnostic tools, clinical decision support, predictive analytics, and patient engagement technologies, while highlighting key legal considerations such as data privacy and security, regulatory compliance, bias and transparency, intellectual property, liability exposure, and vendor contracting. Participants will also examine emerging federal and state regulatory frameworks, enforcement trends, and best practices for governance and oversight.

★ Jeana Singleton
Member
BMD

★ Katherine Crawford
Attorney
BMD

2:00

Adjourn