We are pleased to announce that Eric Swanson has joined our team at Health Financial Systems. Many of you know Eric from his previous employment at Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, where he served as the Managing Director for the Strategic Government Initiatives Department. He has over 30 years of experience in Medicare Part A and was an established expert within the Blue Cross organization, as well as a technical expert to CMS and the provider community. Eric successfully managed the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association Medicare operations including PRRB Appeals, Medicare Cost Report development, and Audit and Reimbursement Policy functions.
He is a Graduate of the University of Illinois and earned his MBA from the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.
Eric has been a featured speaker at HFS user meetings since 1995. He will work out of the Chicago area and contribute in our support department and Government Relations. Eric will add another dimension of expertise to the HFS team and he looks forward to working with all of our provider and MAC clients.
Eric can be reached by email at Eric@hfssoft.com or by phone (312)265-8386.
Just a reminder…Our User Meeting will be on Thursday October 22, 2009 and Friday October 23, 2009 in Las Vegas. The first day of our meeting will focus on Hospital and Home Health Agency current issues, particularly the new 2552-10 for hospitals. The second day of our meeting will be spent going through the HFS software and its productivity features. This link will take you to our User Meeting Flyer with more information: http://www.hfssoft.com/um/2009/HFS-2009UserMeetingFlyer.pdf
Our room block with the Westin Casuarina expires on September 21st. It is almost full, so make your reservations soon to receive the room rate of $135. You can call the hotel at (866)837-4215 or make your reservations on their website http://www.starwoodmeeting.com/StarGroupsWeb/booking/reservation?id=0907172622&key=CC459.
If you plan to attend and have not already done so, please return your registration form to us with payment as soon as possible. http://www.hfssoft.com/um/2009/UserMtgReg.pdf
The agendas have been updated at the following links:
If you have any questions e-mail or call us.
On Friday, August 28, 2009 we sent additional HFS comments on the Draft 2552-10 to CMS. These additional comments were the result of having input numbers into the forms. These comments are available in PDF format: MORE HFS DRAFT 2552-10 COMMENTS
As part of a national effort to raise the awareness of the importance of a complete and accurate Medicare Cost Report, HFS is part of a committee with the National Association of Home Care and Hospice (NAHC). We are trying to get this message out to all HHA cost report preparers, by distributing a news release published by NAHC in July 2009.
If CMS rebases the HHA rates, it will be the cost report that is used for the information. Thus, the more complete and accurate the information, the more likely accurate rates will be determined.
Please read the NAHC news release and share it with any HHA cost report preparer you may know. If you have any questions about this, please contact Pete Harmon, at (916)686-8152, or pete@hfssoft.com.