Spring Conference Preview, Part 3

Can you feel the excitement in the air? The 2016 NARA Spring Conference is just around the corner! Those of us in the rehab industry will gather from all part of the country to talk about the future and direction of our businesses, livelihoods and practices. We’ve spent the last couple of blogs previewing what you should expect next month, and we’re going to continue in that thread today. Thursday, May 5^th: Day 2 of the Conference We will start the day with a visit to Capitol Hill, which is open to all attendees. That will encompass the entire morning, ending at 12:20 p.m. After that, we will have a light lunch buffet, during which time we will discuss attendee results from the Hill visits.  We will provide a feedback sheet for attendees to provide information for NARA and George to follow up on any opportunities to discuss further those issues of concern for Rehabilitation Providers. During this time, there will also be a presentation from the NARA Political Action Committee. The NARA PAC is supported by NARA members with the funds being used to support the issues impacting our industry. After a short break, we will re-convene to hold a general legislative session. We will use that time to discuss the current status of manual medical review. The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) included a provision requiring the HHS Secretary to replace the existing process for conducting complex reviews of all Part B therapy claims over the $3700 annual threshold with a new process for reviewing targeted claims over the threshold. On February 9th CMS announced that it had tasked Strategic health Solutions a SMRC to perform this medical review on a post-payment basis. This panel will endeavor to explain how this new system will work and the issues of which rehabilitation providers should be aware This will be followed by another short break, and then the NARA Membership Annual Business Meeting will take place. This session is for current NARA Members.  Those who are attending the conference but interested in becoming a NARA Member may attend. The day will wrap up with a meeting of the newly elected officers to the NARA Board of Directors at 4:30 p.m. If you haven’t already registered for the spring conference, it’s not too late! Go here to register now. We will continue our preview of the spring conference in ne