A Cross Country Education webinar outlines system changes that have resulted from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and regulations, with an emphasis on the implications for rehabilitation services managers and clinicians. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: The New Realities of Delivery and Financing of Rehabilitation Services webinar is available on the dates of December 10 and 18, respectively.

On its website, Cross Country Education notes that the as a result of PPACA and regulations, hospitals and providers have been impacted by reduced Medicare payments through patient readmission penalties, reduced qualifying inpatient stays, and hospital acquired conditions. Additionally, the site states the initiation of accountable care organizations, medical homes, Medicare functional limitation reporting, post-acute bundled payments, and consolidated case rates present implications for current and future delivery of rehabilitation services.

The webinar is designed to review strategies for improving value, moving forward; offering principles of change management to provide a guide for adapting to new business realities.

Course objectives include describing the PPACA and regulation, with implications for rehabilitation services, analyzing updates on Medicare functional limitation reporting, and explaining current and emerging models for rehabilitation services delivery and financing. Additional objectives encompass identifying potential strategies for proactive engagement by rehabilitation clinicians to improve value and recalling key principles for conducting successful change management.

Speaker Ed Dobrzykowski, PT, DPT, ATC, MHS, has worked in rehabilitation administration and management for more than 30 years. Currently, he serves as system director of Rehabilitation Services and Sports Medicine at St Elizabeth Healthcare in Edgewood, Kentucky, with strategic and operational accountabilities for acute care, skilled nursing, and outpatient services. Dobrzykowski is also the former editor of the Journal of Rehabilitation Outcomes Measurement, author of several publications, and assisted in the development of the FOTO system (Focus On Therapeutic Outcomes).

Recommended attendees for the webinar include physical therapists, physical therapy assistants, occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants, and rehabilitation services administrators/directors/managers/supervisors.

Visit the Cross Country Education website for more information and additional dates for the webinar

[Source: Cross Country Education]