Kevin's Blog

Kung Hei Fat Choi translates as “may prosperity be with you”.  This is the Year of the Water Dragon and is predicted to bring transformation and prosperity.  The Water aspect of this Year’s Dragon tempers the fiery nature of the Dragon and brings more patience and understanding.  Seems like change is in the air.

Here’s wishes of prosperity for Therap users everywhere and all the people who’s lives they touch directly and indirectly.

Are you scrambling and struggling to meet 5010 billing requirements?  Don’t you wish you had someone on your team who would just stay on top of every minutia of these constantly changing regulations, and solve your problems for you.  While we on the subject how about a fancy shiny set of buttons that do many wonderful things for you.  Those of you who use Therap know where I’m going with this….:)

Effective January 1, 2012, providers of developmental disability services are required by a federal mandate to use the HIPAA Version 5010 standard for electronic claim transactions. We are pleased to announce that Therap’s Electronic Billing system has been successfully upgraded to support Version 5010 compliance requirements.

We didn’t stop with mere compliance, in addition we added lots of features that will make it easier to get the information you need in and out.  Including the ability to automatically make ISP Data (Service Notes) that you specify billable  something some of you have been asking for.

We can even point you in the right direction to find your 9 digit zip code, just because we’re helpful like that.  If your not already using Therap’s Billing tools, let me know and I will be happy to show you what we can do to integrate this into the rest of your documentation, no need to enter notes twice.

Well I have gotten the full dose of winter weather I was hoping for, and seems like I am getting a little extra for my send off.  Here is what it looked like this morning:

Even better though I got a full dose of time with the people in Alaska that make Therap awesome.  As always this leaves me even more energized and passionate about helping do great things for people with disabilities and the people that support them.

Here at the airport I am very glad I got here early as it seems to be getting thicker and thicker.  Soon I will be in 80 degree weather, but for now it looks like this:

Looking forward to seeing lots of our Alaska agencies represented at the National Conference next month. FYI – The Alaska folks will be the ones wearing shorts and sunning them selves as they warm up in the New Jersey winter. 

See you soon friends.  Feel free to bring me anything from my favorite restaurant.    10 Therap points for the first person to email me the connection between this restaurant and a hit TV show filmed in Hawaii.

So much exciting things are happening here in Alaska, we continue to experience the same growth we saw last year, which means lots of new agencies getting started.  Our current agencies are getting sharper and sharper with their use and we have more agencies using our Billing features that help manage Prior Authorizations, make sure agencies bill for every service that is documented, and alerts them well ahead of time before a PA expires or get 100% used up.  And these are just the basics, add in lots of bells and whistles like Utilization Reports,   linking billing to daily Services Notes, tracking multiple funding sources including grants, Cost Center reports, and other things that agencies dream up once they have access to the Therap tools.

Despite the cold, it is beautiful and a lot of fun here.  Take a look at this clear day and the ice sculpture garden in Anchorage.  Despite being right on the ocean one of the things you constantly see are mountains surrounding the city.  Beautiful!

We’re like the Post Office only in Orange…..Check out Allison and Brent in Action with the awesome folks at Arc of Anchorage, who are getting even awesomer. 1st T-logs, 1st GER’s, 1st of many more good things!

This is what it looks like outside when the sun finally gets up, it is still below freezing!

Happy New year friends!

I had a nice green and bright christmas at home and I enjoyed every minute of it. Not that I mind a little snow from time to time. So I think I am getting my snow fix by spending some time in Anchorage. 2degrees right now but it is expected to get up to a sunny 26 today. Will be spending some time with Allison and Brent doing what we do best….Helping awesome agencies become more awesomer.  Here’s what I got off the plane to:

This is around 7am, and it hurts to breathe.  But it sure is beautiful.

I am enjoying my week in Los Angeles, headed over a little closer to the coast to meet with some more great people.  There is just so much going on in LA it is always interesting, and there is always a crowd especially on the freeways.    Got stuck in some light rain yesterday, great for keeping things cool but definitely slowed things down a little.

I had a little time to look around some old familiar haunts here’s one, let me know if this looks familiar to anyone:

I also had some time to check out one of the most interesting beaches in the world even on a cloudy day, definitely some unique characters can be found here:

Venice California (not Italy).  Looking forward to meeting with lots more folks while I’m here.  See you soon.

I greatly enjoyed meeting many of the members of the DSN yesterday.  A very active and effective group in supporting people with developmental disabilities.   Their recent meeting was held in Ontario and for those of you not familiar with the Inland Empire that is the Ontario in California and not in Canada.  (although you can find Therap in Canada, but that is another blog)  There are a lot of critical issues facing providers in California right now and DSN is right at the forward edge of addressing these.

I was also able to look around the area and was reminded that alothough Califronia isbest known for its big cities there really is a lot of undiscovered and rural beauty in this massive State.  Less than  30 minutes from Ontario I stumbled across this scene up in the surrounding mountains:

That’s right a ski slope just minutes from LA.  Not sure the last time this was used for skiing but the surrounding area was beautiful.  Always lots of surprises in California.

I had a great week meeting with folks in San Diego.  If we did not have a chance to connect up I will definitely see you next time I am out, which will not be to far away with our big Therap Conference happening here in San Diego in December.  Click here for more information or to get the Early Bird Registration Rates:

http://www.therapservices.net/conferences/?p=1068

I also enjoyed finishing up the week in San Diego by spending some time with the member of The Arc of California.  This group does much more than you are probably aware of besides just providing a wide array of quality services directly to people with developmental disabilities and their families.  It was a pleasure to meet with them and to be supporting Arc of California members with Therap’s Services.

http://www.thearcca.org/

Off to LA to spend some time with the folks up north in the same great sunshine.

I hope you had a chance to see my presentation last week at the AADD meeting, I greatly enjoyed my time with everyone there.  It is exciting to see a group of folks that have some much in common and play nice together.  I assure this is not the case at every State association I have been to.  I also apologize if this message is redundant but I want to make sure everyone is aware of Therap and the work we do to support agencies just like yourselves including several members of AADD.

Therap is now across most every state in the Nation and throughout many organizations in Alaska.  It is a system that is transforming how we do business in the Developmental Disability Industry. Through the use of web-based technology, Therap has helped over 750 agencies save time, money, and resources that historically have chiseled away at the bottom line of an organization’s budget.

What can Therap users do in the system? Here are a few benefits –

    Communicate information electronically in a secure, HIPAA compliant environment,
    Track and trend data for State, County, or Agency reports,
    Bill directly to ACS for services provided in Alaska,
    Maintain data on goal progress, behavior tracking, incident management/reporting, billing, consumer finances, progress notes, and many other areas of your disability business,
    Reduce medication errors via our electronic MAR and drug database…and much more…

I would like to invite you to learn more about Therap by attending a web presentation, in which I will be demonstrating many of Therap’s capabilities. The upcoming dates to choose from are:

Tuesday, October 18th at 10:00 AM AST

Thursday, November 3rd at 2:00 PM AST

Please send me an email at kevin.dierks@therapservices.net to let me know your preference. I will forward you a link with instructions on how to join the internet presentation.

If you prefer a formal presentation at your office, let me know when would be a convenient time for us to make arrangements.  I would also be happy to arrange a personalized webinar with you and your staff.

I look forward to talking with you soon.