Richard's Blog

 Posts Tagged ‘College of Direct Support’

Each conference we run has different characteristics. This is the second conference we are running in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. We are again running in conjunction with College of Direct Support.

One interesting difference between the Tennessee conference and many other conferences is the number of different states that we have attendees from. At the recent conference in Buffalo, NY we only had users from New York State.   For the conference in Tennessee we already have attendees from the developmental disabilities communities in Indiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, Georgia and Iowa as well as Tennessee.

This is a probably a function of both Jason Laws discussions with provider agencies in Georgia and other states as well as Nashville being a Southwest Airlines hub and the good interstate highways reaching into Tennessee.

The mix of users is a good example of why we schedule these conferences and not only have user groups which usually cover a smaller area.

Therap will host a regional conference in Albuquerque, NM on June 1-2, 2011 in New Mexico.

This conference will have specific sessions for New Mexico agencies with the Department of Health Developmental Disabilities Supports Division.

In addition, there will be a focus on Therap health tracking and the Therap Comprehensive Health Assessment Tool at the conference. There will be sessions and tracks of particular interest to nurses and other health care professionals serving people with developmental disabilities.

The College of Direct Support will have sessions at this conference. College of Direct Support will highlight their courses and programs of interest to nurses and health care professionals.

This will somewhat serve as a 2011 Therap conference for Nurses. More information will be available on the website about the conference in 2011.

Provider adminstrators are continued to be encouraged to attend the Therap provider adminstration conference in Fishkill, NY in Feburary.

The conference will be at the Holiday Inn Jefferson St in Albuquerque.

We will be holding the next Side by Side technology conference with the College of Direct Support May 3-5 in St. Louis, Missouri.

This will be a good opportunity to learn about various Therap Services modules as well as information about CDS modules and their application. Linda Petrini and Web Footed Friends will be there to speak about Talintel.

There will be general Therap sessions of interest to agencies throughout the United States. There will also be Missouri  and Illinois specific sessions or user group discussions.

As with recent Side-by-Side Conferences – there will be an optional package included for a local dinner and site of interest.

We will be posting information to help make choices about the different conferences which are offered. We continue to recommend that provider administrators attend the national provider administration conference in Fishkill, NY in February.

Therap will be holding a Regional Conference at the Holiday Inn BWI Airport on July 25-26, 2011.

This will include extra sessions related to Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia topics. A draft schedule will be posted in 2011.

College of Direct Support will have training sessions and tracks at this conference.

The regional conferences are designed to supplement our national provider administrator conference coming up in Fishkill, NY February 8-10, 2011.

Regional conferences are a good opportunity to talk specifically with other users in a smaller geographic region. There generally are how-to and intermediate sessions on most modules. There are significant more sessions to choose from at the national conference.

There will not be opportunities to speak with programmers at this regional conference.

We are trying to be more clear on what to expect at the regional conferences. We will be posting a chart comparing the different conferences.

I am excited about our upcoming Side by Side Conference in Minnesota in October 19-21, 2011.

In addition to College of Direct Support, Rest Assured and Web Footed Friends, we have a number of sessions led by Amy Hewitt and the team from the University of Minnesota Institute for Community Inclusion.

People often ask which Therap conference makes the most sense to attend. There are really three type of conferences we currently run (I might change that to 4 types if I can call user groups mini-conferences).

1) Therap Regional Conferences like the 2 day conference being held today in Salem, Oregon. These conference are designed for a concentrated local set of Therap users. Most of the sessions are module specific.

For 2010 we are expecting to hold conferences again in Maine and Oregon. Plus new regional conferences in North Dakota, Montana and other states as we have more Therap users.

2) Side by Side Technology Conferences with College of Direct Support. These confernces are held throughout the country and are designed for agencies to get a broad exposure to a number of technology companies working in the developmental disability community. There are sessions on many aspects of use of Therap and College Direct Support, plus general discussions on issues with past participants including Deyta, Rest Assured and Web Footed Friends. The first 2010 conference will be in Kansas City Missouri.

3) Therap National Provider Administrator Conference. Our 2010 conference will be held in Fishkill, NY February 2-4, 2010. There will be 9 simultaneous sessions for 3 days. Everything from beginning how-to sessions to brainstorming discussions and more. It is designed for Advanced Therap Provider Administrators as well as serving as a regional conference for the New York/mid-Atlantic region. It is also a good confernce for new agencies just starting up to attend.

4) Our user groups are almost “mini-conferences” so I thought I would list them here. Tomorrow there is one in New York City. We have had them both in person and over the phone/internet. They are both regionally based by state or topic based.

If you have questions on which type of conference is best for you or your agency – just ask.

Acumen Fiscal Intermediary will be participating in the Therap National Provider Administrator Conference in Fishkill, NY February 2-4, 2010.

Acumen will be presenting on their services. There will also be discussions on how agencies might use Therap for documentation as well as Acumen’s services.

The following information is from Acumen’s website

What is a Fiscal Employer Agent?
A Fiscal Employer Agent, also known as a fiscal intermediary relieves individuals, guardians and caregivers of the tedium of writing vendor and payroll checks and paying withholdings to state and federal agencies.
What is the difference between a provider agency and Acumen?
A provider agency provides support services. If you use a provider, they supply caregivers for you and/or your dependent(s). Because the staff work for the provider agency, the agency is responsible for all the employer responsibilities – hiring, firing, training, payroll withholding and filing, which comes at a higher cost. With Acumen, the individual receiving services is the employer. They recruit, hire, schedule and train their own employees. Not only can they get more support for the same dollars by being in charge, they are in total control.

We expect to have presentations, participation and discussions with CARF, CQL, Deyta on Ancor Performance Excellence,   College of Direct Support, Web Footed Friends and Rest Assured in addition to Acumen.

We are excited about the opportunity for Therap uses to hear what these organizations are doing. We recognize that agencies utilize various outside supports, services and accreditations. We hope to further the dialog with a practical approach centers on real users and their issues.

I would urge people to register soon for the conference. The Therap conference in Oregon this week has over 150 registered. There are limited spaces at the Fishkill conference as well as at the Holiday Inn that the conference will be held at.

The next Side-by-Side Technology Conference will be in Kansas City, Missouri May 4-6, 2010 at the Holiday Inn.

Once again the conference will be with The College of Direct Support and Bill, Annie and Donna will be there.

In addition, we expect to have Rest Assured and Web Footed Friends. As well as Deyta talking about Ancor’s Performance Excellence.

Registration information about conference sessions will be posted on the website.

We just finished Side by Side Technology Conference IV with College of Direct Support, Rest Assured, WebFooted Friends and Deyta.

Special thanks to Amy Hewitt of the University of Minnesota for her presentation.

I am finding it tremendously exciting seeing the number of agencies moving forward with technology to improve their support and operations, reduce costs and help with compliance.

Having these national conferences really highlights the changes in attitudes towards electronic signatures, family access and so many other issues.

I can no longer just write across the country as we had a group from ACRS in Alberta Canada participating as well.

Look for details on the next side by side technology conference to be held in Missouri in May 2010.

We will also discuss many of these issues and have presentations at the Therap National Provider Administration Conference in Fishkill, NY February 2-4, 2010