Richard's Blog

 Posts Tagged ‘nysacra’

I just got back from the annual NYSRA conference in Albany, NY.

It was nice to see so many agencies I have talked with over the years who are now up and running with Therap. It was particularly nice in that I was able to attend the conference with my father.

I used to attend more of the New York conferences including NYSARC, NYSACRA and NYSRA. Kevin Lightle generally attends those conference for Therap now – but he was somewhere else today so I got to attend.

Years ago the questions were often about res hab and day hab and isp and msc plans. Now that Therap has so much of those issues solved and incorporated in the system, I was getting questions about 1115 which is not even fully out yet from OPWDD.

Next week Justin, Kris and I will be attending the NYSARCA conference at the Sagamore in Lake George.

Justin will be presenting on use of Therap in New York with regards to OMRDD and OMIG regulations and compliance.

We have a relatively busy schedule with several presentations of our own as well as attending seminars from OMRDD and the NYSACRA Technology Committee.
If you will be at the conference, either set up and appointment or just stop by and see us.

I recently attended a NYSACRA conference in Saratoga Springs, NY. The big topic of conversation was a recently announced 5% rate cut by OMRDD. We have heard of similar cuts in other states – and these cuts are affecting other areas of government services including parks, schools and other social services.

The statistics I have seen from presentations and materials from the National Association of State Budget Officers and their website show this is really a national situation.

For the first time on record, states’ overall spending has declined in back-to-back years, sinking 4.8 percent last fiscal year and at least 4 percent in the current fiscal year,according to the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO). The spending drop reflects a plunge in tax revenues last year that is expected to continue for at least two more years. The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) has estimated that $60 billion in shortfalls are looming for 2011 and $50 billion for 2012.

My response to these cuts probably reflects my experience in developing technology to address societal problems. I feel this is also an opportunity for the states and providers to review their systems and processes. HHS and the Obama administration (and also John McCain in his campaign) all talk about using technology to improve record keeping while reducing costs. Agencies using Therap are reporting savings in many areas.

We received one analysis from an agency that even after allocating 80% of computer and internet costs to Therap – and only factoring in savings from paper, faxes, storage, binders and document storage they were still savings money using Therap. We have seen invoices from agencies on reductions in their Xerox bill of 33% from before using Therap.

Agencies are reporting reductions in nursing or QA staff while reporting higher quality of analysis using Therap because of the speed of generating information and the reduction in driving to look at papers. In fact a number of agencies have said that it is using Therap which is letting them meet their budget cuts.

One major difference between the general community and providers serving people with developmental disabilities with regards to implementing technology is the tight requirements from Medicaid and state funding sources on looking at expenses for reimbursement. So an agency cannot just for example say they are adding technology and paying for that from savings in efficiency from shortened annual meetings because families can already see the data or an agency cannot replace nurses costs with internet or computers because they are savings nurses driving time. There are many complex budget and reimbursement issues which need to be considered. But perhaps this budget crisis will allow a good discussion of how to really have efficiencies rather than just cost cutting.

When representatives from OMRDD presented at the NYSACRA meetings they mentioned several times that they wanted to work with agencies to find efficiencies in their operations. When I discussed this with providers – a couple basically said that they really felt that they weren’t looking for efficiencies but just cost reductions. Thomas Friedman often writes about the difficulty in changing the mindset and attitudes of countries which have long opposed each other in military or cultural spheres. Is there a similar difficultly in bridging some of the gaps between providers and funders?

Working together I think agencies, funders, families and other interested parties can improve the quality of life for people with developmental disabilities – but working separately – they will just see and experience painful spending cuts. We are working with may providers and states which are making real positive progress in many areas. So I have seen that new ways of thinking and interacting are possible.