Description

2026 Quality and Compliance Conference 

Date: December 8, 2026. 9:00 am - 3:00 pm

We are excited to announce in-person HCA Quality and Compliance Conference. The conference promises to provide valuable insights for home health agencies on navigating regulatory compliance and staying up to date with industry best practices.

Sponsorship Opportunities

The Home Health Final Rule A review of the recently released final rule, and how it will impact your Home Health agency in 2027!

Kelly Murphy, MBA, HCS-O, CEO, Murphy Advisory Services.

A review of the recently released final rule, and how it will impact your Home Health agency in 2027! The proposed rule includes changes to the payment rate, case mix weights, LUPA thresholds, OASIS submission, and more! This session will review the final rule and the implications it has for

your organization.

• Understand the components of the final rule, and how it impacts your agency.
• Understand what data benchmarks are key to track as they relate to the final rule updates.
• Understand the recalibration of functional impairment levels, and how it impacts your reimbursement.
• Develop goals for your organization to update your processes as they are impacted by the final rule. 

QAPI From Ratings to Results

Barbara Katz, BK Health Care Consulting

In home health care, scores and ratings drive both revenue and reputation. The challenge is turning performance data into better outcomes. In this interactive session, participants will use a case study focused on the Home Health Within-Stay Potentially Preventable Hospitalization (PPH) measure to chart a practical improvement pathway. Drawing on the Home Health Care QAPI Performance Improvement Project Team Leader Playbook, participants will practice process improvement techniques, identify common mistakes at each step, and explore how to avoid them. Because successful improvement is a team effort, the session will emphasize engaging team members and turning their collective insights into effective action.

By the end of this program, participants will be able to:

• Apply the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) framework to organize an improvement effort focused on potentially preventable hospitalizations.
• Use selected tools from the Home Health Care QAPI Performance Improvement Project Team Leader Playbook to analyze a case study and recommend next steps.
• Identify common pitfalls in the improvement process and strategies to strengthen team participation and results.

Don’t Trust the Process; Master the Process: A Guide to HH Survey and Regulatory Enforcement

Jody Erdfarb- Attorney at Wiggin & Dana

Home health surveys can be an unforgiving experience, with significant federal enforcement penalties for non-compliance. In this seminar, Jody Erdfarb, Esq. will navigate through the complexity to provide essential strategies for understanding the entire regulatory cycle. Attendees will gain actionable insights on how to move from reactive fear to proactive readiness, effectively mitigating risk and surviving the survey process. 

• Understand how to prepare for the survey
• Identify tips to optimize survey results
• Learn how to manage the post-survey follow up, including the IDR and appeal processes

Compliance Flashpoints: Top Survey Findings for 2026

Kim Skehan, RN, MSN, Vice President, Accreditation, Community Health Accreditation Partner

This session highlights the top survey findings for 2026, focusing on trends, strengths, opportunities for improvement, and areas of regulatory focus. Attendees will gain insight into common survey deficiencies, compliance challenges, quality and patient safety concerns, documentation requirements, and best practices identified across home health and hospice providers. 

The discussion will explore how survey results impact operations, patient care, and accreditation outcomes while providing practical strategies to enhance readiness, maintain compliance, and drive continuous performance improvement. Participants will learn how their organizations can respond proactively to emerging survey trends and strengthen overall hospice quality and regulatory performance.

Upon completing this session, participants will be able to:

• Describe the current survey and regulatory environment impacting home health and hospice agencies.
• Identify the top survey issues impacting home health and hospice agencies.
• Describe survey readiness and compliance strategies that can be utilized by agencies to implement an ongoing, organization-wide survey compliance.

Thank you to our Sponsors

Speakers:

Kelly Murphy, MBA, HCS-O, CEO of Murphy Advisory Services. Kelly has a strong operations background with over 15 years in the industry. She has worked for various top names in the home health and hospice consulting world, and has worked with clients all of over the country.

In addition to her operations experience, she also has a background in human resources and recruiting and enjoys helping agencies find the perfect candidates for their key leadership roles.

Barbara Katz, RN, MSN President, BK Healthcare Consulting. Barbara Katz is a home health consultant, educator, and author focused on improving clinical quality, care processes, and patient outcomes. A former Vice President for Clinical Program Development, she has helped home health managers strengthen quality improvement and implement value-based payment programs.

She is the author of Connecting Care for Patients: Interdisciplinary Care Transitions and Collaboration and Home Health QAPI Performance Improvement Leader Handbook, and creator of the microlearning program Avoiding Potentially Preventable Hospitalizations.

A Yale School of Nursing graduate, Barbara holds a Certificate in Training and Development from Fairfield University and received the Judith A. Hriceniak Award for Excellence in Nursing Leadership from the Connecticut Association for Healthcare at Home.

Jody Erdfarb- Attorney at Wiggin & Dana Jody is a Partner in Wiggin and Dana’s Health Care Department, where she advises a wide range of health care organizations such as hospitals, long-term-care providers, dental practices, behavioral health clinics, individual practitioners, and information technology companies. She advises on a broad range of issues, including compliance, fraud and abuse, False Claims Act, HIPAA, patient care, regulatory, and corporate matters.

Jody relies on her broad range of knowledge to provide clients with the best possible support. Her experience includes assisting providers with state and federal survey issues, including handling compliance and informal dispute resolution meetings and appealing deficiencies with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; managing Medicaid audits; and responding to governmental subpoenas. She assists clients in developing and evaluating corporate compliance programs, HIPAA policies, and managing compliance issues, including conducting internal investigations, submitting self-disclosures, and negotiating with government authorities.

Kim Skehan, RN, MSN, Vice President, Accreditation, Community Health Accreditation Partner In her role as Vice President of Accreditation, Kimberly’s 30 years of clinical and operations experience and deep understanding of regulatory compliance, risk management, and survey readiness will enable her to effectively guide and support providers in the home health and hospice industry as they navigate the complex accreditation process. She serves as a valuable liaison for providers, fostering collaboration and communication with federal and state regulatory agencies to address industry challenges.

She currently serves as a member of the Regulatory Committee of the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) and the Hospice Quality Committee for the National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC), and is a member of the Connecticut Association for Healthcare at Home, where she previously served as the VP for Clinical & Regulatory Services.

Payment Policy:  HCA of MA now requires payment in advance. If we have not received payment before the event, you will be asked to provide it or proof of incoming payment in order to attend the meeting. Please be sure to send your open invoice to your accounting department so there are no problems.

Cancellation Policy: Submit cancellation requests by email to Cynthia Holloway at cholloway@thinkhomecare.org. $25 cancellation fee, between 7 days and 48 hours of event. No refund for same day cancellation or no-show. Refund assumes registration paid in advance. Unpaid registrations remain payable, adjusted only for approved cancellation as above.