President's Message

Posted: January 3, 2024

First and foremost, on behalf of the officers and staff of APTA Home Health, I would like to wish all of our readers a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year.

APTA Home Health has several new and exciting projects coming your way in the first couple months of the year. First, the anxiously awaited fourth edition of The Guide to Physical Therapy Practice in the Home is coming in the next six weeks. This seminal publication on the nuts and bolts of how physical therapy is and should be done in the home environment has been a core work of APTA Home Health for longer than I have been a member. This new edition will help foster contemporary practice and delivery of physical therapy in the home. In addition to a free digital download for all APTA Home Health members, we will be providing printed copies to all fifty-one state boards, the three Medicare Administrative Contractors that process home health claims, and several of the nationwide private insurers.

But wait—there’s more! We have heard your call for podcasts on a consistent basis. Be on the lookout for the reboot of our podcast series later this month, hosted and produced for APTA Home Health by our friend and colleague Chris Chimenti.

That brings us to CSM. It is coming soon! I hope to see you in Boston, MA, beginning February 14, 2024. We will kick off CSM with a new twist on an old favorite. While you may not see the customary Meet and Greet in its usual spot on Wednesday evening in the official CSM schedule, IT IS STILL HAPPENING from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM on Wednesday, February 14. It will be off-site at the Harpoon Beer Hall at 306 Northern Avenue, Boston, MA 02210. There will be free-flowing beer and pretzels. Yes, free! It is less expensive to move off site and provide free refreshments than to hold our traditional event on-site. Everyone wins!

On another CSM-related note, our business meeting will remain on-site at the Westin Seaport Hotel on Friday, February 16, at 6:30 PM. This will be a cocktail hour with cash bar rather than the traditional dinner. I promise that I will move the meeting along smartly so that you can enjoy dinner at one of the many nearby establishments in Boston’s Seaport District (what I used to know as Southie when I went to school at BU thirty or so years ago).

Well, that’s a pretty exciting first six weeks of 2024, but there is also a West Coast (Los Angeles) ACHH Live course in February, and a pending one in April in Annville, PA (Harrisburg/Lebanon area). Did you know that ACHH Live now has no prerequisites? You can take it at any point that you find convenient in your ACHH journey, or you can take it as a stand-alone CE offering to get 15 high-quality LIVE CE hours.

Hope to see you at CSM in Boston!

Sincerely, 

Phil Goldsmith
President
APTA Home Health

Deadline EXTENDED - 2024 APTA Home Health Award Nominations

The APTA Home Health Awards are presented annually to deserving individuals, recognized by peers and colleagues, at the Home Health Business Meeting during APTA's annual Combined Sections Meeting in February.

The Academy is now accepting nominations for the following awards through January 6, 2024*. Please take a moment and consider an impactful individual to the home health practice worthy of recognition. 

• President’s Award: Recognizes a Home Health Academy member who has provided notable service to the Academy.
  
  

• Emerging Leader in APTA Home Health: Recognizes and honors one Physical Therapist or Physical Therapist Assistant who has demonstrated extraordinary service and clinical passion early in his or her home health career. The individual should have made exceptional overall accomplishments and contributions to the APTA and/or the Home Health Academy mission and vision, and to the physical therapy profession to advance quality and evidenced‐based care in the home.
  

• Excellence in Home Health Clinical Practice Award: Recognizes a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant for outstanding clinical practice in a home health care setting.
  

• Excellence in Home Health Leadership Award: Recognizes the exceptional contribution of an APTA Home Health member in promoting home health physical therapy practice.
  

• Dr. Carol Zehnacker Friend of the Academy Award: Acknowledges an individual, group or organization that has made an enduring contribution to the home health industry and that has been an advocate of the profession of physical therapy in the home, as is relates to clinical practice and/or regulations. This award is dedicated to the late Dr. Carol Zehnacker who passed away in November 2021. Dr. Zehnacker was a physical therapist and a member of the APTA for 56 years. She served our profession in many ways at both the state and national levels as a leader, mentor, and advocate. She served as the Federal Affairs Liaison and Government Affairs Committee Chair for the Home Health Academy. In this role she advocated fiercely against administrative burden and regulations that hamper PTs ability to provide quality care. 
  

• Preceptor Award: Acknowledges an individual that has been chosen by their agency/company to be a preceptor. This therapist demonstrates the unique qualities, high standards and clinical skills that are exemplary. They are organized and able to teach processes and procedures to newly hired staff, molding them into confident and talented home care clinicians.

To view awards criteria and to submit a nomination, click here. 

*Deadline Extended

ACHH Graduate Virtual Journal Club

When: Thursday, January 11, 2024 | 7:00pm - 8:30pm Eastern 

The ACHH faculty have worked with the APTA Home Health Board to initiate a journal club exclusively for the PT and PTA graduates of the ACHH certification program.

The FREE ACHH journal club will take place three times a year on the second Thursday of January, May, and September, from 7:00pm – 8:30pm EST.  The first 30 minutes will be a happy hour of networking and discussion and then one member will lead a guided journal club.  Participation in the club will carry points towards recertification, with one point for each club attended, to a maximum of 5, and 3 points for the individual leading the discussion.  The club will be held virtually, and details and the link will be sent by the section to all graduates of the program.  It is planned that the topics will rotate through different major areas such as neurological, cardiopulmonary, musculoskeletal and issues specific to PTAs. 

The next event will be on Thursday, January 11, 2024. Any volunteers to lead journal discussions in the subsequent meetings will be appreciated. Remember - 3 points will be awarded towards your ACHH Certification Renewal if you volunteer to lead these discussions. If interested, please email us at [email protected].

ACHH program graduates, click here to register for free! 

ACHH Face-to-Face Seminar in Los Angeles Open For Registration

When: Saturday, February 3 and Sunday, February 4, 2024  |  8:00am - 5:30pm PT (Each Day) 

Location: Providence Home Health - LA County South
                 5315 Torrance Blvd, Suite B
                 Torrance, CA 90503

CEUs - This seminar qualifies for 15 hours of credit.

Effective March 1, 2023 - All aspects of the ACHH will be stand alone, including the 2 day seminar, which can be taken as a 15 hour high quality home health continuing education course. 

If an individual wants to pursue the ACHH certificate, they will be required to take what was formerly known as the pre-requisites and will now be called the core bundle.  (These can now be taken before or after the 2 day seminar, but must be within 18 months total to be certified).  PTs will continue to take 4 additional hours of electives and PTA will have no elective requirement.

This 2-day live in-person seminar is a critical part of the Advanced Competency in Home Health (ACHH) program. If you are not already familiar with the requirements of the ACHH program, please review the requirements. This seminar is designed to complement and build on the core courses of the ACHH program. During the 2-day seminar, participants will revisit and practice skills required for quality cardiopulmonary, orthopedic and balance assessments that will be integrated into clinical vignettes. Throughout the seminar, ethical and regulatory issues, as well as documentation will be incorporated into clinical case studies. Participants should be able to take the skills covered back to their home health settings and incorporate them immediately into patient care. The seminar also offers a huge networking opportunity which is one of the strengths of the program.

Registration for this seminar is limited and on a first-come first-served basis.

CLICK HERE for more information and to register!