CJ Wolf
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It’s Springtime. The bees are buzzing and flowers blooming. It is also the time of year when coders, auditors, and compliance professionals are out in full force, learning all they can…at two of the industry’s main event.
The second week of April 2024 has two of the biggest conferences of the year. The Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) will hold its 28th Annual Compliance Institute (CI) in Nashville, TN, and the AAPC will hold its annual HEALTHCON event in Las Vegas, NV. You’ll have to put it in overdrive if you plan to participate in both as they are being held during the same week. Both have virtual options.
HCCA Compliance Institute:
CI is an amazing opportunity to rub shoulders with fellow compliance colleagues. In addition, it is often THE place for key enforcement agencies to share their latest thinking and priorities. For years, one of the most anticipated highlights of the conference has been hearing from HHS OIG leadership and others within the agency as well as some from the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
This year, Robert K. DeConti, Chief Counsel to the Inspector General Office of Inspector General, is slated as a key-note speaker with a session title of “HHS OIG Enforcement and Compliance Update.” The OCR will then have a keynote speaking spot titled, “An Update on OCR's 2024 Priorities.” That address will be given by the Director of OCR, Melanie Fontes Rainer.
Whether you are a beginner or pro at healthcare compliance, there is something for you.
Many attendees enjoy the pre-conference sessions which offer slightly longer duration and sometimes smaller crowds. These sessions can be especially good for those who are new to compliance. Some of the tried and true sessions include:
- Compliance 101: Beginning to Implementation
- CEO Whisperer 101: Mastering the Art of Executive Communication
- Policies! Important Information to Know about the First Element of an Effective Compliance Program
But there are plenty of advanced topics during the pre-conference as well. Some of these include:
- Experienced Compliance Officers Roundtable
- Current Compliance Issues in Physician Coding and Billing
- Enterprise Risk Management: Compliance Is Not Enough
- State Attorneys General Oversight of Nonprofit Hospital Mergers, Acquisitions, and Closures
The conference will have multiple days of basic, intermediate, and advanced sessions. There are too many to outline here but they fit within the following identified conference tracks:
- Technology & Innovation
- Auditing & Monitoring
- Behavioral Health
- Case Studies
- Compliance Law
- Discussion Group
- General Compliance/Hot Topics
- Investigations
- Physician Compliance
- Post-Acute Care
- Privacy & Security
- Professional Skills
- Risk Management
- Telehealth
And, last but not least, don’t forget about the exhibit hall. Come see Healthicity’s booth at 613!
Learn more about HCCA CI here: https://www.hcca-info.org/conferences/institutes/28th-annual-compliance-institute
AAPC HEALTHCON
HEALTHCON is a wonderful gathering place for auditors, coders, compliance professionals and revenue cycle personnel. We thought it was so exciting that we hosted a webinar on the topic. Click here to listen on-demand.
One of the many highlights each year is the State of AAPC address presented by AAPC’s CEO, Bevan Erickson. He covers exciting new and upcoming developments within the organization, why they’re moving in these directions, and how these evolutions will impact the daily life of attendees, both inside and outside of work.
Attendees also enjoy the many different panel discussions. These are often some of the most well attended sessions. Some of the topics in panel sessions include legal issues, evaluation and management (E/M) coding, billing, auditing, and compliance.
As always, there will be many medical specialty specific sessions. A few examples include ENT surgery coding, anesthesia, endocrine clinic, and spine fusion coding.
There will also be several sessions discussing topics which apply to many specialties. For example, what would HEALTHCON be if there weren’t multiple sessions about E/M coding? There will be sessions on the 2023 E/M updates as well as a session that dives deeply into a legal case involving alleged misuse of the updated medical decision-making guidelines common to both the 2021 and 2023 updates.
HEALTHCON has many tracks and focus areas. Additional topics beyond those already mentioned include: inpatient coding, outpatient facility, revenue cycle, practice management, clinical documentation improvement (CDI), compliance and value-based care.
And again, last but not least, don’t forget about the exhibit hall. Come see Healthicity’s booth at 319!
Learn more about AAPC HEALTHCON here:
Conclusion
It truly is the season for coding, compliance and auditing conferences! AAPC’s HEALTHCON and HCCA’s Compliance Institute are two of the most anticipated conferences of the year. We hope to see you there!
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