Managed care big topic at rehab conference

PLANO, Texas - If you're an independent rehab provider in a state as big as Texas, you need to get together with your colleagues from across the state, on occasion, to keep from getting overwhelmed.

That's how Sandy Cormier, executive director of the Texas Rehab Providers' Council, described the impetus behind the organization's recent 15th annual conference in Plano, March 30 through April 1, which drew 246 attendees.

Cormier says the highlight of the conference was the opportunity to hear from the managed care organizations that run the Texas' Medicaid program, now that the state has moved from traditional fee-for-service to privately run managed-care plans.

“We had 16 speakers from 14 individual MCOs,” Cormier said, “including four medical directors.  It was great for our members to be able to get answers to so many of the questions they've had, and the MCO reps were grateful to be able to talk to us. In fact, they asked us to include them in future meetings.”

Cormier says other highlights included a panel on impending regulatory changes and a panel on Medicaid audits.

“There was even a game of 'Reimburse Monopoly,'” she said.

In addition to attendees, Cormier pointed to 43 exhibitors who “had good interactions with customers” and worked with a number of presenters to let them use their equipment in their presentations as impromptu demonstrations.

“Our members got a lot of good information on different categories of equipment that way,” she observed.

As for next year, Cormier said they're already planning to “expand our relationship with the MCOs, so we can make sure we have more answers for our members.”