The event, held on June 22-23, is the only non-association yearly gathering for Special Needs Plan (SNP) professionals who are mid- to senior-level management to stay current in a highly regulated and evolving environment.
This year’s live-streaming virtual Special Needs Plan Leadership Summit will feature pre-conference workshops on Tuesday, June 22 prior to main conference sessions, which will kick off in the afternoon. Attendees will be able to choose between two morning workshops:
- SNPs 101: Understanding the basics for new or growing SNPs plans: Hank Osowski, managing director, Strategic Health Group, will discuss different SNP types and regulatory nuances, how to form a new SNP plan, the benefits and challenges of the SNPs market, operational and organizational considerations of a SNP, and basic SNP models of care regulations and expectations and how to obtain MOC narrative best practices.
- Taking quality to the next level – boosting Star ratings for SNPs and impacting member experience: Daniel Weaver, VP Medicare & Medicaid quality programs, Gateway Health Plan, and Christine Aguiar Lynch, vice president for Medicare and managed long-term services and supports, Association for Community Affiliated Plans, will explore the nuances between a SNP plan and the average Medicare Advantage plan’s roadmap to successful ratings and how to align quality and Model of Care (MOC) goals; how to prioritize and operationalize customer experience/CAHPS to increase scores; successful engagement strategies for SNPs population to get back to care, explore barriers, and discuss medication adherence best practices for this patient population; how to focus resources on key measure that will move the needle for the SNPs population and discuss a value-based design for Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (DSNPs) to thrive cooperatively and increase member satisfaction; and supplemental benefits and incentive opportunities to address social determinants of health (SDoH) and impact quality.
The main conference sessions on Tuesday afternoon and all-day Wednesday will tie in four key themes: regulation and legislation updates, operational best practices, SDoH and supplemental benefits, and engagement and communication strategies with hard-to-reach populations. Some of the sessions will include:
Regulation and legislation updates
During a regulatory update panel on Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ‘ (CMS) legislation changes coming down the pipeline, panelists will examine CMS’ latest final rule and the changes to MOC that need to be implemented by 2023, CMS changes and flexibility to supplemental benefits for the SNP population and opportunities to expand services, SNP CMS legislation changes as a result of COVID-19 and the Biden administration’s direction and top of mind issues as it relates to SNPS, and the regulatory shift from DSNPs into fully integrated D-SNPs (FIDE SNPs) and highly integrated D-SNPs (HIDE-SNP).
Operational best practices
A deep dive into Medicare and Medicaid integration for dual eligible enrollees will examine how to operationalize Medicare and Medicaid integration and new CMS guidelines that impact current alignment efforts such as appeals and grievances, a look at the 2021 transition to FIDE-SNP and HIDE-SNP and where DSNPs are now, CMS’ information sharing requirements by dual eligible SNPs and data set needs for optimal efficiency, different payment models to better align incentives, and Medicare-Medicaid Plan (MMP) protocol used for 2022 and their impact on operations.
During a SNP audit readiness highlight and model of care overview, attendees will hear the trends and best practices for internal and external audit readiness, operational and clinical team effort alignment for optimal SNP oversight compliance, new audit protocols in 2021 and MOC implications, and MOC recalibration best practices and how to shape your MOC narrative to enhance audit readiness.
SDoH and supplemental benefits
A look at leveraging supplemental benefits to address SDoH in the SNP population will explore the diverse needs of the SNP population and identify opportunities to provide support through home and community care services, how to address SDoH through the implementation and expansion of supplemental benefits for SNPs patients, different approaches to leverage flexibility of supplemental benefits to deliver expanded services to create impact, and how plans have pivoted their offerings as a result of the pandemic.
Panelists will also explore strategic partnerships between SNPs/MMPs with community-based organizations (CBOs) to foster access and equity and discuss the cultural differences between the health sector and CBOs and ways to bridge and nurture partnerships, ways to conduct meaningful and effective data sharing with CBOs to close the loop, and trends in at-home and community care delivery and the impact on the SNP community.
Engagement and communication strategies with hard-to-reach populations
The session, best practices to engage members, conduct health risk assessments (HRAs), and boost member experience, will provide strategies to improve communication and engagement to conduct successful HRAs, how to communicate health plan’s value to members while encouraging health literacy, and focus on touch-point overlap while exploring ways to work in tandem to ensure optimal member experience.
Attendees will also learn how to close the loop and achieve seamless transitions of care as panelists discuss crucial data to collect and examine different models to implement communication requirements and care plan sharing, crucial stakeholders and parties involved in sharing care plans, best practices to manage care transitions effectively and create synergy in the coordination of post-acute care, follow-up strategies with patients to ensure health plan adherence for long-term care and avoid readmissions, and how to manage poor socio-economic infrastructure upon discharge.
Click here to learn more about the Special Needs Plan Leadership Summit, including the full agenda and how to register for the conference.