HCAOA The Voice Winter 2019-20

8 HCAOA The Voice MEMBER NEWS 6th Annual Private Duty Symposium a Resounding Success On November 13, staff and volunteers from HCAOA Illinois, LeadingAge Illinois, and the Illinois Homecare and Hospice Council arrived at the Naperville campus of Northern Illinois University (NIU), to staff the 6th Annual Private Duty Symposium. The Symposium is a joint venture of all three organizations aimed at bringing the best educational content for providers of home care and hospice in Illinois. HCAOA Illinois Chapter Chair Katie Fiel- mann delivered welcoming remarks to the Symposium’s attendees. The keynote speaker, Dr. William Rhoades of Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, opened the educational sessions with interesting predictions about the future of health care, and how changes to care delivery will impact home care providers. Following Dr. Rhoades was Margaret Fitzpatrick, a nurse and author, who discussed how home care providers can help their clients to avoid the “ER boomerang.” In addition to the excellent educational content, attendees were also able to interact with 15 exhibitors and sponsors offering useful products and services from software to insurance. We would like to thank our two sponsors, AlayaCare and Honor Care Network, for their support. The day continued with two separate breakouts, each with three tracks to help guide best practices in private duty care. Track A focused on dementia, track B was focused on business operations, and track C focused on legal issues. The last speaker of the day was Jack Fleeharty of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) who provided an update on key IDPH policies, helping attendees to stay informed of policy changes. The day ended with a raffle with fabulous prizes provided by our exhibitors; winners received gifts ranging from an Echo Dot to a $100 gift card. Nataly Schwartz, Director of Programs and Operations for HCAOA, closed the Symposium and thanked LeadingAge Illinois and the Illinois Homecare and Hospice Council for their support in planning the Symposium. Dr. Rhoades delivering the keynote presentation at the Private Duty Symposium. More than 100 PDS attendees interacting with exhibitors and sponsors. HCAOA Illinois

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