According to a recent study conducted by IBISWorld, Inc, the future is bright for the elderly and disabled services.  Because of an aging population, more services are being demanded for elderly care.  Also, the industry is seeing a trend with families that have taken care of disabled loved ones.  More and more parents are unable to provide care due to their needs as they get older, hence the demand for more formal care by provider agencies and home and community based services is on the rise.  Only approximately 13% of individuals with I/DD live in residences provided by agencies across the country.  This number is sure to rise.  

From New York to North Carolina, we've been helping provider agencies navigate as their states move state medicaid waivers over to a managed care model.  There is always a shared sense of anxiety with providers as what this move ultimately means for their agency as well as the people they serve.  It's no secret that Medicaid is a major issue in our country and as states try to find ways to save costs, the trend to managed care will grow.  

In your search for the right agency management platform, a big "must-have" is a software that meets HIPAA regulations.  HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.  These two rules are otherwise known as the ‘Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information’(Privacy Rule) and the ‘Security Standards for the Protection of Electronic Protected Health Information’(Security Rule). Because the software is managing protected health information, it's important that the software has passed HIPAA certfications.  It seems obvious, but think about all of the home made solutions out there.  While they are inexpensive, are they safe and do they meet HIPAA certs?  Chances are they don't and that puts your agency at risk.  We put together a checklist to use when checking out software to see if meets the HIPAA standards.  And if you're wondering, yes - MediSked Connect if fully HIPAA compliant!