HCA Clinical and Technology Conference

November 7 - 8, 2007
Holiday Inn Turf - Wolf Road, Albany, New York

Register online for this year’s Clinical and Technology Conference. The conference will focus on Mental Health issues in the home care setting. The Keynote speaker on November 7th will be Dr. Gary Kennedy, Director of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry at Montefiore Medical Center, who will speak on: “No Health without Mental Health; The Emerging Challenge for Home Care Agencies.” Other programs include:

• Assessing Depression in the Elderly by Dr. Zvi Gellis , Associate Professor, Director, Center for Mental Health & Aging Research at the State University of Albany School of Social Welfare
• Substance Abuse in the Elderly co presented by Dr. William Rockwood of Senior Hope and the VNA of Albany
• How to Develop a Program for Home Care Agencies to Address Mental Illness. A panel from Montefiore Hospital will discuss their innovative program at Montefiore Medical Center that identifies and treats homebound elderly patients who suffer from depression. The program trains all of its home care agency staff - nurses, social workers and therapists - to identify patients with depression and refer them to a Montefiore psychiatrist who provides treatment in the patient’s home.
• The “Wisdom Coalition” a collaborative effort among mental health, public health and primary care providers in Warren and Washington counties to address critical unmet mental health needs, presented by Pat Harrison, Director of Public Heath, Washington County Public Health Services and Vicky Wheaton-Saraceni, Director, Adirondack Rural Health Network

On November 8th, programs will include:

• Telehealth Tramautic Brain Injury (TBI) Rehab - Dr. Mary Hibbard, ABPP, Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and Director of Training and Co-Investigator for the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on TBI Interventions at Mount Sinai Hospital, as well as Co-Principal Investigator for the New York TBI Model System.
• Digital Wound Care - Lifetime Care in Rochester, New York
• Cost Measurement/Return on Investment for Home Telehealth Programs - Laurie Neander and Mark Tsiames, At Home Care
• Negotiating Managed Care Rates - Two Capital District managed care plans have been invited

The program will conclude with a meeting of the HCA Telehealth Task Force. Agenda items include a report by the New York State Department of Health on the new Home Telehealth Medicaid Rate Setting Demo and a presentation by HCA member Tracey Solokoff on Isabella Home Care’s Telehealth Depression Program.

You may register online. For more information about the conference, contact Lexi Silver at 518.810.0658 or Andrew Koski at 518.810.0662.