CHC VIRTUAL CLASSROOM

Basic 8-hour Administrator / Manager Training

This virtual classroom course features an overview of the Chapter 26 Licensure standards that became effective on 2/14/2022.

"How can I be better prepared for state in understanding why they require the information that they do?"

Client Care Advocate and Grievance Mechanism

This virtual classroom course features a guide to creating and implementing a Grievance Plan that includes the Client Care Advocate position as described in regulations in Chapter 2, Part 7.

Clinical policies reflect the acceptable clinical practices prevalent within the home care setting. Information is provided on general medical surgical topics, as well as on specialty program areas, including: maternal/newborn, pediatric, psychiatric, home infusion, terminal condition care (hospice), personal care (aide/companion), and complementary/integrative modalities.

Full Practice Authority (FPA) is the authorization of nurse practitioners (NPs) to evaluate patients, diagnose, order and interpret diagnostic tests and initiate and manage treatments — including prescribing medications — under the exclusive licensure authority of the state board of nursing.

Colorado has adopted FPA licensure laws for NPs.

Across the nation, the requirements for NP education, program accreditation and board certification are consistent with national standards. To become an NP, one must hold a bachelor’s degree in nursing, be licensed as a registered nurse (RN), graduate from a nationally accredited graduate NP program that meets national standards for advanced didactic and clinical education and pass a national NP board certification exam. Despite these national standards within nursing, there is inconsistency in how state laws and legislative bodies authorize (license) NP practice in states.

This variability originated during the 1970s when states began to regulate NPs beyond their registered nursing license. While initial recognition of the NP was critical, over the past decades, this patchwork of practice authorization has led to significant challenges for NPs, their patients and health care delivery.

In FPA states, NP licensure is not contingent on unnecessary contracts or relationships with a physician or oversight by the state medical board. As a result, studies show that in FPA states, NPs are more likely to practice in rural and underserved areas and have improved NP workforce recruitment, while meeting the highest care quality and safety standards. States that restrict or reduce NPs’ ability to practice by limiting licensure authority are more closely associated with geographic health care disparities, higher chronic disease burden, primary care shortages, higher costs of care and lower standing on national health rankings.

Where?

To date, half of states and U.S. territories have adopted FPA licensure laws for NPs.

These include: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming.

Connie McWilliams, MBA, ACHC-Certified Consultant, has three decades of innovations and management experience in both corporate and nonprofit settings. She has been involved in home care since the late 1980s and health care as a teenage hospital volunteer in Illinois.

In 1988, Connie co-created and developed an accredited, Medicare-certified Home Health Company and grew it into a multi-specialty health-at-home agency with large orthopedic and cardiac care departments while also providing general home health and personal care services, outpatient rehabilitation, adult day care and transportation under one roof until 2008.

All of these entities were organically established and focused on consumer-centered, high quality care and services. Clinical expertise in key management positions drove clinical innovation, improving patient outcomes, increasing satisfaction for patients and providers, and reduced cost of care that ultimately resulted in its purchase by a $2.8 billion health network.

Connie holds an MBA from DePaul University in Chicago and has directed daily operations and management of hundreds of employees in a multi-corporation setting. In 2008, Connie founded Colorado Health Care Training and Consulting (CHC) where she currently serves as President, Consultant, Instructor and Mentor to clients in Colorado and SW Florida.

Connie is dedicated to fostering a greater understanding of home care management, to include ethics and compliance, in the home health care arena. She is the proud mother of two adult children who continue their professional lives in the home care and human services industry.