Home Care, You Say?

H4HC

Home care is a pillar of our health care system, but navigating through the complex legislation, federal and state compliance policies, and learning to advocate for yourself or your family can feel daunting. Where do you even begin? Welcome to 'Home Care, You Say?', the essential podcast for advocates, frontline workers, patients, and their families. Join your hosts, Michael Sokoloski and Bliss Pointer, as they demystify the forces shaping home care in America and empower you to make a difference and create change. Whether you're in the field, receiving care, or fighting for a better system, 'Home Care, You Say?' is your indispensable guide. Tune in to get informed, get inspired, and take action.  Updates with Bliss Pointer Join H4HC insider Bliss Pointer and stay ahead of the curve. Bliss offers important, boots-on-the-ground updates on everything you need to know right now. Be the first to learn about pending state and federal legislation that directly impacts home care workers and recipients, and follow along as she explains new compliance rules and industry trends so you're never caught off guard. Bliss also provides vital advocacy alerts and actionable steps on how to improve home care in your state and beyond. Join Bliss as she brings community voices to the forefront, sharing thoughts, questions, and insights from frontline workers, care providers, and their patients.  Interviews with Michael Sokoloski H4HC's Director of Grassroots Advocacy, Michael Sokoloski, goes behind the headlines and inside the halls of power. Join Michael as he sits down for candid conversations with legislators from across the country to tackle the big-picture issues, including core legislative and financial challenges facing Medicare and Medicaid. Tune in as Michael reveals how policy and budget decisions shape the work of frontline caregivers—and shares his playbook for navigating legislation and advocating effectively Whether you're in the field, receiving care, or fighting for a better system, 'Home Care, You Say?' is your indispensable guide. Tune in to get informed, get inspired, and get activated. Created and distributed by Hearts for Home Care and produced by slanted.design

  1. 18m ago

    Why Policymakers Need to See Home Care Firsthand

    Home Care advocacy becomes far more powerful when the people closest to care tell their own stories. BAYADA CEO Bryony Winn joins Michael Sokoloski to discuss why care at home is essential to a sustainable healthcare system, how H4HC mobilizes advocates, and what policymakers need to understand about workforce pressures, access, affordability, and the human impact of every policy decision. In This Episode: - Bryony Winn shares how her experience across payers and healthcare systems led her to see home care as the crucial last mile of care delivery. - The conversation explores how personal stories from clients, families, and caregivers help policymakers connect policy decisions to real lives.    - Winn explains why payment, workforce, immigration, data collection, and fraud policies all affect whether families can access care at home. Michael and Winn discuss how providers, payers, and policymakers can pair human stories with outcomes data to strengthen home care’s future. Resources: Hearts for Home Care: https://www.heartsforhomecare.com

  2. 3d ago

    Updates with Bliss: Election Research Is Home Care Advocacy

    Your vote does more than fill a seat—it shapes the policy environment that affects care at home. Bliss Brown explains how elections influence leadership, committees, budgets, and the path of legislation; why advocates need to look beyond campaign ads; and how understanding the distinct roles of federal and state government can help you enter every election and legislative session with greater confidence. In This Episode: - Elections and policy power: Leadership changes, committee assignments, budget negotiations, and chamber shifts can all affect how home care policy moves forward. -Elections and policy power: Leadership changes, committee assignments, budget negotiations, and chamber shifts can all affect how home care policy moves forward. - Medicaid versus Medicare: Medicaid involves shared federal and state responsibility, while Medicare-related home health, hospice, and payment policy are primarily federal concerns. - Confidence for year-round advocacy: Understanding where an issue belongs in the policymaking process prepares advocates to educate new lawmakers and make stronger connections between personal stories and policy. Resources: Hearts for Home Care: https://www.heartsforhomecare.com/

  3. Sep 18

    Home Care’s Next Five Years Start in Orlando

    The future of home care is being shaped right now—and Allison Dolan explains why the HCAOA National Home Care Conference is where agency leaders need to be.  Michael Sokoloski talks with the Home Care Association of America’s Senior Director of Communications, Marketing and Education about practical changes, peer-driven networking, AI adoption, caregiver recognition, and the advocacy priorities that will influence access to care and agency operations in 2027. In This Episode: - The 2026 HCAOA National Home Care Conference brings agency and vendor leaders together in Orlando for actionable education, industry connection, and forward-looking conversations. - Conference programming addresses workforce recruitment and retention, legal and operational challenges, and real-world AI applications inside home care agencies. - The Caregiver of the Year program spotlights exceptional caregivers, including finalist Rhonda Wilson of BAYADA Home Health Care, and elevates the stories behind aging in place. - HCAOA’s advocacy agenda includes the Credit for Caring Act, VA funding and reimbursement, the companionship exemption, the Medicaid 80-20 rule, and reframing the term “unskilled” in policy language. Resources: - Home Care Association of America: https://www.hcaoa.org - Hearts for Home Care: https://www.heartsforhomecare.com

  4. Sep 4

    Jennifer Sheets on Advocacy, Access, and Unity

    The Home Care industry is facing a defining moment—and Jennifer Sheets (CEO National Alliance for Care at Home) says unity is the sector’s strongest advantage and opportunity. Jennifer joins Michael Sokoloski to examine mounting reimbursement pressure, targeted program-integrity reform, workforce constraints, and the urgent need for providers across home health, hospice, palliative care, home care, and HCBS to advocate together. She also shares why the upcoming Alliance Advocacy Week and the 2026 Annual Meeting & Exposition are essential opportunities to turn provider stories into policy impact. In This Episode: - Why escalating demand for care at home is colliding with payment instability, workforce shortages, and heightened regulatory scrutiny. - How data-driven program-integrity efforts can remove bad actors without burdening compliant providers or restricting patient access. - Spotlight Alliance Advocacy Week, September 13–16, and the 2026 Annual Meeting & Exposition, October 27–30. Explore new opportunities for providers to build relationships and advance care-at-home policy. Resources: National Alliance for Care at Home: https://allianceforcareathome.org

  5. Aug 28

    Updates with Bliss: From Acronyms to Advocacy: Understanding LTSS and HCBS

    Bliss Pointer returns to break down LTSS (Long Term Services and Supports) and HCBS (Home & Community Based Services) into one clear image: two umbrellas. This episode explains how LTSS encompass both institutional care and HCBS, and how Medicaid waivers fit into services. Bliss explains how personal care, private duty nursing, habilitation, respite, and other supports help people of all ages live safely and independently thanks to these programs. Bliss closes with a practical advocacy framework for moving from policy language to highlighting the person, service, and outcome at the heart of every conversation. In the episode: - Understanding LTSS as the broad system of ongoing services and supports for people affected by aging, disability, chronic illness, or other conditions. - Exploring how HCBS is one part of LTSS and the services that the program provides. - Effective advocacy can start with the acronym, but the goal is to narrow the conversation to the specific service, individual, and the real-world outcome that these services support. Resources and Links: Hearts for Home Care: https://www.heartsforhomecare.com/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS): https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/home-and-community-based-services     produced by slanted.design

  6. Aug 21

    Home Care Has More Technology Than Ever. Is It Actually Helping?

    Home care has more technology and innovation than ever but are providers actually equipped to take advantage of it? Mike Sokoloski sits down with Kristen Duell and Michelle Pickering (Momentum Healthcare & Technology) to explore the operational realities behind today’s biggest home care challenges. They discuss why the workforce crisis is as much about retention as recruitment, how poorly implemented technology can amplify broken processes, why AI needs governance and measurable value, and what healthy growth really requires. The conversation also reminds legislators that home care is an essential healthcare infrastructure, and that caregivers, patients, and families need to remain at the center of every decision. In This Episode: - Rethink the workforce crisis by looking beyond recruitment and addressing the caregiver experience that determines whether great employees stay. - Strengthen caregiver retention through better onboarding, recognition, consistent check-ins, and stronger frontline management. - Prepare for AI with appropriate governance, particularly when tools may interact with protected health information and raise HIPAA-related considerations. - Advocate for home care as essential healthcare infrastructure by pairing data with real stories that demonstrate how policy and reimbursement decisions ultimately affect caregivers, patients, and families. Resources and Links Momentum Healthcare & Technology Consulting: momentumhtconsulting.com Share Your Story with Hearts for Home Care: heartsforhomecare.com     produced by slanted.design

  7. Aug 7

    Building Stronger Home Care Organizations

    What does it take to build a financially strong home care organization without allowing revenue to overshadow patient care? Financial stability and compassionate care are not competing priorities. In this episode, Hannah Vale explains how home health and hospice organizations can protect their revenue, strengthen compliance, and invest in innovation while keeping patients at the center of every decision.   Hannah Vale, CEO of HealthRev Partners, joins Mike to examine the reimbursement, compliance, documentation, and workforce challenges facing home health and hospice agencies across the country. She explains why payment timing remains one of the industry’s biggest problems, how defensible documentation protects both providers and patients, and where automation and remote patient monitoring can create meaningful improvements. Hannah also shares how her background in education shaped her leadership style, why home visits can transform legislative advocacy, and how her grandfather’s hospice experience changed her understanding of care. In This Episode: - Understand why reimbursement timing creates significant operational pressure for home health and hospice agencies. - Build more defensible documentation practices that support compliance and proper reimbursement. Protect your organization from audits by treating compliance as an essential operating discipline. - Use automation and specialized partners to improve financial performance without adding unnecessary administrative burden. Explore how remote patient monitoring and better prioritization tools can improve the delivery of home-based care. - Strengthen leadership through curiosity, lifelong learning, and a willingness to challenge established processes. Influence public policy by giving legislators direct exposure to the realities of providing care in the home. - Reframe profitability as the fuel that sustains the mission—not the mission itself.   Resources and Links HealthRev Partners: https://www.healthrevpartners.com Hearts for Home Care: https://www.heartsforhomecare.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/healthrev-partners       produced by: slanted.design

  8. Jul 24

    Why "Invisible" Technology is the Future of Home Care Operations

    Let's face it: home care workers aren't leaving the industry because they fell out of love with patient care—they're drowning in paperwork, budget cuts, and relentless admin tasks. In the latest episode of Home Care You Say, host Mike Sokoloski sits down with former physical therapist and CareStitch COO Shelley Ackerman PT, DPT to crack the code on clinician burnout and retention. Discover how invisible, cutting-edge technology is silently automating admin work, saving agencies time, and giving nurses and therapists their lives back. We’re diving deep into the real math behind Medicare reimbursement lags and exploring why home care is a cornerstone of value-based healthcare. Plus, Shelley shares a deeply personal story about her 97-year-old grandmother that will remind you exactly why we do this critical work every single day. In This Episode, You'll Learn: The Real Root of Clinician Burnout: Discover why great nurses and therapists are actually leaving the field, and learn how agencies can systematically eliminate the administrative friction and constant interruptions pushing them away. Invisible Tech is the Best Tech: Understand how modern technology works quietly in the background to streamline daily workflows. We explore how software automates complex scheduling, and why it actually improves compliance without demanding extra clicks from field staff. The Medicare Reimbursement Reality: Get the real numbers behind why Medicare home health payments have only risen about 5.8% since 2020 while hospital rates jumped into the low 20% margin. You will also see how underfunding home care causes total downstream healthcare costs to explode. Winning at Value-Based Care: Learn why home health is the ultimate cost-effective setting for lowering emergency department visits and hospital readmissions. We discuss how agencies that collaborate and share data will dominate the future of healthcare. How to Be a High-Impact Advocate: Find out why policymakers in Washington need your personal patient stories just as much as hard data. Shelley reveals what members of Congress would really see if they stepped out of the hospital and shadowed a clinician in the home for a day. The Power of Personal Purpose: Listen to Shelley’s touching story of helping her 97-year-old grandmother age in place during the pandemic. Discover how that firsthand family experience fuels her mission to fix fragmented care systems at CareStitch today. 🔗 Resource Links: CareStitch: Learn more about CareStitch, an innovative company focused on solving complex workflow and operational challenges through smart technology. Alliance for Care at Home: Find out more about the upcoming September fly-in to Washington and join the industry-wide collaboration. Hearts for Home Care: Join the advocacy movement and share your personal caregiving stories directly on the platform.   produced by slanted.design

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About

Home care is a pillar of our health care system, but navigating through the complex legislation, federal and state compliance policies, and learning to advocate for yourself or your family can feel daunting. Where do you even begin? Welcome to 'Home Care, You Say?', the essential podcast for advocates, frontline workers, patients, and their families. Join your hosts, Michael Sokoloski and Bliss Pointer, as they demystify the forces shaping home care in America and empower you to make a difference and create change. Whether you're in the field, receiving care, or fighting for a better system, 'Home Care, You Say?' is your indispensable guide. Tune in to get informed, get inspired, and take action.  Updates with Bliss Pointer Join H4HC insider Bliss Pointer and stay ahead of the curve. Bliss offers important, boots-on-the-ground updates on everything you need to know right now. Be the first to learn about pending state and federal legislation that directly impacts home care workers and recipients, and follow along as she explains new compliance rules and industry trends so you're never caught off guard. Bliss also provides vital advocacy alerts and actionable steps on how to improve home care in your state and beyond. Join Bliss as she brings community voices to the forefront, sharing thoughts, questions, and insights from frontline workers, care providers, and their patients.  Interviews with Michael Sokoloski H4HC's Director of Grassroots Advocacy, Michael Sokoloski, goes behind the headlines and inside the halls of power. Join Michael as he sits down for candid conversations with legislators from across the country to tackle the big-picture issues, including core legislative and financial challenges facing Medicare and Medicaid. Tune in as Michael reveals how policy and budget decisions shape the work of frontline caregivers—and shares his playbook for navigating legislation and advocating effectively Whether you're in the field, receiving care, or fighting for a better system, 'Home Care, You Say?' is your indispensable guide. Tune in to get informed, get inspired, and get activated. Created and distributed by Hearts for Home Care and produced by slanted.design

Information

  • Creator
    H4HC
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    38
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Home Care, You Say?