Leaderservices.com NewsWire

April 2010 - Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools Conference

11/17/2009

Leader Services will have a display at the following upcoming conference:

Show:

PARSS: Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools
Ramada Inn and Conference Center
State College, PA

When we'll be exhibiting:

April 29-30, 2010

What you can see:

IEPWriter and the following modules:

Children Count (Penn Data/IDEA Federal Child Count reporting),
Early Intervention,
Section 504,
and PIMS.

IEPWriter.com empowers your local education agency to create, track, and generate students' IEPs and related documents rapidly and securely from any modern web browser through every step of the IEP process, from obtaining permission to progress reporting to child accounting. Stop by our booth and learn more!

April 2010 - California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO) 2010 Annual Conference

11/17/2009

Leader Services will have a display at the following upcoming conference:

Show:	California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO) 2010 Annual Conference Sacramento Convention Center Sacramento, CA
When we'll be exhibiting:	April 16-19, 2010
What you can see:	Medi-Cal Administration Activities (MAA) and LEA Billing Option Services

Please stop by our booth and learn how Leader Services makes the MAA and LEA Billing Option programs easier for California schools!

April 2010 - PDE Annual Conference

11/17/2009

Leader Services will have a display at the following upcoming conference:

Show:

PDE Annual Conference
Hershey Lodge and Convention Center
Hershey, PA

When we'll be exhibiting:

April 6-8, 2010

What you can see:

School-Based ACCESS Program (SBAP)

Administrative Claiming Program

IEPWriter and the following modules:

Children Count (Penn Data/IDEA Federal Child Count reporting),
Early Intervention,
Section 504,
and PIMS.

The School-Based ACCESS Program, or SBAP, allows Pennsylvania LEAs to receive federal Medicaid reimbursement for providing IEP health-related services to Medical Assistance-eligible children as part of their Individualized Education Program (IEP).

The Administrative Claiming Program (ACP) allows LEAs to claim Medicaid reimbursement for performing certain eligible outreach services as they relate to Medicaid.

March 2010 - A/CAPA - Attendance/Child Accounting Professional Association of Pennsylvania Spring Conference 2010

11/17/2009

Leader Services will have a display at the following upcoming conference:

Show:

A/CAPA - Attendance/Child Accounting Professional Association of Pennsylvania Spring Conference 2010
The Hotel Hershey
Hershey, PA

When we'll be exhibiting:

March 17-19, 2010

What you can see:

IEPWriter and the following modules:

Children Count (Penn Data/IDEA Federal Child Count reporting),
Child Accounting,
and more.

IEPWriter.com empowers your local education agency to create, track, and generate students' IEPs and related documents rapidly and securely from any modern web browser through every step of the IEP process, from obtaining permission to progress reporting to child accounting. Stop by our booth and learn more!

Washington state: Saving School-Based Health Services

02/17/2010

The current version of Governor Gregoire’s budget would remove all reimbursement, both state and federal, for mandated school health services. This would have a cumulative statewide impact of nearly twelve million dollars.

Read the Feb. 3, 2010 memo from DSHS (PDF file, 226kb)

In the face of the severe budget crisis faced by your district and those across the state, and the recent King County Superior Court decision by Judge John Erlick that the state is providing too little money to state schools, the Governor’s budget proposal cannot be allowed to move forward.

You can help stop these cuts. Please join your colleagues from other Washington school districts in asking the state House of Representatives to restore these funds.

You can do your part by sending a simple email to your House member with a copy to the Speaker. If you are unable to locate the House member who represents your district from the list below, just send your email to the Speaker. Simply put the name of your home town or school district in the subject line.

You can find your House member at http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx.

The text of the email is simple, and it makes little difference if it is repeated in a number of emails. We suggest the following language. No salutation is necessary.

“Please include funding for school health services in this year’s budget” and then sign it with your name and, again, your home town or school district’s name.

Here are the appropriate addressees. Remember to include a copy to House Speaker Frank Chopp and, if you are unable to identify your Representative, just send your email to Speaker Chopp. All of the legislators listed below chair committees important to this issue.

Representative Kathy Haigh: haigh.kathy@leg.wa.gov
Serving Mason and portions of Grays Harbor, Kitsap, and Thurston counties

Representative Kelli Linville linville.kelli@leg.wa.gov
Serving the western half of Whatcom County

Representative Eileen Cody cody.eileen@leg.wa.gov
Serving West Seattle, Burien, White Center, and Vashon and Maury Islands

Representative Eric Pettigrew pettigrew.eric@leg.wa.gov
Serving Rainier Valley, Madrona, North Beacon Hill, Rainier Beach, Mt. Baker, Leschi, Columbia City, southern Capitol Hill, Skyway, Hillman City, and parts of Renton

Speaker of the House Frank Chopp chopp.frank@leg.wa.gov
Serving Seattle (Capitol Hill, University District, Madison Park, Washington Park, Broadmoor, Montlake, Wallingford, Madison Valley and parts of Fremont, Ravenna, Denny Regrade and downtown Seattle)

Thank you for your assistance in educating these House members to the needs of Washington schools. If you have any questions, please contact Randy Peiser or Conrad Sims at (800)360-8511, or Linda Babboni at (888)648-8742.

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PA School-Based ACCESS Program: Important Notice regarding Medical Authorization

02/10/2010

Memo from BSE Director to Pennsylvania LEAs re: Impact of School-Based ACCESS Program Services on Medical Assistance Services

02/04/2010

The following memo was released on Jan. 15, 2010 from John Tommasini, Director, Bureau of Special Education, Pennsylvania Department of Education, to School District Superintendents and other LEA staff:

Impact of School-Based ACCESS Program Services on Medical Assistance Services, Jan. 15, 2010

DPW memo re: Impact of School Based-ACCESS Program Services on Medical Assistance Services

01/18/2010

The below document is a memo dated Dec. 28, 2009 from Leesa M. Allen, Director, Bureau of Policy, Budget and Planning, Department of Public Welfare (DPW) to John Tommasini, Director, Bureau of Special Education, PA Department of Education (PDE), concerning the "Impact of School Based-ACCESS Program Services on Medical Assistance Services."

Impact of School Based-ACCESS Program Services on Medical Assistance Services

Q and A from Fall SBAP Regionals

01/04/2010

The following Questions and Answers (Q&A) document is based on questions submitted at the 2009-2010 SBAP regional SBAP sessions. The list does not include every question that was submitted; rather, it addresses those questions that we believe will benefit the majority of our clients.

Download 2009-10 SBAP Regionals Q&A (PDF file; requires free Adobe Reader or similar)

PowerPoint presentation and handout from Fall Regionals 2009

09/16/2009

The following files used in the Fall 2009 Regional SBAP Trainings held in September and October 2009 can be downloaded by clicking the appropriate link:

Direct Services Program:
SBAP Presentation - Building Blocks to a Successful Program	Microsoft PowerPoint	Adobe PDF
Medicaid Service Delivery and Claim Submission - Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW), Bureau of Program Integrity (BPI)	Microsoft Word	Adobe PDF
Administrative Claiming Program:
ACP Presentation 2009-10	Microsoft PowerPoint	Adobe PDF

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

CA LEA Billing Reimbursement Rate Increases Being Implemented

07/13/2009

In compliance with State Plan Amendment (SPA) 03-024, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) periodically updates LEA Billing Option Program’s reimbursement rates. DHCS directed Electronic Data Systems (EDS) to apply the following rate changes based on date of service:

A 17.3% rate increase to claims processed for the 2006-2007 fiscal year, which runs from July 1, 2006-June 30, 2007.
A 5.88% rate increase to claims processed for the 2007-2008 fiscal year, which runs from July 1, 2007-June 30, 2008.
A 3.04% rate increase to claims processed for the 2008-2009 fiscal year, which runs from July 1, 2008-June 30, 2009.

An additional rate increase will be applied to claims processed from Oct. 1, 2008-Sept. 30, 2009 to account for an 11.59% FMAP rate increase. These claims will be suspended until EDS can process the previous set of rate increases and apply the FMAP rate increase.

Example: speech therapy treatment rate increase

92507 TMGM
Fiscal Year	Initial Rate	New Rate	Increase
2006-2007	$49.09	$57.58	17.3%
2007-2008	$57.58	$60.97	5.88%
*2008-2009	$60.97	$62.82	3.04%
*Claims processed after Oct. 1, 2008 will receive an additional 11.59% increase due to an FMAP rate increase.
2009-2010	$62.82	unknown	unknown

Transportation, Mileage, TCM Services Excluded

Special transportation, mileage, and targeted case management (TCM) services are excluded from the rate change requirement. However, a rate increase will be applied to claims processed from Oct. 1, 2008-Sept. 30, 2009 to account for the 11.59% FMAP rate increase. These claims will be suspended until EDS has made the appropriate interim rate changes to the system. EDS will handle rate inflations as Erroneous Payment Correction (EPC).

Leader's CA LEA Billing clients may contact Account Manager Jennifer Demko at (800) 360-8511 with any questions.

HHS Rescinds Medicaid Regulations

06/30/2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 29, 2009

CONTACT: CMS Media Affairs Office
(202) 690-6145

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced that the administration will rescind all or part of three Medicaid regulations that were previously issued and delay the enforcement of a fourth regulation. Each of these rules, in whole or in part, had been subject to Congressional moratoria set to expire on July 1, 2009.

“These regulations, if left in place would have potentially adverse consequences for Medicaid beneficiaries, some of our nation’s most vulnerable people,” said Secretary Sebelius. “By rescinding these rules, we can expect that children will continue receiving services through their schools, beneficiaries will be able to access all available case management resources to help them better manage their health care, and outpatient hospital and clinic services can continue to be covered in the most efficient manner.”

“The actions we are taking today are necessary to ensure that the states have the flexibility they need to fully serve Medicaid-eligible individuals,” said Secretary Sebelius.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and HHS today are:

Rescinding a final rule, published December 28, 2007, that would have eliminated reimbursement for school-based administrative costs and costs of transportation to and from schools. The rescission reflects concern that the rule could limit the Medicaid administrative outreach activities of schools, and that the overall budgetary impact on schools could potentially impact their ability to offer Medicaid services to students.
Rescinding a rule, published November 7, 2008, that would have limited the outpatient hospital and clinic service benefit for Medicaid beneficiaries to the scope of services recognized as an outpatient hospital service under Medicare. This rule was rescinded because CMS became aware that coverage beyond that scope could not be easily moved to other benefit categories, resulting in great impact than previously anticipated.
Rescinding provisions of an interim final rule published December 4, 2007, which would have restricted beneficiary access to case management services. These provisions appeared to, in practice, restrict beneficiary access to needed covered case management services, and limit state flexibility in determining efficient and effective delivery systems for case management services.
Delaying until June 30, 2010, the enforcement of portions of a regulation that clarified limitations on health care related tax programs so that CMS could determine whether states need additional clarification or guidance. CMS may also further review the potential impact of the regulation, and give additional consideration to alternative approaches.

# # #

IEPWriter.com Receives SIF Certification for fifth year

05/28/2009

Leader Services, an information processing and billing company with offices nationwide, announces that IEPWriter.com^™ and Children Count^® have received Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF) certification version 1.5 for the fifth year. SIF is a national standard that enables applications to seamlessly operate with and exchange data between other SIF-certified applications. SIF was developed by the international Schools Interoperability Framework Association (SIFA), a non-profit association that develops and implements software and programming standards for educational software and applications.

Software applications must apply for SIF recertification every year; IEPWriter and Children Count are certified through June 30, 2010.

Using SIF-certified software can be a huge advantage for local and state education agencies alike. Educational software that is SIF compliant can communicate and share data from a single source. As Jeff Eckhart, Leader’s senior director of software development, explains, “More of our customers are looking into the benefits of using SIF to keep all of their student applications in synch without the need for duplicate entry. Leader remains committed to SIF and continues to support its function. We send our developers to SIFA meetings to stay up-to-date with its ever-changing standards and specifications.”

Within SIFA, a number of work groups were created to address various aspects of SIF. Leader’s senior programmers Greg Blickley and Daryl Williams are members of the Special Programs Work Group (SPWG), which is responsible for maintaining and developing new data objects for the specification.

About IEPWriter

Leader's IEPWriter.com is a secure, hosted web application for special education professionals used in over 300 LEAs to create IEPs and related special education documents (evaluation reports, letters, and more) from any computer, using common web browsers over a secure SSL connection. Features include:

centralized management, allowing multiple users to contribute to an IEP;
a shared and customizable goals and objectives library;
documents generated in PDF format; school-wide reporting;
and a comprehensive form and letter-generating capability, from invitation letters to evaluation reports and more.

Its Children Count module captures and tracks student and staff data to prepare statistical reports for state and federal reporting. Other modules available include Section 504 and PIMS.

About Leader Services

Leader Services is a vanguard in special education software and services. Headquartered in West Hazleton, PA, with satellite offices in Alameda, Sacramento, and Temecula, CA; Harrisburg, PA; and Seattle, WA, Leader Services provides custom web-based software and information management services for school district, consortium, and state-level education clients across the country. Leader's product line includes a number of secure, web-based applications:

IEPWriter.com, a web-based solution for generating, storing and tracking Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) which automates reporting and expedites compliance with federal and state regulations;
Children Count, the IDEA Child Count data capture and reporting module of IEPWriter.com which shares IEPWriter's student and staff database and consolidates special education data capture, form generation, and reporting;
Federal Monitor™, a web-based solution which allows states to monitor LEAs' use of federal grant funding for No Child Left Behind and other initiatives;
Advanced Compliance Monitoring™, a state-level IDEA compliance monitoring solution designed to assist states in meeting the needs of the Continuous Improvement and Focused Monitoring System (CIFMS), a model developed by the federal Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to ensure school district compliance with IDEA 04 and IDEA reauthorizations;
custom systems in multiple states for Medicaid billing for medically necessary IEP health-related services provided to MA-eligible special education students;
and custom solutions for State Educational Agencies.

CMS Admin Claiming and Transportation Rule to be Rescinded

05/04/2009

The office of the HHS Secretary (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) has announced that the following CMS regulations will be rescinded:

School-based administrative and transportation (CMS 2287)
In part, Targeted Case Management (CMS 2237)

The rescission regulation is available on the Federal Register website (PDF document). This regulation will establish a 30-day public comment period; the rescission of CMS 2287 would therefore occur before the June 30th deadline on the current moratorium. CMS 2287 would have eliminated Medicaid reimbursement for administrative claiming and transportation services provided by schools; the newly-proposed regulation will protect reimbursement for those services.

U.S. Virgin Islands implements Advanced Compliance Monitoring solution

12/01/2008

Leader Services is pleased to add the U.S. Virgin Islands’ Department of Education as the newest client of Leader’s web-based compliance monitoring system, Advanced Compliance Monitoring (ACM).

St. Croix and St. Thomas, two school districts in the Virgin Islands, began using the system in the fall of 2008. “The system has been operating successfully and is meeting our clients’ expectations,” said Programmer/Analyst George J. Schneider, the Leader project liaison for system implementation.

Using a web-based system, state education agencies and school districts conduct much of the compliance monitoring process online, which increases the efficiency of the monitoring process while saving on postal, printing, and other costs. Leader’s ACM system was customized to meet the unique needs of the Virgin Islands’ DOE.

School districts use the system to respond to procedural questions and to compare their district data against state averages. They respond to student file review questionnaires, the results of which are rolled up districtwide and statewide for compliance review. The state education agency then creates corrective action plans for each district online, which the school districts review and address. This corrective action process continues until all issues are resolved. Among its other advantages, the application provides critical data required by the Annual Performance Reports (APR) and State Performance Plan (SPP); provides more effective and efficient communication with LEAs on necessary improvement areas; and eliminates the need to distribute complex client software across multiple platforms and environments.

Advanced Compliance Monitoring is a hosted, Software as a Service (SaaS) solution, mitigating the need for the overhead of dedicated servers and the need for additional information technology staff for clients. Leader Services has provided a compliance monitoring solution for the Pennsylvania Department of Education since 1997 (since 2001 on the web), and since 2007 for Missouri’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Division of Special Education.

About Leader Services

IEPWriter.com, a web-based solution for generating, storing and tracking Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) which automates reporting and expedites compliance with federal and state regulations;
Children Count, the IDEA Child Count data capture and reporting module of IEPWriter.com which shares IEPWriter's student and staff database and consolidates special education data capture, form generation, and reporting;
Federal Monitor^™, a web-based solution which allows states to monitor LEAs' use of federal grant funding for No Child Left Behind and other initiatives;
Advanced Compliance Monitoring^™, a state-level IDEA compliance monitoring solution designed to assist states in meeting the needs of the Continuous Improvement and Focused Monitoring System (CIFMS), a model developed by the federal Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to ensure school district compliance with IDEA 04 and IDEA reauthorizations;
custom systems in multiple states for Medicaid billing for medically necessary IEP health-related services provided to MA-eligible special education students;
and custom solutions for State Educational Agencies.

Leader celebrates 40 years

05/01/2008

LDP Inc. celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2008, marking a long-standing history as a leader of information technology solutions. Over the past four decades, LDP has evolved from a batch computer provider of payroll and accounting services to a prominent provider of information technology solutions for education professionals, labor unions, and municipalities.

LDP consists of three divisions: Leader Data Processing, which provides processing and inventory services for municipalities; its Quest Systems and Technology LLC division, which provides custom software for labor unions that addresses labor and benefit management; and Leader Services, which provides custom web-based software for state departments of education and for education professionals in Pennsylvania, Washington, California, Oklahoma, Iowa, Minnesota, and the Virgin Islands.

The Early Years

LDP Inc. Began operation on May 8, 1968 from its newly constructed site in Valmont Industrial Park in West Hazleton, PA. Leader grew from the success of the Leader Store, an established retail department store in downtown Hazleton that in 1963 offered payroll and accounting data services to businesses in Northeastern Pennsylvania. For its first several years in business, LDP serviced commercial accounts as a batch data processing computer service bureau from its Valmont facility.

LDP serviced national and international corporations, and grew a national network for the ILGWU (International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union). In those early years, Leader began as an IBM house using IBM 360/20 card system technology. Employees sorted hundreds of thousands of cards every week, while the Data Entry staff keyed and verified approximately one million cards every month. Within a short period, business grew and Leader evolved to an IBM 360/40 disk/tape system.

In the 1970s and ‘80s, Leader moved to the next generation of computers, Hewlett-Packards, to develop custom software for a variety of clients, including some Fortune 500 companies. The company specialized in providing these services to labor unions, programming a number of modules to address their benefit needs, such as health and welfare funds and payroll. Some clients remained with Leader for more than 20 years, including Iron Workers, Teamsters, and the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE!).

In the 1980s, Leader moved to the sales of products rather than strictly providing services when it began selling PCs and installing client/server turnkey systems to commercial clients (see photo). Leader’s sign out front read Today’s Computer Business Center (TCBC). In 1991, Leader acquired a medical billing division, named it Leader Physician Services, and began providing custom billing services for medical practices. It was this division that was awarded a contract from the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) in 1992 to process and submit Medicaid reimbursements on behalf of school districts across the Commonwealth. This program became known as ACCESS and the organization to service this and all future school-based clients fell under a new division, Leader Services.

Word spread quickly of Leader’s proficiency in obtaining reimbursements for schools while adhering to program regulations, and in 1993 Leader bid and was awarded the direct services contract in Washington state. Over the past 16 years, Leader expanded its reach to helping participating schools in California, Iowa, Minnesota, and Oklahoma. During this period, Leader Services began initiatives to better emphasize our renewed focus of services versus products.

In the mid 1990s, Leader evolved its custom programming services to support the Microsoft Windows environment, a richer graphic interface that was transforming computing throughout the decade. After a lengthy evaluation process, Leader adopted the Progress database and programming language, using it to develop custom medical billing applications, utility billing software, and an early version of Children Count, the client/server tool for tracking and reporting schools’ special education populations.

In addition to the time spent developing these applications, Leader confronted a problem that was predicted to have ripple effects across the globe – Y2K. Leader worked diligently for three years prior to January 1 to upgrade our clients’ software. This included extensive testing of the software and writing new software applications to replace applications that were not Y2K compliant.

In 2001, Leader developed its first web-based applications, including a custom application for capturing Medi-Cal fiscal data for its CA clients and a compliance monitoring application for Pennsylvania. More web applications followed, including the hugely successful WebSDS application for PA school-based Medicaid clients, and IEPWriter, used by almost 300 schools in Pennsylvania. Today, Leader supports over 40 web sites and applications, most recently adopting Microsoft’s .NET platform as its chosen development environment.

Looking Ahead

During its 40-year history, Leader has always understood that a company’s success or failure depends heavily on the skills and commitment of its staff. Leader is proud that so many of its employees have been with the company for 20 years or more. Leader is uniquely positioned for future growth because of its wide range of customized, easy-to-use software services. The company is currently marketing its services to the federal government.

Leaderservices.com NewsWire

April 2010 - Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools Conference

April 2010 - California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO) 2010 Annual Conference

April 2010 - PDE Annual Conference

March 2010 - A/CAPA - Attendance/Child Accounting Professional Association of Pennsylvania Spring Conference 2010

Washington state: Saving School-Based Health Services

PA School-Based ACCESS Program: Important Notice regarding Medical Authorization

Memo from BSE Director to Pennsylvania LEAs re: Impact of School-Based ACCESS Program Services on Medical Assistance Services

DPW memo re: Impact of School Based-ACCESS Program Services on Medical Assistance Services

Q and A from Fall SBAP Regionals

PowerPoint presentation and handout from Fall Regionals 2009

Direct Services Program:

Administrative Claiming Program:

CA LEA Billing Reimbursement Rate Increases Being Implemented

Transportation, Mileage, TCM Services Excluded

HHS Rescinds Medicaid Regulations

IEPWriter.com Receives SIF Certification for fifth year

About IEPWriter

About Leader Services

CMS Admin Claiming and Transportation Rule to be Rescinded

U.S. Virgin Islands implements Advanced Compliance Monitoring solution

About Leader Services

Leader celebrates 40 years

The Early Years

Looking Ahead

Related links