Are you seeking up-to-date information on how federal funding and policy decisions are likely to affect your service lines? Or are you simply curious about the broader policy landscape shaping the aging services field? Either way, you’ll leave satisfied after attending this speed round of Washington updates. The LeadingAge Policy Team will be on hand to fill you in on the latest developments affecting Medicare and Medicaid, workforce policy, affordable housing, and the federal legal landscape. You’ll also receive advocacy tips to ensure your voice is heard in Washington, DC.

Many organizations recognize the importance of honoring residents’ rights, yet few have clear guidelines for supporting intimate expression, especially when decision-making capacity is impaired. This session will introduce you to a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to developing an intimacy and sexuality policy. Presenters will highlight how one nursing home worked with a medical ethicist, staff, residents, and families to develop a framework that safeguards vulnerable adults while affirming their fundamental human need for connection, companionship, and intimate expression. You’ll take away information to help you support residents’ intimacy responsibly and compassionately, honor individual rights, and enhance overall quality of life, all while complying with regulations.

Medicaid’s Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) has shifted reimbursement away from therapy minutes and toward documented clinical complexity. As a result, many organizations are seeing their Case Mix Index decline and Medicaid rates compress because resident acuity, the model’s focus, is not fully documented in the record or captured in the Minimum Data Set (MDS). This session offers a practical playbook to restore payment accuracy and audit defensibility by replacing “minutes” with “medicine.” A healthcare consultant will recommend engaging specialty physicians to confirm active diagnoses, document how conditions affect daily care, and classify diseases to improve MDS precision. You’ll discover ways to protect reimbursement while improving care for complex, long-stay residents.

As the country’s healthcare system becomes more interconnected, the need for interoperable data exchange across care settings has never been more critical. Yet interoperability is often hindered because its meaning and benefits are unclear to the providers who could gain the most from it. This session will clear up the confusion. Presenters will demonstrate the practical advantages of interoperability and help you assess your organization’s readiness to implement it. They’ll also offer practical strategies for connecting data systems, enabling seamless data exchange with other care settings, and supporting integrated workflows. You’ll learn how one organization used interoperability to transform its operations, boost staff morale, and strengthen referral networks.

A growing number of aging services organizations are building systems to consistently improve outcomes and experiences for the older adults they serve and their families. This session will showcase the ELITE Quality Program, a state-based initiative that helps organizations strengthen leadership alignment, embed continuous improvement practices, and build a strong culture of quality. Presenters will share how ELITE provides the foundational framework organizations need to proactively identify risks, improve quality and safety, and strengthen stakeholder confidence. You’ll gain practical insights from leaders who are implementing the program and learn strategies you can use to build sustainable systems that support exceptional care.

Keeping senior living board members aligned can be challenging in this age of competing priorities. Many boards struggle with fragmentation, uneven engagement, or unfocused conversations, even as organizational leaders face unprecedented challenges. During this session, you’ll learn how to build a more effective board by designing meetings that surface the right insights, promote shared understanding, and encourage strategic questions. Discover how to reinforce the board’s strategic focus between meetings, frame discussions during meetings, and avoid having to reset the conversation every quarter. Here’s your chance to get everyone on the same page—and keep them there—as your organization’s operating landscape evolves.

Investing in quality can future-proof your aging services organization against regulatory, reimbursement, and demographic changes. The reason is simple: Discerning consumers assess providers based on whether their quality is trustworthy and measurable. This session will highlight the quality metrics that matter most to consumers and families when selecting aging services providers. You’ll learn how to use a standardized quality framework to strengthen workforce culture, improve recruitment, and reduce turnover. You’ll also discover how your organization’s quality performance can set it apart in the marketplace, build robust referral pipelines, and expand partnerships. This is your chance to transform quality from a compliance requirement into a growth strategy.

The rules and processes governing managed care continue to evolve as more beneficiaries enroll in Medicare Advantage plans each year. This session will bring you up to date on the program’s latest policy developments, so you’re ready to strengthen your organization’s internal processes and maximize your reimbursement. LeadingAge provider members and a managed care contracting and billing expert will be on hand to update you on Medicare Advantage policies related to prior authorization, appeals, and the complaint process for reporting noncompliance. They’ll also show you how to improve your first-pass prior authorization accuracy and accelerate clean claim submissions. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how to succeed in managed care.

Regulatory changes and survey trends affect all skilled nursing facilities nationwide. During this session, two attorneys will review and evaluate significant regulatory developments from the past year. They will also examine current survey trends by analyzing the top citations issued at the regional and national levels. Throughout the session, you’ll be encouraged to discuss common regulatory challenges and share best practices for staying current with regulatory developments and survey trends. You’ll also learn to anticipate and prepare for future regulatory developments and surveys.

Aging services providers recognize the benefits and challenges of enabling residents with varying cognitive abilities to live together, rather than segregating residents with dementia in memory care areas. Yet few studies have examined the care delivered in inclusive residential settings. This session will help fill that gap. Presenters will share their research on how residents and team members perceive inclusive living environments; residents’ perceptions of their well-being and experiences of care; and the extent to which professional caregivers feel supported in problem-solving and collaboration. Join this session to see inclusive long-term care settings through the eyes of those who live and work there.

Recent actions by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and Congress have reshaped expectations for nursing home staffing, oversight, enforcement, and quality standards. This session will review key developments in federal nursing home policy and explore what providers can expect next. Join us to connect government decision-making to your daily operations and identify ways to advocate for policies that promote high-quality, person-centered care.

Nursing homes and post-acute care providers face heightened scrutiny when Medicare and other payers issue Additional Documentation Requests (ADR) or conduct targeted medical reviews and post-payment audits. Delays in responding to these requests can lead to improper payment findings against the provider. This session will help leaders shift from reactive, one-claim-at-a-time ADR responses to a structured, collaborative approach. Presenters will outline common review triggers, explain how documentation gaps and fragmented communication pose financial and compliance risks, and review each step of an ADR, from request through appeal. Learn how to operationalize ADR and denial management to support quality and financial stability.

Educators, providers, policymakers, and workforce leaders nationwide are rethinking how aging services providers recruit, train, support, and retain frontline caregivers. This session will highlight this collaborative effort. Presenters will describe a recent national meeting that examined the potential for multi-state collaboration to standardize certified nursing assistant (CNA) career pathways through state-based Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Programs. They’ll share lessons learned from convening stakeholders across education, workforce development, aging services, finance, policy, and care delivery systems to discuss workforce solutions. You’ll discover how stakeholder collaboration can drive system-wide changes in policy, practice, and workforce development.

Financial performance isn’t the only measure of organizational health. This session will introduce common attributes that go beyond balance sheets and revenue streams to drive sustainable performance improvement in senior living organizations. Presenters will share a performance-improvement framework developed by Baker Tilly, an advisory, tax, and assurance firm. They’ll help you assess how effectively your organization builds governance structures, maintains leadership stability, fosters a supportive workplace culture, pursues proactive capital planning, ensures financial and operational alignment, and engages residents. Representatives from single-site and multisite organizations will share strategies to achieve operational excellence, long-term sustainability, and resilience.

External audits and reviews affect every facet of an aging services organization, whether conducted by federal agencies such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, state Medicaid departments, or managed care organizations. Understanding how these reviews will affect your organization can help you prepare for, respond to, and address enforcement outcomes. This session will help you leverage your organization’s resources and personnel—including your leadership, finance, clinical, compliance, and legal teams—to navigate external audits and reviews. Presenters will show you how to form an audit response team, assess the business, financial, clinical, and compliance risks associated with an external review, and develop strategies to manage those risks.

Tired of talking about Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Ready to start using AI to improve care, empower staff, and drive better outcomes? This session is for you. Two senior living executives will outline how AI is already helping their organizations streamline operations, make smarter decisions, and enhance the resident experience. They’ll also discuss how AI is likely to shape senior living over the next five years. Discover how providers can use AI for automated clinical documentation, medication and fall-risk detection, workforce scheduling, and more. You’ll learn how to prepare your data environments for AI, scale AI adoption, and ensure your technology investments align with organizational goals.

Strategic planning often falters when stakeholders don’t understand their role in the process or feel their voices aren’t being heard. This session will propose a powerful yet often-overlooked solution: supporting the strategic planning process with a robust communications plan. Presenters will share case studies of organizations that have led transparent, forward-thinking strategic planning processes by communicating effectively with residents, families, staff, board members, and community partners. You’ll learn how to implement collaborative planning approaches, determine the timing and depth of stakeholder involvement, build trust, and sustain momentum. Whether you’re preparing for your next strategic planning cycle or managing organizational change, this session will help you use clear communication to lead with clarity and confidence.

The aging services sector is facing upheaval that will inevitably affect the services we offer, the settings where we provide care, and the structure of our organizations. In response, we must be willing to abandon old approaches and rely on creativity, perseverance, and stakeholder engagement to chart a new course. During this lively, interactive discussion, two senior living leaders will introduce you to change management models and offer guidance on applying them in various situations. You’ll hear about organizations that couldn’t let go of the past and those that have made significant changes with meaningful results. Discover how to thrive amid the turbulence by understanding the changes and opportunities ahead and learning to manage them at a rapid pace.

The survey environment for long-term care providers is growing more complex as federal and state agencies refine guidance, raise expectations, and adjust priorities. This complexity often turns annual recertification and complaint surveys into disruptive, high-stress events that expose gaps in practice, documentation, and oversight. Using QAPI as a framework, this session will equip organizational leaders with the tools to stay survey-ready every day. Presenters will review emerging national and state survey trends and highlight common citations and surveyor priorities. They’ll show you how to focus on high-risk processes, develop performance improvement projects, and monitor corrective actions. You’ll get the support you need to build day-to-day practices that identify and address risks before the survey team arrives.