HCCI and NNPEN Conference: Different Strategies, Shared Vision

How can Nurse Practitioners (NPs) and others effectively start-up and/or expand a home-based primary care (HBPC) practice? Just ask the participants who attended the February 7- 8 joint conference hosted by the Home Centered Care Institute (HCCI) and the National Nurse Practitioner Entrepreneur Network (NNPEN) in Phoenix.

With NPs being the fastest-growing segment of HBPC providers, the conference provided attendees with critical information on planning and operating a successful and sustainable HBPC practice. Participants brought varying backgrounds and HBPC experience levels to the conference, entitled, “Blueprint for Success: Building and Growing Your Home-Based Primary Care Practice.” The first day concluded with a well-attended “Open Office Hours” segment, where participants were able to ask questions about their specific situations, which invariably applied to many in the room.

The two organizations’ strategies are necessarily distinct. HCCI focuses on professional development for NPs who have a specific interest in HBPC while NNPEN, as Sandy Berkowitz, RN, JD, and Co-founder and CEO of NNPEN, explains, “focuses on supporting nurse practitioners as professionals who want to be their own boss.”

At the same time, though, HCCI and NNPEN have a similar vision. “We share the same vision and passion to create access for a primary care population of frail and elderly patients who are vastly underserved,” Berkowitz continues, “and to explore how advanced practice providers can do well by doing good.”

In sharing her own conference takeaways, Heather Hodge, Director of Education for HCCI, said, “During the conference, I was struck again by how providers are offering HBPC through a variety of business models. It’s not a one-size-fits-all. Plus, people seemed to take something from every session that they could immediately apply to their own situations. Finally, the conference gave people a place to ask their top-of-mind questions and share their successes and challenges, like managing different state laws, payer requirements, and so on. In all, the event helped many see they weren’t alone and that, if they were having an issue, someone else probably was, too.”

For NPs and others with questions about developing or sustaining an HBPC practice, HCCIntelligence™ offers webinars and a hotline at 630-283-9222 and Help@HCCInstitute.org.