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Cortneys Letter

As we begin to prepare for the kids to go back toschool and anticipate the

weather cooling down, the endof summer brings reection ona lot of hard work for us here atKidsCare Therapy.

During the last quarter thelegislative session in Texasended. KidsCare Therapy onceagain was a strong presence during this session,striving to ensure that our patients were fairlyrepresented. As the session has come to a close weare proud of the work we have done, and would like toshare some of the changes that have come from thesession that will affect our industry. First, Senate Bill

1216 was passed with the verbiage that all ManagedCare Organizations (MCOs) will standardize their priorauthorization forms and advisory committees willbe formed by October of this year to begin workingon this standardization. The hopes are that this willstreamline the intake process for many healthcarecompanies providing Medicaid services.

Texas also recently decided not to pass the Expansionof Medicaid from the Affordable Care Act (ACA),which would have integrated the entire population,regardless of age, into Medicaid services based onincome. This will help continue to concentrate the

funding for Medicaid to the pediatric population.While this law from the ACA was decided to beconstitutional, it was decided that withholding federalmonies from states that did not pass this law wasnot constitutional. Therefore, Texas will not receiveless funding for healthcare because of denying theExpansion of Medicaid.

Perhaps the other most notable change during the lastsession is that children with SSI will now be providedhealthcare services by being enrolled in MCOs. Thestate is still working on the logistics of this change,and will be providing further information in the coming

months. To keep up-to-date on the status of thesechanges and other changes happening as a result ofthe previous legislative session, check out the TexasHealth and Human Services website.

During the last few months we have also increasedour presence in our new Austin market. I am proudto say that we have hired a Community Relations

representative, a few therapists, and even startedseeing patients. We have worked hard to get toknow the Austin community, and have enjoyedand appreciated the warm welcome from our newhealthcare partners in Austin.

As we begin to incorporate new healthcare changesinto our policy and continue our growth in Austin, wewill also be focusing on supporting our communities inthe coming months in preparation for children headingback to school. This is always a busy time for us, aswe sponsor back to school fairs and support healthdrives in order to help ensure that the children ofTexas are healthy and have the supplies they need to

start a new school year. Make sure to check out ourEvents section in the back for more information onwhere we will be, and to nd events you may want toattend.

I hope everyone enjoys the remaining days of theirsummer, and has a wonderful fall season. Thank youto everyone who has supported KidsCare Therapy andour growth over these past months, we are alwayshumbled by the community collaboration we receive innew markets, as well as in North Texas.

Volume V, Issue 3 : 2013

Take a look inside!

A Letter from Cortney ......................... 1

Speech in the Country ........................ 2

KCT Celebrates 10 Years! ....................2

1st Annual CLASP Diaper Dash ...........3

MultiPlan/PHCS ...................................4

Upcoming Events ................................4

KCT New Hires ....................................4

- Cortney Baker

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There are a variety of ways to provide speechtherapy to patients, and in Home health we oftensee a little creativity go a long way. One of the joysof being in the childs home is that fun and creative

therapy often make the child more comfortable,allowing them to pick up on things more quickly. Aperfect example of this is Rebecca Pugh, KCT STAdoing therapy with her patient Eder with his babylamb.

Eder, a ten year old patient who has a severelanguage delay, has been working on using aDynavox to communicate, because his speechis unintelligible to the average listener. With aDynavox, which is a device that allows the patientto point to items which will then be pronounced

through the device, Eder will be able to convey hisneeds to unfamiliar listeners. Of course, this is atemporary x, as speech therapy is also working onslow speech production and producing consonantsclearly in order for him to be able speak on his own.

While Eder has been receiving speech therapy foralmost eight months, lately he has been havinga hard time focusing on his speech sessions. Onesession in particular was starting out exceptionallytough, and it didnt help that Eders twin sisters

were heading outside to feed their new baby lambs.Since Rebecca knew the session wouldnt progresswith Eder wanting to be outside with his sisters, shepacked up her stuff and they both headed outside

to try an unconventional type of therapy for theday.

Outside, after nally corralling a little lamb, Ederbegan bottle feeding her. He quickly became calmand joyful from feeding the lamb, so Rebeccastarted right in on their therapy, asking him torepeat his target words. His newfound distractionprovided the perfect opportunity for him to focusand cooperate for the rest of their time together.

Rebecca says she and

Eder will denitelydo their therapy withthe lambs again, andhopes that therapymay be something Ederlooks forward to in thefuture if she continuesto provide it in uniqueways!

Speech in the Country

KidsCare Therapy has been growing at such a rapidrate that time has seemed to just y by, whichis why it is so hard to believe that this October,KidsCare Therapy will be celebrating ten years inbusiness. In October of 2003 owner andfounder Cortney Baker started KidsCareTherapy out of her home with thehopes of running a companywhere therapists and employeeswere supported and encouragedto grow professionally, and

where patients would receivethe utmost care in thecomfort of their homes.Cortneys vision has nowturned into a company ofover 100 therapists, and 1400patients covering four markets.But Cortney says she is most

proud of the importance KidsCare Therapy stillplaces on providing the highest quality and ethicalcare to each patient, no matter how large we grow.She is also grateful to all of the community partners

who have supported us over the last tenyears. We have made some invaluable

connections in all of ourcommunities, and the growth is aproduct of the support that hascome from them. Cortney,and the KidsCare team, is

proud of all of theaccomplishments that havebeen made over the pastten years, and we are allexcited to see what the nextten have in store!

KidsCare Therapy celebrates 10 years!

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KidsCare Therapy loves to run, especially forwonderful causes! So we couldnt have been morethrilled when we were invited to participate in a5K/1 mile fun run for CLASP Internationals rstannual Diaper Dash. CLASP Internationals mission

is to support and improve the lives of children andadults with disabilities in developing countries. Weare proud to say that Shannon Benton, Founderand Executive Director of CLASP International, was

a KCT therapist when we were getting started.Today, she and members of her team frequentlytravel to Africa and other developing countries toprovide therapy to villages, bringing rehabilitationservices to the special needs population who is sooften forgotten in these parts of the world. KidsCareTherapys owner and founder, Cortney Baker, is onthe Governing Board of CLASP International, andKidsCare Therapy couldnt have been more honoredto support this wonderful cause at the Diaper Dash!

First Annual CLASP International Diaper Dash

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KidsCare Events

August 9CEU Lunch & Learn - Trach & Vent ClassDallas, TX

August 10Healthy Family Fair & School SupplyDriveFort Worth, TX

August 10Hip Hop to HealthWaco Convention Center

August 17Golden Hat Walk for AutismAustin, TX

August 23-24CEU CourseDallas, TX

September 6

CEU Course - Treating Children withSevere Physical DisabilitiesDallas, TX

September 7Greater North Texas NAPNAPConferenceDallas, TX

September 13Dallas Quarterly Therapist MeetingDallas, TX

September 18Texas Tech Career FairLubbock, TX

September 20Fort Worth Quarterly Therapist MeetingFort Worth, TX

September 20Babies & BirdiesCowboys Golf Club

September 21Walk for Children with Apraxia of SpeechDallas, TX

Scan with your smartphoneto visit KidsCare Therapy onFacebook

Dallas (214) 575-2999 Fort Worth (817) 546-8661 Waco (254) 751-0253 Austin (866) 919-3240

KidsCares New Hires

AprilDawn ST WacoAshley Community Relations Coordinator Dallas

Christine ST Dallas

February

Courtney ST DallasDiana Community Relations Specialist AustinShanni PT DallasKimberly OT WacoTracy ST DallasAshley OT DallasLaurie OT Fort WorthChristian Therapy Service Coordinator Fort Worth

JuneSarah ST Fort WorthShelley ST DallasErin PT Dallas

Seleena Receptionist DallasLeeanna Processing Coordinator Fort WorthMaurie ST DallasBonnie ST DallasSarah PT DallasJaclyn ST DallasMary ST Fort WorthTiffany ST DallasCarrie ST Dallas

MultiPlan/PHCS

KidsCare Therapy is proud to announce they havepartnered with MultiPlan, an organization that willallow patients with commercial insurance planswho are under MultiPlan/PHCS to receive ourservices with assistance from their insurancepolicy. This new partnership will allow KidsCareTherapy to broaden our scope of patients, andwe are excited for the opportunity to provide ourservices to even more kids in our communities.

Stay tuned for more information on our partnershipthrough the KidsCare Therapy website blog atKidsCareTherapy.com/blog.