SUMMARY
As a contractor for Medicare, Acentra Health serves as the Beneficiary and Family Centered Care Quality Improvement Organization, also referred to as a BFCC-QIO. While Acentra Health provides BFCC-QIO services in 29 states (visit www.acentraqio.com to see the states served), the general information is relevant to everyone who has Medicare (including Medicare Advantage) and everyone who works with people who have Medicare.
This episode is a conversation with our guest, Crystal Strong, the Program Director for the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA) program, and the Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) program within the South Carolina Department on Aging (SCDOA). She provides oversight and direction to the state grantees to support their work assisting Medicare beneficiaries, their families, and caregivers through outreach, counseling, and education. In this role, she is also responsible for the education and certification of the counselors/volunteers statewide. Crystal actively supports the program networks by providing training and technical assistance whenever possible. Prior to this position Crystal has functioned in various roles and programs since 2000 when her tenure at SCDOA began. Crystal holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from South Carolina State University.
For more information about Acentra Health BFCC-QIO, please visit https://www.acentraqio.com.
KEY TOPICS
00:24: Overview, introduction of guest, Crystal Strong
01:58: Information about the SMP program
03:31: Tips for people with Medicare
04:14: How does SMP work with stakeholders
04:54: Summary and final thoughts
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RESOURCES
BFCC-QIO Information for stakeholders: www.acentraqio.com/partners
BFCC-QIO Information for people who have Medicare: https://www.acentraqio.com/bene/helpline
Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) - https://smpresource.org/
State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) and Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance Program (SHIBA): https://www.shiphelp.org/
South Carolina Department of Aging - https://aging.sc.gov/
Medicare: https://www.medicare.gov/
Music: Motivational Upbeat Corporate by RinkevichMusic
https://soundcloud.com/rinkevichmusic
https://protunes.net/
Video Link: https://bit.ly/3NNqGTs
Welcome to Aging Health Matters, a podcast from Acentra Health, a Beneficiary and Family Centered Care Quality Improvement Organization. We plan to cover healthcare topics for the Medicare population. Information in today’s show may help you or someone you know in their healthcare journey. Thanks for joining us. Now let’s get started.
Kia Weaver
Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of our podcast, Aging Health Matters. This is Kia Weaver, Outreach Specialist here to introduce today's topic. As a reminder, we are the QIO for 29 states. We have three key services for people who have Medicare: appeals, quality of care complaints, and Immediate Advocacy services. We also work with many outstanding partners to help spread information about the Medicare program and its benefits. While we greatly appreciate their partnerships, we also want to be clear that the opinions and guidance expressed by them in this podcast are solely theirs or their agencies, and not necessarily those of the QIO, CMS, or the Medicare program. Please keep in mind that state-by-state guidance may differ as well.
Today we'll be talking with our guest Crystal Strong. She's the program manager for the South Carolina State Health Insurance, also known as SHIP and the Senior Medicare Patrol, also known as SMP programs. Hi, Crystal, welcome and thank you for joining us today. Can you please tell our listeners a little bit about your background?
Crystal Strong
Thank you for inviting me here. As you mentioned, my name is Crystal Strong, and I'm here at the South Carolina Department on Aging, and I serve as the director for both the SHIP and SMP programs. I've been at the agency now for 25 years, and I've served as the director of both programs since 2015.
Kia Weaver
Thank you, Crystal. Can you please tell me what your organization does, how they help the Medicare community, and when should they call you?
Crystal Strong
Absolutely. Well, we do have the Senior Medicare Patrol, which is like the fraud arm of Medicare. The program is available in all of our states and territories. What we do with the Senior Medicare Patrol program is that we empower and assist Medicare beneficiaries, their families, and caregivers to prevent, detect, and report healthcare fraud, errors, and abuse, and we do this through outreach, counseling, and education. Our services are free. And individuals can reach us by calling our toll-free number, which is 1-800-868-9095, and they can be placed or transferred to a trained counselor or volunteer that will be able to assist them with their needs. We also have a website. You can find us at www.smpresource.org, and you can also go to our page at the Department on Aging, which is simply aging.sc.gov.
Kia Weaver
Thank you so much for that information. Do you have any tips for listeners who may be on Medicare or listeners who are community organizers who also provide services to seniors?
Crystal Strong
Yes, in addition to the SMP program that we have, I mentioned the SHIP program where that's called the State Health Insurance Assistance Program. And there is one of those programs in every state and territories as well, and we just are here to help Medicare beneficiaries navigate through that Medicare maze in any way that we can, not only with fraud, but helping them choose Medicare products that are going to help them with their healthcare needs.
Kia Weaver
Thank you. And how do you work with other stakeholders?
Crystal Strong
Well, with our stakeholders, and Acentra Health being one of them, we offer outreach to various entities. The member calls our office. We can conduct outreach at churches and things of that nature. We also provide training to get more volunteers for new counselors that come on board on a five-week training course.
So we use our stakeholders or partners to help us educate the community in that aspect.
Kia Weaver
Thank you. And do you have anything else that you like to share with our listeners, Medicare community, or other stakeholders?
Crystal Strong
Absolutely. I want to mention, since we're focusing on fraud, I want to make sure that Medicare beneficiaries recognize that they don't answer calls, do not answer calls from phone numbers that they don't recognize. Don't confirm your Medicare numbers over the phone with the word yes and also the biggest tip that I guess they can go away with is to guard your Medicare card number like a credit card. Don't share your number. Don't laminate it, make copies, or let anyone else make a copy of your Medicare number. And again, if I can provide our phone number, if you have any questions, concerns, or you suspect any type of Medicare fraud or abuse, please give us a call at 1-800-868-9095.
Kia Weaver
Thank you so much, Crystal. Thank you for taking the time to share this information with our listeners. I know we work together quite a bit. And you're always so helpful. So thank you, and thank you for listening, and please stay tuned for our next episode of Aging Health Matters. If you would like more information about our services, please feel free to sign up for our newsletter as well as subscribe to our YouTube channel. Our helpline phone number as well as a link on our website to sign up for our newsletter will be available in the Show Notes. And our Outreach Specialists are always available to collaborate with partners. Thank you.
Crystal Strong
Thank you.
