Mr. Acevedo has been practicing law since 1993. He has substantial experience in executive management of large corporations inside and outside the healthcare industry.  Mr. Acevedo has a Master’s degree in Healthcare Law and extensive knowledge of laws and regulations applicable to the healthcare industry, including access, compliance, fraud and abuse and e-health.

As an attorney for multiple business entities and in-house counsel for Atlantis Health Care Group, Inc., he offers impressive experience in corporate, real estate and business counseling. Mr. Acevedo has used his extensive background to help health care clients resolve internal conflicts, sales and transactions, and conflicts with government agencies.

Rachel Hammon received her Bachelors of Science degree in Nursing from the University of Texas in Austin. She has 29 years of experience in nursing with 25 years’ experience in the home health industry. During her employment with a home health agency, she served in many roles (i.e. Pediatric Case Manager, Medicare Case Manager, DON / Administrator and Corporate Director of Clinical Services), which gave her a diverse knowledge of the industry. At the Texas Association for Home Care and Hospice Rachel assisted member agencies with compliance with state and federal laws (Medicare, Medicaid, OSHA, BON, etc.), served as a liaison with state and federal government officials, and on the Nurse Practice Advisory Committee for the Board of Nurse Examiners. As the Executive Director, Rachel is responsible for implementing the mission of the association which is to advocate for ethical practices, quality, and economic viability of licensed providers in Texas. As part of that advocacy she routinely works with state and federal legislators and agency staff on legislation and policy that affects the home care industry.

Grace has worked in the Homecare Industry for over 27 years. She has had the wonderful opportunity to serve in multiple roles at Home Health Agencies fulfilling positions varying from Administrator to DON/Clinical Supervisor to Case Management to Field RN. With this, Grace was able to provide focus and specialty in QAPI, OASIS documentation and training and Regulatory Compliance. She has held both OASIS and Coding certifications in the past years.

Prior to joining TAHCH, Grace served as a contributing member and a Committee chair on several committees including Clinical Practice and Medicare/Medicaid and was honored to receive the Mary Jo Gabbert Nursing Achievement Award. Grace currently serves on the TCNWS Advisory Committee and serves as the Primary Nurse Planner for TAHCH’s Approved Provider Unit. Grace received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Incarnate Word College in San Antonio, Texas and currently works with Texas Association for Homecare and Hospice in the Home Care Education Nurse Manager role.

Kimberly R. Stuart practices appellate law, commercial litigation, and employment and labor law.

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As the oldest of her generation in a very large Italian family from Brooklyn (who got to Texas as quickly as she could), Kimberly learned early that to be heard, you have to get into the action, make your point quickly, and be ready to defend it. Kimberly puts this experience to use in her practice by dealing with her clients openly and frankly.

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Kimberly began her legal career as a briefing attorney to Judge Margaret Garner Mirabal on the Court of Appeals for the First District of Texas. That experience helped her to identify what it takes to preserve a record at trial and what judges look for in appellate briefing.

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Kimberly’s representative employment law experience includes successfully defending employers in FLSA wage actions and Title VII litigation. She has also effectively represented employees and employers in matters related to covenants not to compete and fiduciary duties. Additionally, Kimberly has successfully defended her clients, from Fortune 500 companies to sole proprietorships, in products liability matters including toxic tort defense and appeals. In the area of premises liability, Kimberly won victories for Fortune 500 companies, such as Walmart and Home Depot, in state and federal appellate courts.

Kimberly knows that the key to a good settlement is strong trial preparation. She prides herself on building lasting and solid relationships with her clients so she can anticipate their needs and guide them to the best decision, whether it is to compromise or go the distance.

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An important part of Kimberly’s practice is helping her clients avoid litigation altogether through reviewing contracts, examining trade secret and confidential information protection, conducting self-audits to ensure regulatory compliance, and assisting clients with best practices training and compliance.

In her employment practice outside the courtroom, Kimberly handles all varieties of employment disputes, including claims of discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wrongful termination, breach of contract, and employment-related torts. She drafts, evaluates, and updates personnel handbooks, workplace policies, employment contracts, and severance agreements.

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Kimberly has defended numerous clients in matters before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Texas Workforce Commission, and the Department of Labor, as well as other state and federal agencies, resulting in dismissals.

As Director of Government Affairs, Jessica supports and communicates member needs on legislative and policy issues at the state and federal level. 

In the last decade, Jessica has worked in and around the Texas Legislature with experience across many issue areas, but has always maintained a passion for health care policy and ensuring access to quality and affordable health care.

Jessica worked as Manager of Government Affairs for the Texas Association of Business, covering issues that impact the workforce such as education, workers' compensation, health care, immigration, and transportation. She managed the Texas Public Health Coalition and specialized in public health policy during her time at the Texas Medical Association. She also spent three sessions in the Texas House of Representatives as a Legislative Director.

Jessica currently serves on the Austin Child Guidance Center Board of Directors, and has served as a field instructor for the University of Texas at Austin.

She is a 2006 graduate of Texas A&M University and graduated in 2011 from UT Austin with a master’s degree in social work.
 

Natalie joined the Healthcare division of Mueller Prost in 2016 as an intern. She specializes in preparing cost reports and reimbursement with Home Health and Hospice agencies. Natalie works closely with Hospice providers to plan for their yearly Hospice caps.

Before Natalie was involved with Home Health and Hospice, she worked with Skilled Nursing Facilities and Home Offices preparing Medicare and Medicaid Cost Reports. She has worked closely in the following states: Texas, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas. With her experience, she is responsible for data gathering and analysis, completion of cost reports, and training new team members and interns. With Natalie’s passion for healthcare, she has become a resource that clients rely on.

Jennifer Elder started with TAHC&H in September 2019. Her experience includes Home Health and Hospice Administration, DME Management and Home Care Consulting. Prior to coming to TAHC&H she worked as a consultant from 2012 – 2017 for home health and hospice agencies and DME agencies throughout Texas.  She has hands on experience in the home care industry with the ADR process, QAPI programs, Marketing and Business Development, Licensing, Accreditation, Plans of Correction and Informal Dispute Resolutions, Human Resources, Policy Development and Strategic Planning. Jennifer has been in the home care industry since 2007. 

After over 30 years in home health care and hospice, holding many positions including field nurse, director, administrator and owner/president of a successful home health and hospice company, Marcylle sold her business to embark on new opportunities. She has since founded 2 companies, serving as President over both The Marcylle Combs Company as well as MAC Legacy, a real estate development company.

Marcylle is well known in Texas and nationally for her leadership in both the home care and hospice community. She serves on the TAHCH Government Affairs Committee since the ‘90s and is currently board of directors for The Home Care and Hospice Financial Managers Association (HHFMA); a professional organization bringing together CFOs, CEOs, COOs and other financial positions who are employed by the nation’s 25,000 home care and hospice agencies.  She also chairs the Women in Leadership and Policy groups for HHFMA.  She enjoys speaking on various subjects such as mentoring, leadership and communication.  10 years ago she founded TwentySix:Twelve.org, a non-profit that is dedicated to helping businesses provide support for their employees to serve others through mission trips, disaster relief, and in their local communities. 

After over 30 years in home health care and hospice, holding many positions including field nurse, director, administrator and owner/president of a successful home health and hospice company, Marcylle sold her business to embark on new opportunities. She has since founded 2 companies, serving as President over both The Marcylle Combs Company as well as MAC Legacy, a real estate development company.

Marcylle is well known in Texas and nationally for her leadership in both the home care and hospice community. She serves on the TAHCH Government Affairs Committee since the ‘90s and is currently board of directors for The Home Care and Hospice Financial Managers Association (HHFMA); a professional organization bringing together CFOs, CEOs, COOs and other financial positions who are employed by the nation’s 25,000 home care and hospice agencies.  She also chairs the Women in Leadership and Policy groups for HHFMA.  She enjoys speaking on various subjects such as mentoring, leadership and communication.  10 years ago she founded TwentySix:Twelve.org, a non-profit that is dedicated to helping businesses provide support for their employees to serve others through mission trips, disaster relief, and in their local communities. 

Ms. Kocher is a partner with Liles Parker and has over 20 years of experience in health care legal and compliance-related issues, representing all kinds of health care providers of all size.  Her experience includes serving as a chief privacy officer and interim chief compliance officer at a medical device manufacturer. She also served as an outside compliance expert to a hospital and a clinical laboratory that were under Corporate Integrity Agreements.  She has significant reimbursement experience, responding to and defending audits, addressing coverage policy issues, challenging denials, recoupments, and loss of billing privileges, obtaining HCPCS codes, and other reimbursement related issues.  Her experience also includes implementing Corporate Integrity Agreements, guiding clients through voluntary self-disclosures and seeking advisory opinions from the OIG.  In acknowledgement of her expertise, Ms. Kocher has served as a lecturer in the Biomedical Engineering department at the University of Texas at Dallas.  Ms. Kocher is licensed in Texas and Maryland and Certified in Healthcare Compliance.   

Kay Hollers is well known to TAHCH audiences as she has been an active member or associate member since her return to Texas in 1985. Kay holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Texas with a major in Nursing and a Master’s Degree in Public Health from the University of Texas School of Public Health. She also earned a post-master’s Specialist Certification in Health Care Evaluation from Wayne State University College of Nursing in Detroit. Kay taught Public Health Nursing at Michigan State University and has practiced in and consulted with home health and hospice agencies large and small, public and private. She currently is a consultant with HealthCare Consultlink. Kay likes to share her experiences and knowledge with audiences and has been a frequent presenter for TAHCH conferences and seminars.

Ms. Papapanagiotou’s practice focuses on compliance, regulatory and transactional matters for a wide array of health care providers, including home health and hospice agencies. She has extensive experience in analyzing proposed and existing business arrangements for compliance with federal and state fraud and abuse laws, and drafting a wide variety of legal agreements. Ms. Papapanagiotou is knowledgeable in all aspects of state licensing for home health and hospice providers, and in Medicare and Medicaid enrollment, including initial enrollment, changes of ownership and appeals of revocation actions. Finally, she assists clients with compliance plans, forming new businesses, and addressing Medicare and Medicaid program coverage and reimbursement issues. 

Barbara Citarella is the founder of the award-winning company RBC Limited, a healthcare and management company specializing in healthcare operations including value based purchasing, strategic planning, leadership retreats, audits, and compliance with regulatory requirements. She is also the only recognized expert in disaster preparedness for the home care, long term care and hospice industry. She was a certified instructor at the Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Domestic Preparedness. Barbara was part of Homeland Security’s committee to re-write the DHS/FEMA Disaster Preparedness Guidelines for People with Special Needs. She also served as the conference coordinator for The National Pandemic Flu Conference held in Washington, D.C. She was the lead on the first national research project ever conducted on the home care and hospice industry and its response to the H1N1 Pandemic. Results were published 2011 in the American Journal of Infection Control, a peer reviewed journal. . She is a founding member of the Mu Epsilon Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau, the International Honor Society of Nursing. She currently serves as a subject matter expert for the Unites States Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response program ASPR TRACIE and her guidance documents have been used during the COVID pandemic by various state governors, the CDC and federal government agencies.

Michael is a Manager with Simione Healthcare Consultants and has been an employee since 2011. Michael has wide-ranging experience in budgeting, strategic planning, cost reporting, financial, clinical and marketing analytics and benchmarking.

Michael earned a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Chemistry from Bucknell University, graduating magna cum laude and a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from Quinnipiac University, where he received the Faculty Award for Academic Excellence as the top graduate in his class.

Michael’s extensive work with Simione Healthcare Consultants includes the development of comprehensive financial, clinical, staffing and marketing analysis tools to improve efficiencies and financial performance for various home health, hospice and private duty companies. In addition, Michael has in-depth experience providing services for interim management, cost reporting, budgeting, accounting, financial feasibility studies, competitor analysis, strategic planning and regulatory compliance to both freestanding and hospital-affiliated home health, hospice and private duty organizations.

Michael is one of Simione Healthcare Consultants experts on Value-Based Purchasing, providing in-depth evaluations and trending of quality initiatives, as well as detailed projections on the potential financial impact to home health organizations.

As an active participant in his profession and community, Michael is a member of the National Association for Home Care & Hospice, the Home Care and Hospice Financial Managers Association, the Young Home Care and Hospice Financial Managers Association and the Arizona Association for Home Care.

A Doctor of Management in Organizational Leadership qualifies Dr. Anita as an expert in management and leadership.  An undergraduate and a Master’s in Social Work adds to her educational advancement and knowledge of the social effects of equality.  As a Certified Professional Coach, Dr. Anita is also qualified as a motivator for professional and individual growth, intelligence, professionalism, ethical values, leadership skills, and educational creativity.  These are a few of the extraordinary attributes Dr. Anita exhibits as a speaker, teacher, mentor, trainer, coach, and motivator. With over 25 years of leadership experience, Dr. Anita believes inclusion starts with diversity. In-Depth knowledge of federal and state regulations allow Dr. Anita to train on policy and procedures at multiple levels. A resume holding positions of administrator, director, owner, and operator of several organizations across her career makes Dr. Anita’s character and personality can be defined as an overall professional in leadership, management, and simply hands-on in employee oversight.

Paul Zambie is a Managing Attorney with Texas Legal Services Center based out of Austin.  He currently manages the Legal Hotline for Texans.  Prior to his employ with Texas Legal Services Center, he worked for a Houston based litigation firm and an Austin based immigration firm. Mr. Zambie earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas in Austin and his Law Degree from South Texas College of Law in Houston.

Valerie Cornett, MS, is the Chief of Strategy and Innovation for MAC Legacy. Valerie has been in the home health and hospice industry since 1995, and brings many distinctive qualities to the team. She has served in many roles over the years spanning from education to operations to finance. Her leadership experience will help agencies not only meet their goals, but also solve a myriad of challenges. Valerie looks forward to building relationships with providers and other vendors to strengthen the industry. 

Leslie Heagy is Registered Nurse who joined Healthcare Provider Solutions, Inc. (HPS), as the Clinical Services Manager, in June 2017. Leslie is part of the clinical consulting team providing support and solutions to home health and hospice agencies across the country to achieve regulatory compliance.  In 2022, Leslie was promoted to Director of Clinical Services over both home health and hospice clinical consulting.

Leslie’s commitment to service and compassionate leadership first took root 21 years ago when she began providing care to patients as a hospice nurse after receiving her nursing degree from Ivy Tech Community College in Columbus, Indiana. Throughout her nursing career, she has worked in various capacities within the home health, hospice and private duty industries. Her experience includes successfully opening a Medicare/Medicaid licensed hospice start-up program, leading multidisciplinary teams in various locations to being part of the team to open a new hospice inpatient unit. She has educated hospitals, skilled facilities, assisted living facilities and the community on the benefits and requirements for home health and hospice services. Leslie’s extensive Federal and State Regulatory knowledge, along with her vast clinical experience motivates her to continually seek solutions to the barriers of healthcare in all settings.

Leslie has operational experience in the survey process for Medicare/Medicaid licensed agencies and has assisted agencies in developing/implementing corrective action plans. Her experience includes clinical consulting, performing clinical chart reviews, onsite billing audit reviews, provider education, developing and implementing quality and performance improvement programs for home health and hospice agencies.

I am a geriatric-focused nurse serving San Antonio since 1995 in multiple settings, specifically PAS since 2004.  As a Home Care Consultant my primary goal is to help agencies provide the highest quality care to seniors in their communities through regulatory compliance, creating a culture of accountability, and simplifying work-flow systems.

• 2009 - Master Trainer for the Stress-Busting Program for Family Caregivers.

• 2013 – Co-founder of M.U.S.I.C. Project, a 501C3 organization focusing on implementing Music and Memory™ in regional nursing facilities. 

• 2010- present – Volunteer speaker for the Alzheimer’s Association

• 2006 – 2018 Board Member, past President for the Alamo Area Home Care Council

• 2020 – Founder of SLUSHER Consulting

Public Speaking Topics

• Music, Memories and Dementia

• Dig Deeper into Patient-Centered Care by Honoring Individuals

• The Customer Service Code for Healthcare Professionals

• So You Want to Provide RN Delegation?

John Rabbia brings over a decade of home health operations leadership experience and provides a balance of both clinical and operational expertise.  As a consultant with SimiTree Healthcare Consulting, John has worked with agencies across the country to use their data to drive strategic improvement efforts for financial and operational indicators.

Lauren has had a passion for non-profit work since early in her college career. Lauren has provided marketing and programmatic support services in the sectors of education, social services, and now healthcare. After a time living in Colorado and Virginia, Lauren moved home to Texas and started working in the disability services field and has served as the Director of Development and Marketing and is currently the Chief Impact Officer at Helping Restore Ability, the largest nonprofit in-home attendant care provider in Texas. Lauren’s work has been recognized in a variety of publications, formats, and venues. Lauren believes in allowing stories to paint a picture and utilizing the mind’s eye to enhance and promote services. Lauren has a passion for generational marketing as well as using digital resources to enhance networking relationships.