1. SMP Coordinator Orientation
Hello everyone!
Welcome to the Illinois SMP Coordinator Orientation.

2. What We Will Cover SMP Program Overview
Agency Agreements and Work Plans
SMP Website Overview
Working with SMP Volunteers
Reporting SMP Interactions & Activities
In today’s orientation, we will cover the following:
An overview of the SMP Program
Agency Agreements and Work Plans
The SMP Website
Working with SMP Volunteers
Reporting SMP Interactions & Activities
And if we’ve never met, that is supposed to be me. There are a few more cartoon characters you’ll see in this presentation, but disclaimer: this is the only one based on a real person.

3. SMP Program Overview
Let’s begin by talking about “What is the SMP program?”
I like to take note of the tagline in our SMP logo and point out the first word: “Empowering.” In a moment, we will see how empowerment is at the heart of what we do when we look at our mission.

4. SMP: A National Movement
Senior Medicare Patrol
National Program
SMP Programs in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, Virgin Islands
Find other SMPs at
SMP stands for “Senior Medicare Patrol”
It is a national program. AgeOptions receives funding to host the SMP in Illinois, but there is an SMP in all 50 states, Washington, DC, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands.
If you are ever curious about who the SMPs are in other states, you can visit the SMP Resource Center’s website or just ask me. Staff here at AgeOptions knows most of the other SMPs.

5. SMP Mission
SMPs empower and assist Medicare beneficiaries, their families, and caregivers to prevent, detect, and report health care fraud, errors, and abuse through outreach, counseling, and education.
The mission of the SMP program is to:
“empower and assist Medicare beneficiaries, their families, and caregivers to prevent, detect, and report health care fraud, errors, and abuse through outreach, counseling, and education.”
This mission defines what we do (“empower and assist”), who we serve (“Medicare beneficiaries, their families, and caregivers”), the SMP message (“prevent, detect, and report”), and how we do it (through outreach, counseling and outreach).
This pretty much sums up what we do and leads us to the program’s two goals…

6. Goals of the Program Recruit volunteers to provide outreach
Educate consumers about health care fraud and abuse
Our two goals are to:
Recruit volunteers to provide outreach
Educate consumers about health care fraud and abuse
Volunteers are an essential part of what we do because our model is a peer-to-peer education model. They help us achieve empowerment because they can say, “Look if I can do, you can to!”

7. Illinois SMP History
1995: Illinois was 1 of 5 states in the federal Operation Restore Trust demonstration project.
1997: Illinois was 1 of 12 states with the first SMP demonstration project.
Today: SMP grants come from the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Here’s a few milestones from our history. To see more, look at our SMP Volunteer Handbook on the volunteer section of our website.

8. Illinois SMP Program Partners
AgeOptions receives the SMP grant from ACL and subgrants with our statewide partners:
Illinois Area Agencies on Aging
Catholic Charities
White Crane Wellness Center
Coalition of Limited English Speaking Elderly
Now we get to you guys, our partners! We are very proud of the partner network we have, including:
Illinois Area Agencies on Aging (All 13!)
Catholic Charities (in Cook County)
White Crane Wellness Center (in Chicago)
Coalition of Limited English Speaking Elderly (who reaches limited English speaking beneficiaries in the Cook County area)

9. SMP Hotline
(800)
Refer all fraud related calls to the SMP Hotline at AgeOptions (clients can ask for “SMP”)
If you have any clients who have experienced potential fraud, you should refer them to AgeOptions. In presentations, you give our toll free number (800) You can also call with a client or refer them to us.
You are welcome to add your agency’s phone number for other services when you give a presentation, but just be sure that you or your staff know to refer SMP calls to us at AgeOptions.

10. SMP Staff at AgeOptions
Jason Echols –
Questions about agreement & work plan requirements, Fraud Alert s
Bailey Huffman –
Questions about volunteers, screening requirements, annual volunteer check-in
Peg Tully –
Questions about reporting & materials
And this is us here at AgeOptions. In the next sections, we’ll talk more about each area we cover here at AgeOptions, but here is who you contact and for what.

11. Agreements and Work Plans
So next, let’s talk about the agreement and work plan that is signed by your agency.
Each agency is different. For some agencies, the SMP coordinator helps manage grants too and in other agencies the SMP coordinator may never see the agreement.
The reason I want to talk about it here is so you know it exists. Also, you are our main contact at your agency. We ask coordinators to help us by reminding their executive director that they agreement must be signed and returned to AgeOptions, usually in June each year.

12. Things to Note in Agreement
SMP fiscal year starts June 1 and ends May 31
Coordinator Name and Role
Minimum number of presentations & volunteers
Work with volunteers
Target populations
Federal audits
Here is an overview of a few “things to note” in the agreement and work plan:
SMP fiscal year starts June 1 and ends May 31
Coordinator Name and Role
This is you! If at any point in the year this needs to change, your agency needs to notify us
Minimum number of presentations & volunteers
Work with volunteers
If you have volunteers. Some do not, but if you do, we spell out what our expectations are for the work you will do with volunteers.
Target populations
You and your agency choose this each year.
Federal audits
We are required to collect some information about your agency each year for our audit, including your agency’s DUNS number and SAM registration.
We also ask that you share your agency’s audit with us.
These are due 6 months after your fiscal year ends. We will send an to your executive director and I will try to let you know when that is happening.
You may not have this information, but talk to your finance person or your executive director.

13. 3 Things Make an SMP presentation
A brief overview of Medicare fraud and abuse (i.e., What is fraud?)
How Medicare fraud affects the audience
The SMP message of “Protect, Detect, and Report”
*Hint: All presentations on include these three points already.
We ask you to do a number of presentations each year. There are three essential parts to any SMP presentation – you must:
Give A brief overview of Medicare fraud and abuse (i.e., What is fraud?)
Describe How Medicare fraud affects the audience
Share The SMP message of “Protect, Detect, and Report”
The good news is that all of our presentations on our materials webpage include this information.
I’m going to give a brief, brief example of a presentation – just verbally. So, here goes:
Hi, my name is Jason and I’m here from the SMP program to talk to you about Medicare fraud. Medicare fraud is when someone bills your Medicare account for something you did not actually get or something that was not medically necessary. Fraud affects all of us because it wastes Medicare dollars putting the program in jeopardy and it can keep you from getting medical services when you actually need them. That’s why the SMP program wants you to Protect, Detect, and Report. Protect yourself by never giving out your Medicare number to a stranger. Detect fraud by reading your Medicare Summary Notice, looking for things that you never received. And finally, Report fraud or errors by calling the Illinois SMP at AgeOptions at (800)

14. Quarterly Partner Calls & Highlights
You must attend our quarterly partner calls
Scheduled with Coordinator input – last meeting of the year
Send quarterly Partner Highlights to Jason the day before the call (A chance to “brag”)
Your work plan also says that as SMP coordinator, you will attend our quarterly partner calls.
I would put when those calls are going to be on this slide, but I actually don’t know. Each year on or before our last call of the calendar year, we schedule the next year’s calls. I will send out a survey. We do this because we want to make sure we find the best time for everyone and give you enough notice to have it on your calendar because you should be on each call.
If you are unable to be on a call (e.g., you are on vacation or you’re sick), that is ok. Just let Jason know and arrange for someone else at your agency to join and participate.
On each call, we share what we call Partner Highlights. You those to me the day before the call. I call it a chance to “brag” in a good way. It’s a time to share what you or your volunteers have done or what you are planning. We’ll come back to this when talk about reporting.

15. Talk with AgeOptions
Open communication is best – we’re here to support you!
You must inform AgeOptions when:
Your agency’s SMP coordinator changes
Your executive director (or other people we should copy) changes
You are using SMP money to create a new SMP material
Finally, I cannot say this enough, but please reach out to me or the staff here if you need anything. I hope you feel that we are supportive and encouraging of the work you do. Please do not ever feel like you cannot bring a question to me.
There are a few things that we do require you to let us know about and those are when:
Your agency’s SMP coordinator changes
Your executive director (or other people we should copy) changes
You are using SMP money to create a new SMP material

16. Questions About Agreements & Work Plan?
Contact AgeOptions’ Health Care Consumer Protection Coordinator Jason Echols (800) or (708)
Contact me if you have any questions!

17. SMP Website www.illinoissmp.org
Next, let’s take a look at the SMP webpages on the AgeOptions website. Here’s Anna logging onto the website.
There’s an easy link to get directly to all of these pages, it’s just

18. SMP Pages SMP Volunteers Page SMP Materials Page SMP Fraud Alerts Page
Application, Roles, etc
SMP Materials Page
All SMP materials we have available are here
SMP Fraud Alerts Page
Sign up for Fraud Alerts here
SMP Reports Page
Links to reporting forms & support
Here are the pages we will look at:
SMP Volunteers Page
Application, Roles, etc
SMP Materials Page
All SMP materials we have available are here
SMP Fraud Alerts Page
Sign up for Fraud Alerts here
SMP Reports Page
Links to reporting forms & support
[Click on link]

19. SMP Coordinators Page “Hidden” page just for SMP coordinators
Bookmark this link!
There is one “hidden” page that is just for SMP Coordinators. I say “hidden” because there is no link to it on the webpages we just saw. So, just like Kenneth here, this is a link that you may want to bookmark.
Here is what you’ll find on this page:
Agendas and recordings from past SMP Partner Calls
Support documents for using SIRS and reporting Partner Highlights
Resources for Coordinators to help screen and supervise volunteers
In short, I upload things here that can support your role as an SMP Coordinator but not really for the general public or our volunteers.
Some of these resources will definitely help us in our next section “Working with SMP Volunteers” but why don’t we take a five minute break before we jump in. If you are listening to the recording, please feel free to pause here.

20. Working with SMP Volunteers
Welcome back! In this next section, we’ll go over working with your volunteers, like Deborah here.

21. SMP Volunteer Screening Process
Application
Phone Interview *
Background Checks (2-Parts)
1. Criminal Records Check
2. Calling References (3)
Training
Online Training on SMP Overview, Medicare Basics, & Fraud Issues
* Additional training for specific roles (giving presentations, one-on-one counseling, and complex issues)
Pass Assessment
Open-book, 50 questions (Additional assessment requred for Counselor Training)
Volunteer Agreement (3-Parts) **
Mutual agreement on time commitment & role
Confidentiality and Conflict of Interest Agreement
Driver's Information
(Driver's license & Insurance)
Acceptance Letter
SMP Volunteer Screening Process
First things first, if you have new volunteers, they need to be screened.
If you need to recruit new volunteers, and again, look to your work plan for the minimum volunteers, reach out to the SMP volunteer specialist here at AgeOptions Bailey Huffman for help recruiting.
As for the screening process, you can see a flow chart we give to volunteers here, but I would definitely encourage you to read more in Volunteer Screening Process: A Guide for Coordinators.
[Click on link]
You can find this guide on the “hidden” SMP Coordinators page. This screening process may seem daunting, but that document spells out what you need to do and what Bailey does (and just a hint: Bailey can help you throughout this process).
A main role here for the Coordinator is helping the volunteer build a volunteer agreement. This is something you should do with the volunteers input and working with Bailey.

22. SMP Volunteer Policies & Procedures
We have a number of national policies and procedures around volunteering for SMP
The policies relevant to Illinois are outlined in our “SMP Volunteer Handbook”
On the Volunteers webpage
Every volunteer is sent a link
Nationally, ACL has a set of policies and procedures called the Volunteer Risk and Program Management (VRPM) policies.
For our volunteers here in Illinois (and for you as Coordinators), we have created our “SMP Volunteer Handbook” which puts these policies into an Illinois context. I encourage you to read it or look over it at some point. Every volunteer gets one too, and it’s on the volunteer webpage.
Please let Bailey know if you have any questions.

23. Annual Volunteer Check-Ins
What is it? It’s just a conversation with your volunteer!
Due every year by May 31
Include:
Signed copy of Volunteer Agreement (3-parts)
Copy of Driver’s License and Proof of Auto Insurance (if volunteer drives)
Every year we do what we call an Annual Volunteer Check-In with each SMP volunteer. You can do this with your volunteer at any point, but they are due by May 31st of each year. (Q: Why May 31st? A: That’s the end of our fiscal year.) So, we will start reminding you of this in January.
It’s not meant to be scary or overly formal. It’s really just a conversation with your volunteer about how they are doing in the program. You want to just “check-in” to make sure they feel engaged, that they like what they are doing, and together think about the next year. Most of our volunteers are doing incredible work, but if there is anything that concerns you about a volunteer’s performance or satisfaction with the program, this is the time to talk about that. If you need to take corrective action, let us know because we can work out a plan together.
Use this time to update the volunteer’s file. So at this time, you would update their volunteer agreement with them and get a new copy of their driver’s license and proof of auto insurance.

24. Support Your Volunteers
Give them SMP work
Recognize their work
Turn to AgeOptions for support
Otherwise, what you need to do with your volunteer is just support them throughout the year. Most of this is outlined in your work plan, but in general, we ask that you:
Give your volunteers SMP work
Recognize their work
Your volunteers are more likely to stay if they feel appreciated and supported (like Deborah)
This could be just a simple thank you or taking note and sharing it during the volunteer check-in
Maybe you notice a way that the volunteer likes to be recognized
Turn to AgeOptions for support
Just like your volunteers need support, you may need support and can always turn to AgeOptions with any volunteer related question.

25. Questions About Volunteers
Contact AgeOptions’ SMP Volunteer Specialist Bailey Huffman (800) or (708)
Remember that we are here for you. Reach out to Bailey with any questions about volunteers and our policies.

26. Reporting SMP Interactions & Activities
So, now we come to our final section of this orientation. I am not sure if you feel the same way as Shirley here, but whether or not reporting is your cup of tea, it is very important.

27. SIRS SIRS = SMP Information & Referral System
Nationwide database collecting data from all 54 SMPs
Good data helps ACL make the case for funding to Congress.
You may hear me say this on the partner calls and wondered “What is SIRS?”
We first introduced SIRS to the SMP partners in November 2015 as the new nationwide database to collect data from all 54 SMPs.
SIRS stands for SMP Information & Referral System
Why do we report? Well, having good, accurate data helps ACL make the case to Congress and the public for continued funding for SMP

28. SMP Data SMP Partners & Volunteers Do Local Outreach
Partners Report in SIRS
AgeOptions Verifies Data with Partners
ACL Collects Data from Each State
HHS OIG Report is Public Record
This is image shows what happens with the data you report to us. What you and your volunteers do is reflected in an annual national report about the whole SMP program. This is important because we are funded by federal dollars.

29. What ACL is Measuring
So what is being reported on in that national, public report? It’s our national SMP performance measures. I am sharing these with you just so you know what gets reported.
Here’s a quick synopsis of what each of these performance measures means:
How many people were doing SMP work?
How much time did they spend on it?
How many outreach events did we have?
How many people did we reach with those events?
How many people did we reach with our individual interactions?
If you want to read more about these measures, there’s a link and it’s on the hidden Coordinators page.

30. The SMP Reporting Mantra
If it’s not reported, it didn't happen.
This is what I call the SMP Reporting Mantra
If it’s not reported, it didn’t happen.
That means that no matter how many people we talk to, whatever creative ideas we come up with, or successes we want to celebrate… if we don’t report it, it’s as if it never even happened.
Capturing what you do in SIRS is a key part of showing what happens in Illinois and help us tell your story. (In addition, your partner highlights are very important in knowing what story to tell about SMP in Illinois.)

31. SIRS Forms: Interactions
Group Outreach & Education Interactions
Presentations or Fairs
Individual Interactions
One-on-one counseling about SMP
Media Outreach Interactions
There are four types of SMP online forms:
The first three are all interactions – Interaction means that you have engaged with people about SMP. There are:
Group Outreach & Education Interactions which are presentations or fairs
Individual Interactions which are basically one-on-one counseling sessions about SMP
Media Outreach Interactions

32. SIRS Forms: Activites Activities are a way to track just time spent
Use the Activities form to show time spent on:
Things that cannot be recorded as an interaction
A second person at an event
Only fill out Activities forms to show time not already entered in an Interaction
Activities just show time spent.
They are what you would enter in one of the following two scenarios:
A volunteer has done something for SMP that does not count as an interaction, but you still need to report their time because it was spent doing SMP work. For example, maybe they are doing administrative work in your office or dropping off brochures at sites. Neither of those are interactions with clients, but they are activities
OR if you have two people at an event. You’ll fill out an interaction to show that an event happened and X number of people came to the presentation or fair. In an interaction, you can only give one name. Use the Activities form to enter time for anyone else there.
If there’s a second person at any event, you’ve already entered in time for one of the people as an interaction. Do not put their time in again as an activity.

33. How Do I Know Which Form to Use?
There is a flowchart and a guide on the SMP Reports Page called “What eFile Do I Use?”
On the SMP Reports webpage, we have a document that can help you decide what form to use.

34. How to Enter SMP Data eFile SIRS Login (for Coordinators Only)
eFile IDs are assigned to anyone doing SMP work at your agency (volunteers, staff, partners)
Tell us who to add
Links on the SMP Reports Page
SIRS Login (for Coordinators Only)
Only SMP Coordinators have login access to SIRS
Link on the SMP Coordinators Page
There are two ways to add data to SIRS:
First, there’s eFile.
Anyone doing SMP work at your agency, whether they are a volunteer, staff, or partner, must have an eFile ID
They can enter their own data or you can enter it for them using their eFile ID
You’ll find links to the eFile forms on the SMP Reports page
Second, as a Coordinator, you can login to SIRS
Because only coordinators have access to SIRS, there is a link on that “hidden” SMP Coordinators Page
The benefit of logging into SIRS is that you will be able to run pre-saved searches on the activities you have entered into SIRS

35. Fields in eFile/SIRS eFile ID/Session Conducted By
Time Spent (Minutes)
Number of People Reached
Zip Codes/Counties
Let’s talk about some common fields in the Interaction forms.
[GO TO NEXT SLIDE DO NOT TALK ABOUT THESE HERE]

36. eFile ID/Session Conducted By
Each volunteer or staff doing SMP work should have their own eFile ID
Use this to indicate who conducted the session
Bailey to add a new team member to SIRS and get them an eFile ID
First, all forms will ask you to say who conducted the session. If you are using eFile forms, you use the eFile ID of the person who actually conducted the session. If you login, there is a dropdown menu of names called “Session Conducted By”.
Each volunteer or staff doing SMP work should have an eFile ID. You can decide whether you want to share it with them so they add in their own data or not.
Bailey if you need to add anyone or to get a list of eFile IDs for your agency.

37. Time Spent Field in all SIRS/eFile forms Always report in minutes
Include travel time to and from events or counseling sessions
Include time for any preparations
Next, you will also want to say how much time was spent on the interaction.
You always report in minutes.
Please include any preparation or travel time, particularly for volunteers going to and from presentations.

38. Number of People Reached
Only in Group Outreach & Education Interactions
Each Individual Interaction = 1 person reached
Only for Group Outreach and Education Interactions, you are asked how many people you reach.
Whoever works the event should either do a head count (for presentations) or count the number of people who visit their booth to talk about SMP with tally marks or by how many handouts they gave away. (Please note: for fairs, we are never looking for how many people attended the event in total. Instead, we want to know how many people did you actually talk to about SMP.)

39. Zip Codes and Counties
Always where the client is at that moment they are receiving the SMP message
Where is the client?
What zip do I use?
Client comes to event
Event zip code
Client calls you from their home
Client’s home zip code
Client visits you in your office
Office zip code
Client talks to you 1-on-1 after event
When deciding which zip code to use, remember that it should be based on where the client is at the moment they receive the SMP message.
So, let’s look at this chart.

40. Easy Mistakes to Make Date – Check the month & year
County – Adams is the first county in the list – Did you really do outreach there?
Wrong form – Was that presentation really a media interaction?
If you make mistakes… It’s OK! We all have. Just AgeOptions.
Mistakes. We all make them.
As you complete SIRS forms, watch for these common mistakes:
Date: Check to ensure the month and year are correct. If they’re not, you want see them on Peg’s report.
County: Adams county is the first county on the list and so it sometimes prepopulates. Just be sure that you’re putting the right county.
Wrong Form: For example, if you had a presentation but are entering it as a Media Interaction, it is not going to count as a presentation for your work plan. So be sure you are in the right form. Using the title field can help spot this type of mistake.
After you “turn in” your reports each month, Peg will you a pulled report of everything from the last month. Definitely check it for anything wrong, including these common mistakes.

41. When are reports due? The 3 Emails
Peg and copy Jason by the 10th of each month saying 1 of these 3 things:
My SMP reports are all in
I have no SMP activities to report this month
I need more time. I can enter my reports by ___
Reports are due by the 10th of the month for the activities in the following month. We always remind you!
You need to Peg and there are three potential things you could say:
My reports are all in SIRS
I have nothing to report in SIRS this month
I need more time. I can enter my reports by ___ (and give us a date).
The reason is that we need to know when we start pulling reports.

42. Partner Highlights
You can report details that you couldn’t report in SIRS or highlight things that you’re proud of
Helps spur idea for other partners
Helps AgeOptions write reports to ACL
Quarterly – Send to Jason the day before our partner calls
Still, there is a lot that SIRS does not capture or a lot more detail that you can’t give in those forms.
That’s where Partner Highlights come in! Here are some benefits of sending in your highlights:
You can report details that you couldn’t report in SIRS or highlight things that you’re proud of
Helps spur idea for other partners
Helps AgeOptions write reports to ACL
Anna just had a really cool and effective event and wants to tell others. She should send in Partner Highlights.

43. Questions About Reporting?
Contact AgeOptions’ Health Care Fraud & Information Specialist Peg Tully (800) or (708)
If you have any questions about Reporting, Peg!

44. Any Questions?
Thanks to Anna, Kenneth, and Shirley for helping us out today. Thank you all for doing all the great work you do! Obviously, we cannot do SMP without you.
If there are any questions, please feel free to contact us here at AgeOptions [NEXT SLIDE]

45. Thank you!
Reach out to the SMP Team at AgeOptions anytime! Jason Echols Bailey Huffman Peg Tully
Thank you all so much for joining today! Have a wonderful day!