An underlying theme present in the healthcare professionals’ response to the topic of care reform is the resistance to any significant change in how we do what we do. Administrators and physicians often express skepticism to the idea that the current level of quality care they manage, develop, or deliver can be improved for future […]
Articles
You Can’t Afford Not To… The Growing Necessity for Predictive Modeling in Home Care. By Daniel Hogan – CEO, Medalogix
The institution of heavy fines in 2012 for hospitals with readmission problems has turned the existing success measures in healthcare upside down. The issue of readmission reduction has become a topic on par with the Y2K phenomenon of 15 years ago, only this issue will amount to something previously unseen in healthcare management. Part of […]
Quality Assurance – What’s in your chart???????
Have you ever reviewed a patient’s medical record and wonder exactly what is going on in the case? Were you able to identify the skilled purpose for home care? Were the 485 goals and interventions clearly identified in the routine visits? Are the goals both progressive and measurable? Does the OASIS justify the skilled need […]
The Role of IT in Home Health – Part 2
Part 1 of the HHSM Newsletter IT report outlined the growing role of Information Technology as it relates to care development, delivery, and management, and particularly how those elements address the challenges of community care. In addition, the new care models, ACOs, Care Transitions Bundling, Medical Homes, and Population Health Chronic Care management will present […]
The Role of IT in Home Health (today and tomorrow) – Part 1
Healthcare advances over the past quarter century reflect changes that occur in society, and that includes the use of Information Technology (IT) in how we manage data, documentation, and information related to our patients and their programs. As we evolve as a society, with changes based on the technological advances that are now coming fast […]
Medicare Ruling alters “Improvement Standard” for Home Health
On October 16, 2012, The Center for Medicare and Medicaid services (CMS), in conjunction with the Center for Medicare Advocacy and Vermont Legal Aid, announced a settlement in Federal District Court regarding the use of an “improvement standard” as a qualification for skilled Home Health services. The settlement was in response to a lawsuit filed […]
CMS Model 2 Bundling Pilot Awarded to HHSM SURCH-based Application
“The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced this week that Arnie Cisneros, PT, and Linda Alexander, RN, have been awarded for their Model 2 Retrospective Bundled Payment Initiative entitled “Retrospective Acute Care Hospital Stay plus Post-Acute Care” in collaboration with the Detroit Medical Center (DMC). Cisneros, President of Home Health Strategic Management (HHSM), […]
Care Plan Collaboration
As we move forwards toward the inevitable changes that healthcare reform will deliver to Home Health Providers and clinicians, some realities are becoming become clear regarding how we will program and deliver care in the future. Trends seen from similar Medicare reforms outside of homecare can provide some insight as to where we might be […]
The Time to Prepare for ACOs and Bundling is NOW: Have you started in your Agency?
The year 2012 has been challenging for Home Health Providers and their employees. Most report declines in financial performance and patient census, and nearly all agencies struggle with the recent regulatory changes to the PPS model. Face to face rules and therapy reassessments are now facts of life, and they burden agencies on a daily […]
Nursing Care Plans and Denials
One size does not fit most…..or any of our current patients New survey rules took effect May 1, 2011, yet nursing everywhere continues to struggle to define progressive, meaningful care plans that are truly based on an assessment of the patient’s actual condition. Clinicians grasp tightly to easy care pathways that have been refined over […]