Discharge planning documentation for hospice can be lacking; in most cases hospice discharges occur at death and are not planned. However, surveying organizations always ask for discharged patient records to review during the survey process to ensure the hospice met all the patient’s regulatory care coordination and planning needs. Medicare... Keep Reading
In recent months, the value of care in the home has become more and more apparent to many families. As COVID-19 has swept through nursing homes and other facilities, older adults have been especially hard hit by the virus. Because of the high infection rates in care facilities, many families... Keep Reading
The annual ICD-10-CM changes through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) go into effect on October 1. It is important for home health organizations to know what these changes are and how they will impact the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) clinical groups beginning January 1, 2021.
Hundreds of ICD-10-CM... Keep Reading
The current health of any home care organization can be measured in a variety of ways. One of the most effective is to evaluate the number of caregivers on the roster and how efficiently they are being utilized.
Scheduling for a home care organization can sometimes feel like trying to put... Keep Reading
Although most patients in hospice are discharged due to death, live discharges do occur and are reviewed for each survey. The reasons for live discharge can include extended prognosis, leaving the service area, revocation, transfer to another hospice and discharge for cause.
Medicare details the expectations for live discharges in the... Keep Reading
We know that cash flow has been affected by many things during 2020, some planned and some unplanned. The Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM), which split the episodic billing into two 30-day periods and changed the reimbursement to diagnostic groups, was planned, but the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were not.... Keep Reading
The future of healthcare is in the home. That’s what we believe here at Axxess, the goal we work toward every day. In order to reach this goal, we’ve made it our mission to provide thought leadership and best practices for all home healthcare organizations to learn from and help... Keep Reading
The relationship between long-term care facilities and hospice organizations can be very fragile. Both entities are responsible for caring for the same patients but under different regulatory guidelines. Effects from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic have stressed these relationships further, specifically stemming from conflicting regulatory requirements, the necessity of making difficult,... Keep Reading
While it may seem like a simple concept, effective communication takes a lot of effort for an organization. Now, more than ever, it is critical to ensure your caregivers are getting the information they need during these uncertain times. Since caregivers are your front line, having a proactive, transparent communication... Keep Reading
The Social Work Assessment Tool, also known as SWAT, was developed by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) to address the requests of social workers in the hospice and palliative practice arenas to have a quantitative analysis for the effectiveness of social work intervention in patient and family... Keep Reading
End-of-life care is a difficult topic of conversation for most people, a conversation that frequently comes too late during times of crisis or too often leaves decisions up to the family on behalf of a loved one. According to Jan Jones, RN, BSN, recently retired CEO of The Elizabeth Hospice... Keep Reading
During these challenging and uncertain times that COVID-19 has caused, clinicians may find themselves asking, “Where am I able to work right now?” With states declaring emergency responses, locking down their borders, and putting out the call for help with caring for the sick, it can become very confusing if... Keep Reading
