Home Health Blogger

Melissa Cott

Recent Posts

OASIS E Section N: Medications Will Require Additional Documentation

OASIS E, to be released in January 2023, requires

  1. patient teaching on high-risk medications and
  2. documentation of THE REASON for the high-risk medication

 

You will want to make sure your field staff are able to identify the generic and trade names of high risk...

Posted by Melissa Cott on Jun 9, 2022

Do Not Resuscitate - 4 Keys to Effective Patient Communication

The patient's physician writes a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order when cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) should not be attempted. Because CPR will not be attempted, other resuscitative measures that follow it (tracheal intubation, cardiac monitoring, cardiac defibrillation etc) will...

Posted by Melissa Cott on Jun 2, 2022

7 Teaching Tips for Patients with Diabetic Neuropathy

Adapted from Dr. Axe: Diabetes affects about one in every three adults in the U.S., and diabetic neuropathy is one of the most likely complications to develop as a side effect because high blood sugar levels affect nerve fibers throughout the body. Diabetic neuropathy (also sometimes...

Posted by Melissa Cott on Jun 1, 2022

OASIS M1870: 3 Strategies to Assist with Feeding & Eating

Preparing and serving food for optimum nutritional intake

  1. Serve 5-6 small meals rather than three large meals.
  2. Chop or cut the food into bite-size pieces.
  3. Serve the most nutritious foods first.
  4. Allow the patient enough time to chew and swallow each bite.
  5. If necessary for swallowing...

Posted by Melissa Cott on May 31, 2022

Best Practices for Completing M1400 OASIS Dyspnea

Include the following best practice (Medicare) guidelines for completing OASIS M1400 Shortness of Breath:

(M1400) When is the patient dyspneic or noticeably Short of Breath?

Identifies the level of exertion/activity that results in a patient’s dyspnea or shortness of breath.

Posted by Melissa Cott on May 26, 2022

Home Health Best Practices for Reducing Hospitalizations

As certified HHAs already know, Medicare is tracking your hospital admission rates. Hospital re-admission rates are tracked for all providers...hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation, dialysis facilities... because a hospital admission may suggest a breakdown in patient care.Around...

Posted by Melissa Cott on May 23, 2022

OASIS M1840 - Guidelines for Assessing Toilet Transferring

MyHomecareBiz recommends the following Medicare guidelines for completing OASIS M1840 Toilet Transferring:

Posted by Melissa Cott on May 19, 2022

Hospital Readmission Risk M1033: 8 - Exhaustion

If a patient is experiencing exhaustion - reported on OASIS M1033 Hospitalization Risk – 8 - Exhaustion, determining the reason as well as careplanning for exhaustion would be indicated for the home health clinician.

Posted by Melissa Cott on May 17, 2022