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Melissa Cott

Recent Posts

Teach Home Safety for OASIS-E B1000 Vision Deficit

Are you Careplanning for a Vision Deficit? 

Patients typically have risk factors that make clinical and rehabilitative care more complicated – confusion, non-compliance, lack of family support…and a vision deficit. These are just a few example of factors that create impediments to a...

Posted by Melissa Cott on Feb 14, 2024

Pain Management: PDGM Utilization Recommendations

A home health pain management program can be executed by either nursing or therapy. Patients requiring pain management should use a combination of medical (chronic pain medications) and non-medical intervention such as guided imagery, distraction, relaxation - among others. ...

Posted by Melissa Cott on Feb 7, 2024

Hip Replacement: 2024 PDGM Utilization Guidelines

Hip replacement recovery for many patients will take place in the home. Hip replacement patients will likely receive formal physical therapy from home health and/or outpatient physical therapy.

Posted by Melissa Cott on Feb 6, 2024

Guidance for OASIS M1041/6 Flu Vaccine

Medicare added the status of a patient's vaccination for influenza (as M1040) in 2009. The answer to "Influenza Vaccine Data Collection Period" (now M1041) is collected at transfer/discharge and discharge but many EMRs - home health software - capture the data on admission, resumption...

Posted by Melissa Cott on Jan 2, 2024

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 Dec 11, 2023

Treating Insomnia in the Elderly: Home Health Careplan

Insomnia, aka 'interrupted nighttime sleep', is a persistent problem in the elderly. Age-related sleep problems are frequently and mistakenly considered to be a normal part of aging. It's been reported that more than 50% of people over 65 experience regular insomnia.

Posted by Melissa Cott on Nov 16, 2023

Home Health Ethics: Explaining Patient Rights on Admission

In the healthcare setting, ethical behavior includes

      1. respecting patient choice,
      2. protecting patient confidentiality, privacy, and security, and
      3. administering health care services according to professionally-accepted standards of practice.

Posted by Melissa Cott on Nov 9, 2023

OASIS M1720: Help Patients Manage Anxiety

If the patient reports anxiety and its noted on the OASIS assessment, make sure you include anxiety management in your careplan.

Your patient may be anxious and/or depressed because illness prevents participation in activities. While anxiety is an understandable response to illness it...

Posted by Melissa Cott on Nov 7, 2023