Dysphagia Diets? Home Health Clinicians Should Know...
Dysphagia is among the most common conditions in home health patients and poses a great risk for re-hospitalization. Teaching and guidance on the National Dyphagia Diet (NDD) Dysphagia Diet for patients with swallowing, feeding and eating difficulties should be included in your HHA's...
Home Health Coding: Medicare Do's & Don'ts under PDGM
With CMS’s Home Health Patient Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) that became effective 1/1/2020, the practice of coding home health OASIS assessments also changed. Before, we recorded six (6) diagnosis codes on the OASIS assessment. Now, we can include up to twenty-five (25) diagnoses on...
How to Get a Prior Authorization for Home Health Billing
Certain payers require prior authorizations.
Depending on the payer, a home health agency (HHA) may be required to obtain a ‘prior authorization’ (PA) for home health billing and to determine insurance eligibility. Think of prior authorization as “permission” to provide a type of...
COVID-19: Three (3) Requirements for (Early) Discharge Planning
Prepare Patients for Early Discharge
Preparing non-priority home health patients for early discharge should be the primary objective of home health agencies right now. Since accessibility to routine healthcare is currently suspended, home health agencies should prepare patients and...
COVID-19: Substitutions for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
It's no secret that healthcare providers - hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, doctor's offices - and home health agencies - have run out of - or are running out of - personal protective gear (PPE). Because of the shortage of PPE, the CDC has announced methods to optimize the supply of...
COVID-19: Daily Management Plan for Home Health Agencies
1. Provide home health services to priority patients only.
Since the corona virus in the US is not contained, the presumption must be that anyone can have the COVID-19 virus. Under these circumstances your HHA must limit contact to patients that require critical care and have no one -...
COVID-19 & Home Health: Your Emergency Preparedness Plan
So, now it's happened. We have the pandemic called COVID-19. The coronavirus causes illness ranging from the common cold to more severe respiratory infections. COVID-19, the most recently discovered coronavirus disease, was first seen in December 2019 in China.
16 Home Health Nurse Safety Tips
Basic Home Care Industry Safety Guidelines for Field Clinicians
The following is a home health and safety inspection checklist:
- Before making home visits, home health care workers should secure all purses and wallets at the Agency. If you must take a purse or wallet, lock it in the...
