COVID-19 Home Health Assessment & Careplan
If your Agency is visiting patients who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 or suspected COVID-19, use the following guidelines for home health visits, including appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) use, physical assessment of the patient and patient/caregiver teaching.
Emergency Preparedness: 6 Practical Steps for Daily HHA Management
We're on the the third anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic. The events that began in early 2020 would be the first time that many HHAs would enact the emergency preparedness plan that is required by Medicare's §484.102 Condition of participation: Emergency preparedness.
Below is a...
Infection Control Teaching for Home Health Patients
Given the current focus on COVID-19, other infectious processes commonly experienced by home health patients - pneumonia, UTI’s, hepatitis, and wound infections - still pose significant challenges to patients and home health clinicians.
CDC Coding Guidelines for COVID-19
Use the following CDC Guidelines for assigning ICD-10 to patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19:
Are You Tracking These Four (4) Items For Infection Surveillance?
Home health care treatments frequently include invasive devices and procedures to treat patients. Infections can occur from the these procedures/devices, such as catheters, wound care and ventilators.
Are You Using Telehealth? There's No Scheduled End Date...
The Medicare system is under an ‘Emergency Declaration’ due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. This means that certain home health regulations have been relaxed and some requirements have been changed to prevent the interruption in home health care. All temporary changes to home health...
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...
