Hospital Home Health articles from October 2004

Hospital Home Health archives from October 2004

Your agency can become the local home health care employer of choice; corporate culture, clear expectations, and recognition prove successful.
October 1, 2004... (Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part series covering strategies home health agencies can use to successfully recruit and retain qualified employees. This month, we look at how a home health agency can establish itself as the employer...

The deadline for new ICD-9 codes is Oct. 1: review RAPs, final claims to ensure correct coding.
October 1, 2004... There is no grace period for the new ICD-9 codes that go into effect Oct. 1, 2004, so home health managers and coders need to make sure they understand the effect of some of the new codes. "The coding changes that most affect home health...

JCAHO list on look-alike/sound-alike drugs released; drugs must be added to agencies' lists to comply.
October 1, 2004... Home health agencies must choose at least 10 of the look-alike and sound-alike drug names to place on their watch list of medications that can be easily confused to meet the 2005 National Patient Safety Goal that focuses upon reducing...

Follow your own rules for staff background checks: check suitability for unsupervised care in home.(Guest Column)
October 1, 2004... In July 1995, a baby boy was born with esophageal reflux, causing him to vomit day and night. The child's condition prevented the mother and father from sleeping through the night. In addition, the mother suffered from postpartum...

Case managers can be physician's eyes in home; case mangers provide care, coordinate services.(Guest Column)
October 1, 2004... At Integrated Home Care, nurse case managers provide hands-on care as well as handling the traditional case management duties, such as evaluating patients, developing a customized plan of care, coordinating with other members of the health care...

Managing pressure ulcer risks in the terminally ill.(Legal ease: understanding laws, rules, regulations)
October 1, 2004... Calculation of damages in malpractice cases involving negligence often includes the life expectancy of injured patients as a key component. Therefore, agencies should, at least in theory, have some added protection against large monetary...

Medicare payment is too low for inhalation drugs.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... A study of inhalation drug therapy services provided to Medicare beneficiaries in their homes finds the new 2005 Medicare reimbursement formula paid on average sales price (ASP) would underreimburse the actual cost of providing two key drug...

Laws hinder adoption of health IT, study says.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Legal barriers posed by certain fraud and abuse, antitrust, federal income tax, intellectual property, malpractice, and state licensing laws hinder providers' adoption of health information technology (IT), the Government Accountability Office...

Report shows value of telemonitoring.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Remote physiological monitoring can help reduce hospital visits, length of stay, and health care costs for heart failure patients while improving patients' quality of life, according to a study by the New England Healthcare Institute. The...

CE questions.
October 1, 2004... 1. What is one way Henry Ford Health Care management makes sure employees know and understand the mission, vision, and values of the agency, according to Greg Solecki, vice president of the agency? A. They rely upon word of mouth from other...