Software and Services for Home Health, Hospice and Healthcare Facilities

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Answers to Questions Asked During Gina Mazza’s COP Webinar

11/10/2017 HealthWare Other 0 Comments

We had two questions asked following our live COP webinar.  Gina Mazza’s answers are below:

Q mark for postings

Q: If I have hire a new Administrator after 01/13/2018, can that person be a non-Nurse (Candidate with Master in Health Admin) but with 1 year of Home Health Experience?
A: According to the CoP’s, an administrator hired after 1/13/18 is required to be a physician, a registered nurse, or hold an undergraduate degree. Also, required to have experience in health service administration with at least 1 year of supervisory or administrative experience in home health care or a related health care program.
Q: Is the patient representative only for patients who are unable to represent themselves?
A: No, a patient representative is not a legal guardian. Patients choose to have this person involved in their care. (In addition to a legal guardian or without a legal guardian.)

Home Health Care Problems Accessing Point of Care if Internet Access is not Available

11/2/2017 HealthWare Clinical 0 Comments

It could be 10 years before Internet or Mobile access is fully deployed.

Today some rural areas still do not have Internet access or quality mobile access. Full availability to residents could be the result of a ten-year gradual process.

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Chairman Ajit Pai of the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) said on April 3, 2017, “I’m pleased that we continue to move forward aggressively to close the digital divide in the United States. The Task Force I announce today will help ensure that taxpayer funds are allocated efficiently for rural broadband deployment, and that all Americans who want Internet access will be able to get it.”

Included in this report is the phrase quoted by Pai “to connect unserved and underserved locations over the next decade”

The rest of the story is available: https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-344201A1.pdf

Can you wait ten years?

What if your Point of Care system requires Internet access via Wi-Fi or mobile data? You need offline capabilities for your field clinicians to operate effectively and efficiently. With offline capabilities, there is no need to write it down on paper and then enter it when you get a signal. With HealthWare, your clinicians have access to the patients chart regardless of connectivity.

Some locations have weak or non-existent cellular service. If you cannot wait up to 10 years for Internet or mobile deployment to take place in the areas you serve, we ask you to consider, in the meantime, a product that works both offline and online: HealthWare’s “Point of Care” applications InTouch and InTouch Lite, both with Hybrid Data.

Through close collaboration with our clients, we have determined what features require being usable offline and where it makes sense to be online. Offline capability is critical at the bedside with the patient's chart on your device for easy reference and charting. With HealthWare, you can work offline when needed or use mobile data or Wi-Fi when available. You have distinct choices, and you can choose the system which best fits your organization’s needs. More information on our point of care is available at https://www.healthware.com/products/clinical_compliance#intouch or call us at 850-479-9035 or visit our website at https://www.healthware.com.

CMS Issues Final Rule (CMS-1672-F) for Medicare Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS) Rates and Wage Indexes for 2018

11/2/2017 HealthWare Financial 1 Comments

CMS

CMS estimates that Medicare payments to Home Health Agencies in 2018 will be reduced by 0.4 percent, or approximately 80 million dollars, which includes the sunsetting of the rural add-on provision. The issued rule also finalizes proposals for the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model and the Home Health Quality Reporting Program (HH QRP). CMS will finalize the Home Health Groupings Model (HHGM) at a later date.

Find the 2018 HH PPS wage indexes and case mix weights here: https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-Fee-for-Service-Payment/HomeHealthPPS/Home-Health-Prospective-Payment-System-Regulations-and-Notices-Items/CMS-1672-F.html

If you are looking for great information system and data analysis solutions for your Medicare Home Health Agency, look no further than HealthWare. Visits us at https://www.healthware.com or call us at 850-479-9035.

OASIS-C2 V2.21.1 Final Version Specifications Now Available

10/27/2017 HealthWare Other 0 Comments

There are two minor changes in OASIS C2 V2.21.0 that have been identified and that will have changed that will be implemented on January 1, 2018. One of these issues is related to the Social Security Number Removal Initiative (SSNRI) and should not affect your software. However, a new fatal edit has been added for M2010_HIGH_RISK_DRUG_EDUCTN (Patient/caregiver high risk drug education) and M2001_DRUG_RGMN_RVW (Drug regimen review). M2010_HIGH_RISK_DRUG_EDCTN should not be [^] (left blank) when the answer to item M2001_DRUG_RGMN_RVW is equal to 0.

CMS

If your agency is looking for a great way to help improve your OASIS quality HealthWare offers OASIS Scrubbing and Analysis in rea-time with the results returned within seconds. With HealthWare you can gain valuable insight into your OASIS while you are working on it simply by submitting the OASIS assessment data to our cloud based services. Using this analysis allows you to find and correct inconsistencies before submitting the data to CMS. If you are concerned about the upcoming Home Health Conditions of Participation (CoPs) and especially meeting the Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement (QAPI) requirements this same OASIS assessment data can be used for your QAPI program through our Quality Improvement services.