Today, the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts unveiled detailed guidance for home health agencies regarding admissions from hospitals related to COVID-19. The guide is available as a Word document and providers are encouraged to create policies and procedures that reflect their own agencies’ operations, capabilities, and community/patient needs.
The guide was co-authored with Kimberly Skehan of Simione Healthcare Consultants. Because of the nature of the crisis, we are making this available to all agencies, regardless of current membership status.
Specific Topics Covered
- Screening and acceptance of home health or hospice patients who have been diagnosed with COVID19 from a hospital
- Denial of admission for a home health or hospice patient with known or suspected COVID-19
- Pre-visit COVID 19 Screening/Assessment
- In Home Visit Considerations for Known or Suspected COVID-19 Patients
- Personal protective equipment during home healthcare visits to patients and households with no signs and symptoms of COVID-19, or with a negative test
- PPE for a patient with signs and symptoms of COVID- 19, or with a positive COVID-19 test, or with pending test results:
- COVID-19: When to Discontinue Transmission-based Isolation Precautions
- Patient Education and Reassurance
- Hospice Inpatient Unit Considerations
- References (CDC guidelines)
For more on the novel Coronavirus, visit the Alliance’s COVID-19 Resource page. To learn more about how the Alliance serves its members and the home care industry, visit www.thinkhomecare.org/join.
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