Category: News & Media

Deborah Wilson Shares Experience Treating Ebola Patients

debbiewilson055Deborah Wilson, a nurse with the Berkshire VNA, this week shared her story of treating Ebola patients in Liberia.  The HCA members attending the “Hot Topics” breakfast on “infection Control Best Practices” were mesmerized by her words and pictures.

In the best community health tradition, Wilson talked of challenges that were clinical and treatment related as well as educational.

“Death is a powerful motivator,” She said of village chiefs who were initially skeptical of community health workers who they feared were bringing Ebola in, not treating it.  Most eventually let educators in, she said, but not before six education workers were stoned to death in Guinea.

Wilson talked of work on the 120 bed ward, which consisted of patients lying on a concrete floor.  The devastation across families was so great, she said, because families often contracted disease by washing the dead bodies of loved ones. “Just after death is when a body can be most contagious,” she said.

Her stories and pictures capture the challenges associated with the life-saving Personal Protective Equipment they wore.  Clinicians were often only able to work in the ward for an hour at a time before clothing was soaked through and goggles were too fogged to see.

But Wilson noted that the community health initiative was effective:  the death rate while she was there went from over 80% to 60%.

Her amazing pictures are HERE!

Some of the great articles written from her experience are HERE!

PART_1426860371049_0319150944

Come to the ICD-10 Coding Conference Before October Transition

The anticipated transition to ICD-10 is to be implemented as scheduled on October 1, 2015. Now is the time to attend the ICD-10 Coding Conference being held on April 15-16 with Selman-Holman & Associates, LLC. Maybe you have started training, but where do you go from there? This intermediate ICD-10 course takes coders and other home health professionals one step closer to the finish line in the race to ICD-10 readiness. In this seminar, professionals will review the basics of the conventions and official guidelines relevant to ICD-10-CM, and begin to apply ICD-10 skills to advanced and complex coding scenarios in order to assure mastery of the ICD-10 code set. In addition, the course will review the current guidance for transitional claims testing and processing and provide attendees with an understanding of operational processes necessary to reduce productivity and financial losses. Recently released OASIS C-1 items and the impact of the proposed document on coding processes in home health will also be reviewed to provide a clear and comprehensive understanding of the coding process for ICD-10. In-depth scenarios will provide all attendees with the opportunity to apply learned principles to coding complex patient conditions using OASIS C-1 proposed coding data items using learned ICD-10-CM coding skills in order to assure competency.

To register for the ICD-10 Coding Conference, click here.

The Home Care Alliance of MA has been keeping a close eye on the status of the ICD-10 coding transformation, I have included some important information we have received below:

From: NAHC, Regulatory Affairs

An  ICD-10 Resource Page has been added to the NAHC web site.  click here

NAHC and the home health and hospice vendor community have a shared goal in assuring  that agencies are adequately preparing for the transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 diagnosis coding. Included on the page are education and guidance materials along with tools to assist our members in attaining  that goal.

The materials have been provided by home health and hospice vendors who work with the NAHC membership. In addition to the materials, the vendors have provided their contact information along with a brief company profile.

The page will be updated as more contributions are received.

Providers should be aware that Congress will not likely delay the implementation date again. Therefore, we anticipate the transition to ICD-10 to be implemented as scheduled on October 1, 2015

CMS Bog:

Successful ICD-10 Testing Shows Industry Ready to Take Next Step to Modernize Health Care

I am delighted to announce that CMS has recently successfully completed the first week of end-to-end testing of new ICD-10 coding.

The International Classification of Diseases, or ICD, is used to standardize codes for medical conditions and procedures. While most countries already use the 10th revision of these codes (or ICD-10), the United States has yet to adopt this convention. Since ICD-10 codes are more specific than ICD-9, doctors can capture much more information, meaning they can better understand important details about the patient’s health than with ICD-9-CM.

 

Read more of the story here: http://blog.cms.gov/2015/02/25/successful-icd-10-testing-shows-industry-ready-to-take-next-step-to-modernize-health-care/

 

To register for the ICD-10 Coding Conference, click here. For any questions, contact Megan Fournier at mfournier@thinkhomecare.org or 617-482-8830

HCA Ad Campaign with CBS-Boston Underway

Thanks to the sponsorship of six Alliance members, the HCA’s shared advertising campaign is off and running through the months of December and January.

AllCare VNA & Hospice, Circle Home, CareTenders, Comfort Keepers, Home Instead Senior Care and South Shore VNA will be featured on WBZ-TV and WSBK-TV as well as on the CBS-Boston website in certain areas of the state. Viewers will see shared ads from these six agencies and the Alliance along with a PSA featuring tips on choosing a home care provider.

The video clips of these ads are available below:

Ad 1: CareTenders – Comfort Keepers

Ad 2: Circle Home – South Shore VNA

Ad 3: All Care VNA – Home Instead Senior Care

Home Care Alliance Healthwatch PSA

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Boston Globe Names HCA Member Agencies as ‘Top Places to Work’

Home care is a tough and rewarding career, but now working for a home care agency could be one of the best places to be employed in general.

Several Home Care Alliance member agencies made a strong showing on the Boston Globe’s “Top Places to Work 2014,” where employee satisfaction surveys are used to judge how well companies treat their workers. This methodology propelled four agencies to be recognized on the annual list.

Comfort Home Care earned the top spot under the “large employer” category with an employee amount between 250 to 999.

In the “mid-size” company rankings with an employee number between 100 and 249 workers, three home care agencies made the list: Visiting Angels of Newton and Canton (#6), Able Home Care (#22), and Community Nurse & Hospice Care (#31).

Among the survey statements are the following:

■ Direction: “I have confidence in the leader of this company.”

■ Execution: “New ideas are encouraged at this company.”

■ Connection: “My job makes me feel like I am part of something meaningful.”

■ Management: “My manager cares about my concerns.”

■ Work: “This company encourages different points of view.”

■ Pay and benefits: “My pay is fair for the work I do.”

■ Engagement: “This company motivates me to give my very best at work.”

The Globe invited 1,660 companies to participate in the 2014 Top Places to Work survey. Of those, 366 organizations employing more than 336,000 people went all the way through the process, allowing the Globe to conduct a confidential survey of their workers.

The Home Care applauds the agencies in the “Top Places to Work” ranking and all agencies that keep people healthy and independent at home.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Home Health Quality Date Updated on PatientCareLink Website

The latest available quality performance measures from Medicare’s Home Health Compare database for all Alliance member agencies was posted this week to the PatientCareLink website. The website is hosted by the MA Hospital Association, and the home health data is posted through a joint agreement between the Home Care Alliance and MHA.

To view the updated reports, visit www.patientcarelink.org and click on the “Healthcare Provider Data” tab and then “Home Health Agency Data” and then “Select an Agency.” The reports now incorporate data for the period July, 2013 – June, 2014, for all measures except measure #30, which is for the period of April, 2013 – March, 2014. In addition to each home care agency’s individual performance, the PCL pages also provide a comparison to the U.S. agency average scores.

“Providing high quality, safe patient care is a top priority for Massachusetts home healthcare agencies,” said Patricia Kelleher, Executive Director of the Home Care Alliance MA. “The home health data on the PCL site can be very useful to patients and their families. In addition, the partnership between hospitals and home health agencies on PCL furthers positive working relationships along the entire continuum of care, which can only improve patient safety and quality overall.”

CDC, Mass DPH Release Updated Ebola Guidance for Healthcare Workers

On October 20th, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released stricter guidance on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) recommended for healthcare workers treating patients with the Ebola virus.

The new enhanced guidance from CDC is centered on three principles:

  • All healthcare workers undergo rigorous training and are practiced and competent with PPE, including putting it on and taking it off in a systemic manner
  • No skin exposure when PPE is worn
  • All workers are supervised by a trained monitor who watches each worker putting PPE on and taking it off.

These principles and other guidance listed on the new advisory appear to be geared towards healthcare facilities and are based on lessons learned from those hospitals and clinics that have treated Ebola cases in the US thus far, including Emory University Hospital, Nebraska Medical Center and National Institutes of Health Clinical Center.

Also on October 20th, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) and Boston Public Health Commission released updated clinical guidance on sending in patient specimens for laboratory testing for suspected Ebola cases. According to DPH, prior to sending a sample, the facility should consult the MDPH Hinton State Laboratory Institute for specimen collection, handling, packaging and transport advice via the 24/7 lab number (617-590-6390).

More information will be shared as it becomes available.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Ebola Preparedness Info and Resources Released by DPH

Through press conferences and announcements, state officials have repeatedly stressed that the likelihood of an Ebola case is Massachusetts is “very low,” but that does not mean local healthcare providers should not be prepared and the general public should not be educated on the issue.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has posted information and resources on a special webpage  with guidance for clinicians and other helpful information. Misinformation about the disease has caused some of the concern, but the state continues to monitor the situation.

Here is part of a recent Public Health Advisory:

Massachusetts is well prepared to handle an incidence of Ebola, in the unlikely event that a case should occur in the Commonwealth. The public can have full confidence that our hospitals have the expertise, preparedness and capacity to handle such a situation. The infectious disease controls in Massachusetts and the United States are world class. Should a patient present Ebola symptoms, the patient would be quickly isolated and treated to prevent the spread of this disease.

Please see the resources below that are listed on mass.gov/dph/ebola.

DPH Guidance for Clinicians

General Information About Ebola Virus

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Controversial Hospice Article Draws Response

photo credit: NY Times/Ruby Washington

Once again, the actions of the few bad actors in home health and hospice are getting media attention rather than the vast majority of agencies that are devoted to providing high quality care to keep people comfortable and at home.

In an investigative report, the Washington Post highlights findings that the number of patients discharged alive from hospice rose by 50 percent between 2002 and 2012. The article also highlights numbers from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) stating that in 2011, nearly 60 percent of Medicare’s hospice expenditure of $13.8 billion went toward patients who stay on hospice care longer than six months. The article singles out for-profit hospices in particular, but still puts all hospices in a negative context.

In fact, the article has prompted responses from the National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC) as well as the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO). In a letter to the editor, NAHC ends their rebuttal by writing:

We must all do our part to ensure that hospice remains a viable choice for terminally ill patients and their loved ones.  Articles of this type may unwittingly discourage use of hospice care, thereby denying terminally ill patients and their families access to vital services that support and comfort them during and in the aftermath of one of life’s most difficult journeys.  Under these circumstances, no one is well served.

The New York Times’ “New Old Age Blog” digs much deeper into the Washington Post’s findings and notes the many layers to the issue and why those numbers may have surfaced. For instance, the blogger writes:

What’s happening here? Hospices have lamented for years that dying patients wait too long to call, enrolling at the eleventh hour when they could have benefited months earlier. Now, we’re hearing more about patients doing as hospice believers (including me) have urged, calling earlier in the course of a terminal disease — and then, in a substantial minority of cases, getting bounced.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

The Top Home Care Stories of 2013

As 2013 comes to a close, the Home Care Alliance looks back on the year in home care news. The Jimmo case, Boston Marathon Bombing, and the shutdown of the federal government all were stories that had an enormous impact on home care agencies and made some people realize the importance of home care services. Other stories more specific to the industry like Medicare “rebasing” cuts and HCA’s policy victory of getting state-based reimbursement for home telemonitoring reflect the ongoing work needed to push decision-makers on what home care can do for people.

See the top home care news of 2013 and let us know what you think in the comments section!

January

Judge Approves ‘Improvement Standard’ Settlement

On January 24, 2013, the Chief Judge of Vermont’s U.S. District Court gave her approval  during a scheduled fairness hearing for an ‘improvement standard’ settlement (Jimmo v. Sebelius).  This settlement could lead to more long-term care in the home health setting and open the benefit to patients who were previously denied coverage….

Guest Post: New MA Staffing Agency Regs

On January 31, 2013, Massachusetts will become the second state to require staffing agencies to provide basic job information to employees assigned to temporary or part-time jobs.  An Act Establishing a Temporary Worker’s Right to Know will amend Massachusetts General Law, chapter 149, section 159C.  The following article provides an overview of the substance of the law and how to comply….

Continue reading “The Top Home Care Stories of 2013”

Alliance Statement on CMS’ Final Rule Slashing Home Health Care Payments

The following is a statement from the Home Care Alliance regarding the CMS Final Rule on Home Health Rebasing. The Alliance invites its members and advocates to share this with their local media:

In a final rule released last Friday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have implemented a home health payment that will result in a 3.5 percent cut per year for the next four years.

It would be easy based on history to view the recent final rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as “another year, another cut.” This year, however, is different.

The home health industry has absorbed $78 billion of cuts since 2009, which will be executed over the better part of the next decade. Those cuts come from the Affordable Care Act, other CMS final rules over recent years, and sequestration. The latest cuts amount to an additional and an untenable 14 percent – or $22 billion – reduction over the next four years.

These total reductions since 2009 and including the CMS final rule are comparable to the combined 2013 budgets of the federal departments of education and homeland security.

With an aging population and home health agencies caring for sicker patients that are released from the hospital at an earlier stage of recovery, the federal Medicare program is making it nearly impossible for quality providers to continue delivering effective services that end up saving taxpayers by preventing costlier facility-based health care under these circumstances.

The Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts joined providers and associations from across the country, as well as many members of Congress, in urging CMS to revisit what they had proposed back in July. Those calls and letters went disregarded and it is evident that CMS is trying to attain a numerical target in their budget ignoring logic at the expense of American seniors who benefit from care at home. CMS claims the cuts amount to a 1.05 percent reduction, which is a slight improvement over the proposed rule, but the cumulative impact of continued cuts scheduled for 2015, 2016, and 2017 drive the cut deeper.

The Home Care Alliance will be assembling with other advocates in Washington DC and online in a campaign to persist in opposing the cuts from CMS.

About the Home Care Alliance:

With a mission to unite people and organizations to advance community health through care and services in the home, the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts is a non-profit trade association and advocacy group representing the voice of the state’s home-based health and care services. Founded in 1969, the Alliance represents 200 home care and home health agencies. For more information, visit www.thinkhomecare.org.

###

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.