As the Alliance prepares for its new membership year, we review our recent accomplishments.
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Category: Publications
NHIC Ask the Contractor April 25
Your opportunity to ask questions!
NHIC Corp., the regional Medicare Administrative Contractor, will host a Hospice & Home Health Ask the Contractor Teleconference (ACT) on April 25th, at 10:00 a.m. This ACT Teleconference is an opportunity to speak directly with the contractor and ask questions or ask for clarification to an issue. NHIC staff representing a variety of functions will be available to answer questions. NHIC usually will provide some updates to the home health and hospice community but the majority of this call is dedicated to providers as a question and answer open forum.
Registration is required on NHIC’s Education Programs webpage
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Four Reasons to Choose An Agency Over A Direct Hire
This month, the Alliance is mailing nearly 5,000 copies of its latest publication, 4 Reasons to Choose An Agency Over A Direct Hire to every Council on Aging (COA) and Aging Access Service Point (ASAP) in the state. Additionally, packages of up to 50 copies of the brochure are available on the Alliance’s website at no charge.
This postcard-sized brochure is professionally printed on heavy card stock and is intended for families uncertain why they should choose an agency. On the front, it describes four areas where home care agencies have a distinct advantage over direct hires; on the anterior, it provides a “Quality Home Care Checklist” to help visualize these benefits.
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The full text of the front page reads:
Why should your family work with a Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts member agency rather than hire an aide or nurse directly? Home care agencies provide significant benefits over direct hires in the areas that matter most to families:
- Employer Obligations: By hiring an aide or nurse directly, you take on the legal responsibilities of an employer, including paying payroll taxes, workers compensation, unemployment insurance, and liability. Working with a Home Care Agency alleviates you of these responsibilities.
- Peace of Mind: The only background checks that come with a direct hire are those you do yourself. Home Care Agencies, however, are required to conduct criminal background checks and have access to more comprehensive data than is available to the public.
- Security & Contingency: If your direct hire harms or steals from you, you’re on your own. In contrast, Home Care Agencies are required to carry various forms of insurance to protect you. Additionally, agencies can quickly provide a replacement if your aide or nurse is sick, injured, or changes jobs.
- Training & Supervision: You are responsible for training and supervising your direct hire. Home Care Agencies, however, have the experience, knowledge, and resources to ensure their workers are thoroughly trained in any services or tasks they perform, including safe infection control, falls prevention, emergency preparation, and personal care tasks.
How do you know an Agency is doing these things correctly? Don’t be afraid to ask them directly, or check to see if they’re a member of the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts at http://www.thinkhomecare.org/agencies.
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2013 Private Care Guides Available
The Alliance will begin shipping copies of its new 2013 Guide to Private Home Care Services next week.
The Guide is designed to educate clients and families about their private home care options and to help them choose from our 132 member agencies that accept private pay, including those who have completed our Agency Accreditation Program. Contents include:
- Introduction:
- Understanding What Home Care Is;
- Understanding the Agency Advantage (New!);
- Assessing Your Needs;
- Exploring Payment Options;
- Knowing About Agency Accreditation;
- Finding & Interviewing Agencies;
- Agency Profiles of 132 Private Care Agencies
- County-By-County Cross Reference
The Alliance will ship copies of the Guide to all members, as well as every hospital case management office, Aging Service Access Point (ASAP), Council on Aging (COA), Geriatric Care Manager (GCM), Veterans’ Center, and dozens of other referral sources. Additional copies are available for order on our website, as is a downloadable PDF version. Guides are always available free of charge with no shipping charges on copies of 50 or less.
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NHIC’s Review of Home Health Claims with 5-7 Visits
The NHIC, Corp. Medical Review Department has recently completed a review of home health claims with five-seven visits billed. Of the 80 claims review, 28 were paid as billed. The remaining 52 claims had some denials resulting in a claim denial rate of 65%. The total charges reviewed included $72,694.98 of which $32,749.95 was denied. This resulted in a charge error rate of 45%.
The majority of the claims were denied because the skilled nursing services were not supported as being medically necessary in the medical records. Read more in the educational article Review of Home Health Claims with 5-7 Visits
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2012 Annual Report: This We Know For Sure
The Alliance’s 2012 Annual report This We Know For Sure is now available for digital download from our website. Learn about both the Alliance’s vision for the future, and help us celebrate this past year’s successes, including:- Sponsorship of our first Innovation Showcase;
- The re-launch of our Job Bank as the New England Home Health Career Center;
- Work on Wage and Hour Issues, especially those related to overtime and live-in care;
- Development of new programs through the Foundation for Home Health, including an interactive video presentation on the “Art of the Home Care Admission Visit,” as well as trainings for ICD-9-CM coding and OASIS–C.
- Sponsorship of a Western Mass RWJ grant on developing a care transitions curriculum for nurses.
- Assistance in navigating changes to the CORI process and new parameters around free access for agencies with state contracts;
- Expansion of the Boston Parking Placard Program;
- Redesign of the Resource Directory and “Find an Agency” web search;
- Revamp of the Agency Accreditation Program
- Leadership on proposals to reject efforts to impose a co-payment on Medicare home health;
- Negotiation a significant change in state Medicaid policy in delaying any TPL recoupments;
- Plans to revise and dovetail the Home Health Universal Authorization Form;
- Sponsorship of Lobby Day to bring members together with legislators to advance telehealth, changes to nurse delegation practices and a state certificate of need process; and
- Assembled and distributed a series of “Keeping It Legal” policy statements on Patient Choice, Illegal Inducements and the Medicare Face to Face Rules;
…and others! Download the PDF today to find out more.
IHI Releases “How-to-Guide” for Home Health/Community Settings
This week the Institute for HealthCare Improvement (IHI) posted on their website, The How-to Guide: Improving Transitions from the Hospital to Post-Acute Care Settings to Reduce Avoidable Re-hospitalizations. This How-to-Guide is designed to support hospital-based teams and their community partners to co-design and reliably implement improved care processes to ensure that patients who have been discharged from the hospital have an ideal transition to home or to the next community care setting. The Home Care Alliance is acknowledged as a contributor and editor of this document.
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Wage & Hour Legal Memorandum; Briefings Scheduled for Alliance Members
Over the past months, the Alliance’s Private Care Advisory Committee has held a series of discussions with employment law attorney Allyson Kurker regarding Massachusetts wage & hour laws as they relate to home care agencies and workers. A labor law attorney with significant experience advising home care agencies, Ms Kurker has researched the broad range of questions raised during those discussions and has prepared a Legal Memorandum on Wage and Hour Issues especially for Alliance members.
The memorandum covers several topics of interest to certified and private care agencies alike, including record keeping and payroll, overtime, exempt vs. non-exempt employees, working time, and issues specific to live-in caregivers. The Memorandum is posted to the MA Regulatory page of the Alliance’s website (link is at the bottom right).
The Alliance will host two free member forums this month during which Ms Kurker will present the substance of the memorandum and address additional questions from the Alliance membership. Agency CEOs and HR specialists are especially encouraged to attend one of the sessions: Tuesday, May 22, at Great To Be Home Care, 2024 Westover Road, Chicopee, or Thursday, May 24, at CareWell Health Group, 141 Longwater Drive, Norwell.
Both sessions will include a continental networking breakfast at 8:30 followed by an Alliance Update presented by Alliance Executive Director Patricia Kelleher at 9:15, and the Wage & Hour presentation at 9:30.
The sessions are open to Alliance members only. Pre-registration is required by calling Stephanie Drakes at 617/482-8830.
FYI: “Home Health Prospective Payment System” Fact Sheet Revised
The Medicare Learning Network has recently released the revised “Home Health Prospective Payment System” fact sheet and is now available in downloadable format. It includes the following information: background, consolidated billing requirements, criteria that must be met to qualify for home health services, coverage of home health services, elements of the HH PPS, updates to the HH PPS, and healthcare quality. This can be used as a handy tool for new employees to home health care!
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Disaster Prep – Is Your Agency Ready?
Home care agencies have unique responsibilities to their clients during disasters, epidemics, and terrorist attack.
But they also have unique resources. The simplest way to prepare for a disaster is to speak to your clients about the matter and to encourage them to take precautions and make plans. A great starting point is the new Disaster Preparedness: For Seniors By Seniorsbrochure from the American Red Cross. This handsome, 13-page brochure covers all the basics — with special attention to seniors including:
Best of all, the Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health is making copies available free of charge. Just download the order form, send it in, and they’ll send you up to 500 copies. |
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Even more importantly, disaster preparedness is vitally important — literally — for home care agencies. That’s why the Alliance partnered with DPH to develop the the Home Health Care Emergency Preparedness Handbook. The Handbookpresents Alliance best practices for preparing for natural disasters, epidemics, and terrorism. Contents include:
The Handbook also contains extensive appendixes on:
The Handbook comes in a three-ring binder and is available to Alliance Members for $25/copy, or $100 for five copies. |
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