Invariably, new clients ask why I include an extensive orientation program into the systems I design for them. Often they are confused as to why I put so much time into it and don’t understand why they should pay for something that seems so obvious. Orientation is much more than just familiarizing a new employee with the tasks you expect him or her to perform. It is a tremendous opportunity to build staff loyalty, promote your public image, and help your business grow.
As the saying goes, you never have a second chance to make a first impression. Your orientation should start with who you are, the philosophy that drives your organization, and the belief that the people you have just hired are like gold to you. In years past when I was running my own agencies, orientation was always a special day. We created employee-specific handbooks for all new hires and made sure their name was on it. For added flair, we placed a red rose on each book. Continue reading “A Strong Orientation Program Lets Home Care Agencies Know Where They Stand” »
It is one thing to attract good employees, it is quite another to keep them. Research indicates employees who feel their work is appreciated, are considered important by their boss, and that their work makes a difference in the lives of those they serve, tend to have higher rates of job loyalty. While money is important, research also suggests that as long as the factors above are met, employees will stay even if the company pays a little less than the competition.
So how do you create reasons for staying? First and foremost is ongoing recognition for a job well done. If you have a strong customer satisfaction program in place, this will make staff recognition easy to identify. If you don’t have a program in place, consider building one. However, regardless of how you determine how well your staff is doing, taking the time to recognize their stellar efforts is a powerful retention tool. Don’t wait to recognize your staff until they leave or retire. Codify the process over time and make it ongoing. Continue reading “Good Retention Strategies Bump Up Home Care Agency Staff Loyalty” »
How quickly our world of home care and hospice is changing. There is now a free download coming from Medscape Mobile for individuals with Blackberries, iphones and Androids that includes drug reference and interaction checker, disease condition references, and daily medical news and CME/CE. What a great resource available for Home Health and Hospice nurses and therapists in the field! Imagine being able to do a drug interaction assessment in the home at the time of the home care visit, or to look up the latest treatment for a disease or condition. With these kinds of resources available to home care staff, the quality and timeliness of documentation and care should improve. Score another one for Home Health and Hospice agencies!
Today, more than ever, home health agencies must diversify if they are to survive. It makes no difference whether you are Private Pay or a Medicare-certified home health agency, diversification will build the strong fiscal foundation you need to weather this current and any upcoming economic storms.
For Private Pay agencies, this means investigating new opportunities that might exist within your marketplace and offering unique services that that will immediately and directly appeal to customers in your community. For Home Health and Hospice agencies, diversification means expanding your horizons and seriously considering the benefits of starting up a Private Pay agency or a Durable Medical Equipment agency, or both. Continue reading “Diversifying Services: A Matter of Survival for Home Health” »
In recent posts I’ve explored some of the reasons why it would be beneficial for the home health industry if Nurse Practitioners (NPs), Advanced Practice Nurses (ARNPs), and Physician Assistants (PAs) were given more independence to make decisions about care and to sign off on important Medicare reimbursement paperwork. This will be especially true if Congress goes ahead with its plans to cut Medicare payments to physicians and more and more doctors refuse to include Medicare patients in their practice.
But there are even more reasons why greater independence should be granted to nurses: the times simply demand it. Continue reading “It’s Time To Turn Advanced Nurses Into Home Health Decision Makers” »
Even as Congress is contemplating making further cuts to Medicare payments to physicians, there are laws in the works that could dramatically reduce the administrative burden and costs for home health agencies. The Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act would allow Nurse Practitioners (NPs), Advanced Practice Nurses (ARNPs), and Physician Assistants (PAs) to order home health services under Medicare. A bill that has been slowly moving through both the Senate and the House, a recent study commissioned by National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) found the Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act could potentially do even more to improve quality of care to millions of Americans. Continue reading “Could This Pending Law Save Home Health?” »
It looks like physicians are realizing what all of us in home health have known for the past eleven years: major cuts in Medicare payments hurt.
With Congress returning next week for a lame duck session, doctors and the AMA are stepping up their campaign to press lawmakers to put off the major reductions in Medicare payments that are scheduled to take effect in December 2010. If Congress does not act, physicians who treat the elderly under the federal program will see a 23% cut in their fees starting December 1, 2010. Continue reading “Home Health Update: Physicians Lobby Against Medicare Fee Cuts” »
In a recent editorial, noted health policy expert Kenneth E. Thorpe, PhD, Chair of the Department of Health Policy & Management at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, took the recent Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) cuts in home health to task. Citing the successes of home health throughout the health care system as evidence, Thorpe decries the cuts and finds them to be both politically and fiscally irresponsible. Thorpe goes on further to state that, “…the one notion Democrats and Republicans can all rally behind is that quality, innovative, and cost-effective health care begins in the home.”
Those of us who spend our days in home health know, first hand, the value of the work we do. More than any other care delivery system in the country, home health reduces readmissions to hospitals, decreases nursing home admissions, and helps patients with chronic illnesses, such as diabetes and hypertension, to be monitored and receive medication in the comfort of their own homes. Continue reading “Health Policy Expert Recommends CMS Reconsider Home Health Cuts” »
Are you beginning to feel like it is never going to end? Guess what? It isn’t. The latest data coming out of CMS indicates there has been a decline in the functional domain points that agencies are earning. The general feeling among OASIS-C experts is that when OASIS –C came out, most of us were so focused on the major changes in the wound care sections that we failed to pick up on the smaller changes in the functional areas.
While much of the wording looked the same, upon closer scrutiny it turns out these minor changes make huge differences in the scoring and, consequently, the points and the dollars. For those of you who read the Home Health Line newsletter, the July 12, 2010 issue gives excellent examples of how substantial these changes really are.
What is clear to me is that an assessment is not an interview. Our nurses and therapists must read the responses and be clear on the intent and meaning of each response. Most importantly, the assessing home health clinician must watch the patient demonstrate their functional ability. Continue reading “Surprise! CMS Did It Again and What We Need To Do To Fix It.” »
The health care reform bill was big to say the least. There are so many elements and different timelines it is hard to know where to begin – and even more difficult to keep track of it all. Gratefully, someone has taken the time to put together the timelines for the implementation of the different pieces of the bill. Much to my surprise, and perhaps yours, many of the key elements were activated this year. No longer can insurance companies deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions, deny coverage to an adult child who is in college, increase rates without justifying the increase to a government panel, nor can they put lifetime dollar limits on care. Additionally, starting this year, small businesses will receive a tax credit for the health insurance they provide their employees. Over the next five years other elements of the bill will become active. For a full list of the issues and the timeline for initiation, click here.
