When HCTR editor Tim Rowan travels to Albuquerque next month to address the 4-state Southwest Regional Home Care Conference about home care technology, he will make the five-hour drive from Colorado Springs instead of flying. Ask him why and he answers without hesitation, “Two-hour advance arrival times, TSA security lines, airport parking fees, cramped seats, […]
File this one under “lesson learned…the hard way.” Incorporate it into your next staff training. This agency properly followed the government’s appeal procedure after receiving a notice of payment denial. Excerpts below show that the administrative law judge did not find the provider’s care lacking, just its paperwork. That is correct, it is not merely […]
Cisco took its video-based medical communications system to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this month, signaling its long-range intention to market a version of the system, which many have seen Jack Bauer use on TV’s “24,” directly to the public.
According to research released late last month by Citrix, organizations are increasingly looking to Web conferencing technologies to cut costs and improve productivity. The study, “Web Conferencing Training Trends 2010: North America,” found that training is a major driver of this trend. The report is the result of a survey exploring the motivation of trainers in North America for their use of Web conferencing. The short online survey, conducted by 1080 Group, LLC on behalf of Citrix Online gathered 437 responses in September 2009.
One thing you can say about vendors and educators serving our industry, they know how to respond to a regulatory change. If you are still in need of staff training solutions for the imminent OASIS changes, we polled the industry and found a number of resources are available. Look through our descriptions of eight offerings and pick the one that best fits your needs.
by Julianne Haydel, RN Agencies often ask their consultant, “What do we have to do in order to pass survey?” Frankly, a complete answer would be so lengthy it is easier to ask how to flunk one. I can answer that one authoritatively because I have firsthand knowledge on how to completely bomb a survey. […]
The RACs have not yet begun targeting hospices and may not until 2010. Why should hospices worry about them? No one knows at this point how intense the RAC scrutiny of hospices will be. Could all this RAC concern be a case of much ado about nothing?
Maybe, but probably not. Let’s look at some of the things we know and some of the concerns:
by Heather Wilson I had the opportunity to speak with a hospice executive director this week who stopped by the Weatherbee offices for a visit during her vacation/workshop on Cape Cod. She talked about how challenging it is to keep up with issues like the RACs given the amount of information she needs to absorb […]
It may seem that the clinical documentation detail expected by this judge is excessive. Nevertheless, had the clinicians and case managers serving this patient delivered that extra detail, the episode would have been paid and the appeals process would have been unnecessary.
The very best, and maybe only, defense against Recovery Audit Contractor attacks against your payments is education. The P-E-M strategy for dealing with RACs focuses on education on two levels: Learn everything possible about what RACs do, who they are and what to expect from them; and Make absolutely certain that all of the hospice’s clinical […]
