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HEALTHCAREfirst is committed to keeping you ahead of the curve! Our home health educational resources provide the latest on regulatory updates, best practices, and tips for improving many areas of your organization. We’re always here to help, so if you have questions or just want to talk with one of our experts, contact us at 800.841.6095 or connect@healthcarefirst.com.
Ronda Howard knows how your RCM should work
From bedside nurses and operational leaders to OASIS, billing and coding experts, the team at HEALTHCAREfirst has been in your shoes, working in many of the roles within home health and hospice agencies. Ronda Howard, Vice President, Revenue Cycle and CAHPS at HEALTHCAREfirst is one of them.
5 KPIs hospices can use to evaluate RCM
To gauge the effectiveness of revenue cycle management (RCM), hospices need to manage five key performance indicators (KPIs). These KPIs are linked to cash collection, including measurements of the speed and accuracy of payments, as well as any issues that could lead to claims denials. That’s why monitoring these KPIs helps hospices avoid the most common RCM pitfalls.
Surveys point the way to better home health and hospice care
Among the various methods home health and hospice agencies can use to gain insights from patients and caregivers, surveys can be one of the most effective. But many consider surveys like CAHPS simply a means to meet compliance requirements and avoid penalties. Using surveys consistently, in addition to CAHPS surveys, to capture patient feedback can
Hospice and palliative care in a COVID-19 world with Edo Banach, President and CEO, NHPCO
In this episode of the MatrixCare podcast, Navin Gupta, SVP of the Home and Hospice Division at MatrixCare, sits down with Edo Banach, President and CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), to chat about the impacts of the pandemic on hospice and palliative care and where he believes the industry is
RCM support through COVID-19, PDGM, and beyond
A conversation between Navin Gupta, Vice President, Home Care Solutions for MatrixCare and his special guest Jeremy Crow, Senior Software Executive, Information Technology Consultant, and Certified Project Manager for HEALTHCAREfirst about RCM support through COVID-19, PDGM, and beyond.
PDGM resource hub
The implementation date for the Home Health Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) is on or after January 1, 2020. PDGM is an alternative case-mix methodology designed to put the focus on patient needs rather than volume of care. It relies heavily on patient characteristics to more accurately pay for home health services and uses 30-day periods as a basis for payment.
OASIS-D resource hub
The implementation date for OASIS-D is right around the corner. Beginning January 1, 2019, home health agencies must use the OASIS-D item set to collect and report data for Medicare and Medicaid patients that receive skilled nursing services and are 18 years old and older. The main reason for revising the OASIS is to increase standardization across post-acute care to calculate cross-setting quality measures in accordance with the IMPACT Act. These changes present significant risk if not properly implemented and managed, so we have created this resource hub to help.
Recruitment & retention strategies for home health & hospice
With the average life expectancy continuing to climb, the demand for home health and hospice care continues to increase. This coupled with a national shortage of nurses, many home health and hospice agencies are hard-pressed to hire and keep qualified nursing staff.
Home health infection prevention & control
The new Home Health Conditions of Participation (CoPs) demand a greater focus on home health infection prevention and control. They state that as a component of an agency’s QAPI program, it must establish, document, and maintain a home health infection prevention & control program with a goal of preventing and controlling communicable diseases.
Clinical time management strategies
Home health and hospice clinicians have greater responsibilities than ever before. Case loads, care needs, and duties vary from day to day, and often the clinician is the only one responsible for making sure that everything is completed correctly and in a timely manner.
Home health and hospice referral generation action plan
As the post-acute care environment becomes increasingly more competitive, solidifying new referral source partnerships and strengthening existing partnerships is a vital aspect of any organization’s success. This Home Health & Hospice Referral Generation Action Plan offers five key steps to identify high-value referral partners and strategically target business development efforts so post-acute care providers can dramatically increase home health and hospice referrals in record time.
Home health care software FAQ
Home Health Care Software FAQ: Home Health, in its simplest definition, is care provided to individuals at home rather than in a hospital, inpatient unit or physician’s office. The care provided typically consists of part time or intermittent skilled care which may include nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. Additional services such as those of a medical social worker or Home Health Aide may be provided.
Working with home health and hospice commercial payers
Medicare continues to reduce payments, forcing home health and hospice agencies to look for other ways to maintain revenue and profits. One alternative source of revenue to consider is commercial payers. To be successful when working with commercial (private insurance) payers your agency will need to be organized and well prepared. Here are some recommendations to help you get started.
Tips for switching your HHCAHPS vendor
Are you getting the most out of your HHCAHPS investment? Partnering with the right HHCAHPS vendor is critical to HHCAHPS score improvement. If you are dissatisfied with your current vendor, consider switching.
Implementing home care software
You’ve selected new home care software whether it be home health software and/or hospice software. Now what? The next step in the process is Implementing Home Care Software. This is an area where there are many agencies that excel, and others that feel completely overwhelmed.
Home care software purchasing checklist
It is important to choose a home health software vendor who is right for your business. The software you select should help your agency streamline operations, accelerate reimbursement and improve patient outcomes.
A guide to home health value-based purchasing
In recent years, the Medicare home health program has grown quickly, both in cost and the number of patients served. In 2009, 3.3 million Medicare beneficiaries received Medicare home health services, resulting in $18.9 billion in Medicare payments.
The future of home health: A new approach to success
Corresponding to an aging population and an increase in the incidence of chronic health conditions, more than 3.4 million people currently receive Medicare skilled home health care services. With home health care service utilization on the rise, Medicare home health care spending has nearly doubled from 9.7 billion in 2001 to 18.3 billion in 2012.1 Additionally, home health agency growth has soared while profit margins have declined.
Client testimonial first choice home health
It was quite beneficial to have the same project manager and trainer at First Choice Home Health throughout the whole process because every agency is unique. We’re not a very large agency in a rural area in Montana. Sometimes you feel like you’re not as important as a huge agency in an urban area.
Home health conditions of participation FAQ
Home Health Conditions of Participation FAQ: In January 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published the Home Health Conditions of Participation (CoPs) final rule in the Federal Register. The CoPs are the minimum health and safety standards that a home health agency must meet in order to participate in Medicare and/or Medicaid programs.
