Tag Archives: home health agencies

Common and Avoidable Survey Issues – Failure to follow the Plan of Care

We’ve established that regulators are pretty narrow-minded when it comes to interpretation of the rules. And they have to be. Subjectivity contaminates the process and things fall through the cracks. In this installment of our four-part series on Survey Issues, … Read Full Post

Tagged avoidable survey issues, common survey deficiencies, common survey issues, compliance, failure to follow the plan of care, healthcare providers, home health agencies, home health aide services, nursing visits, patient care, plan of care |

Common and Avoidable Survey Issues – Expired documents & missing supervision

Last time, we started our series on some of the common survey deficiencies with a discussion of signatures. This week, we’ll tackle another popular issue: the myriad documents in a personnel file. Bur first, a word about regulators…. They’re so … Read Full Post

Tagged avoidable survey issues, common survey deficiencies, common survey issues, compliance, documentation, expired documents & missing supervision, healthcare providers, home health agencies, qi process, supervisory visits, tracking the details |

Common and Avoidable Survey Issues – Illegible signatures and missing titles

Most of us who’ve been around healthcare know that physician handwriting is hieroglyphic, at best. However, nurses and other professionals aren’t far behind. Maybe it’s our keyboard-oriented world, but handwriting is getting worse every day. Keeping in mind that medical … Read Full Post

Tagged accreditation, avoidable survey issues, common survey issues, compliance, healthcare providers, home health agencies, illegible signatures and missing titles, master list of signatures, re-accreditation, survey deficiencies, tracking the details |

Common and Avoidable Survey Issues – A four-part series

Complying with rules and guidelines is a way of life for healthcare administrators. We know that our field is rife with regulations and oversight so we’re accustomed to scrutinizing our operations to find areas needing improvement. It’s also common sense … Read Full Post

Tagged accreditation, avoidable survey issues, common survey issues, home health agencies, re-accreditation, survey deficiencies |

Lawful and Unlawful Interview Questions- Avoid costly litigation

Many employers walk a fine line during the interview process, asking questions that could land them in court for discrimination. Unfortunately, many candidates feel compelled to answer these questions out of ignorance or fear of appearing “uncooperative,” the kiss of … Read Full Post

Tagged discrimination, EEOC, employment law, equal employment opportunity commission, federal eeo laws, home health agencies, interview process, lawful interview questions, practice management, pre-employment inquiries, state employment laws, unlawful interview questions |

QI, PI, QA – Making Sense of Alphabet Soup (Part 3)

In the first two installments of this four-part series on QI, PI, QA – Making Sense of Alphabet Soup, we discussed the basics of QI and how to create a Quality Study. This blog takes you to the next step … Read Full Post

Tagged auditing, center for medicare and medicaid services, compliance, corrective action plan, home health agencies, qi committee, qi process, quality improvement, supervisory visits |

QI, PI, QA – Making Sense of Alphabet Soup (Part 2)

Welcome to Part II of our series entitled QI, PI, QA – Making Sense of Alphabet Soup. In the last installment, we discussed the basics of the QI mindset and the elements of a solid QI program. In this blog, … Read Full Post

Tagged auditing, guidelines of a qi study, home health agencies, qi program, quality improvement, supervisory visit audit tool, supervisory visits |

QI, PI, QA – Making Sense of Alphabet Soup (Part 1)

Few things strike as much fear in the hearts of home health agency managers like quality improvement. For the record, QI, PI, QA all mean the same thing: by what means does your agency ensure you deliver quality care and … Read Full Post

Tagged auditing, developing your qi process, home health agencies, home health agency managers, policies and procedures, qi process, quality improvement, supervisory visits |

Administering Drug Tests: Avoid Litigation

Health care employers are more frequently requiring a drug test as a condition of an employment offer to a potential candidate. However, failure to follow state and federal guidelines in this area can subject an employer to potential litigation. Drug … Read Full Post

Tagged avoid litigation, conditions for employment, drug testing, employment screening, health care industry, home health agencies, practice management, state and federal guidelines |

Administering Background Checks: Avoid Litigation

It is not uncommon in the health care industry for employers to require a background check and a drug test as a condition of an employment offer to a potential candidate. However, failure to follow state and federal guidelines in … Read Full Post

Tagged avoid litigation, background checks, conditions for employment, employment screening, health care industry, hiring situation, home health agencies, practice management, state and federal guidelines |