Have you heard about telemonitoring, otherwise known as telehealth? It sounds very cyber age, but it is actually quite basic and easy. For those patients who qualify, a monitor is placed in the home. The patient and/or family member is instructed in the operation of the equipment which consists of a blood pressure cuff, a finger oximeter, and a scale. Each day at a designated time, the patient is instructed to check their vital signs using this equipment. In addition, there are 10 customized questions asked by the monitor regarding how the patient feels today, changes in symptoms, etc. This information is transmitted through the phone to a central station in our office where it is analyzed and follow-up conducted as necessary. Your doctor can be notified of your monitored results at any time. By using the telemonitor, you can hopefully avoid hospitalizations, prevent a problem, or seek medical attention that could affect your health. If you want more information, please contact us and we will be glad to tell you more about telehealth.

News

New Consumer Information about Medicare Face to Face Physician Encounters. New federal regulations require that a Medicare beneficiary needing home health care must be assessed by a physician, or certain health care providers who work with the physician, within the 90 days prior to admission to a home health agency or within the 30 days directly following admission to a home health agency.  If this ‘face to face encounter’ does not occur within the specified time frame, Medicare will not pay for any services rendered to the patient by the home health agency.  Once the face to face encounter has taken place, the physician, who must be enrolled in Medicare, can then certify that the patient needs home health services. Home Health Compare Quality MeasuresThe Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has a mandate to ensure the quality of patient care provided by Medicare-certified agencies. CMS has an online tool for consumers to evaluate that quality of care. This tool is called Home Health Compare. Beginning in July 2011, CMS will post on www.medicare.gov  new quality performance measures showing how well home health agencies assist their patients in regaining or maintaining their ability to function. After accessing Home Health Compare on this website, anyone can compare the quality scores of several home health agencies at one time. The quality measures listed in Home Health Compare are as follows:

•  How often patients got better at walking or moving around.
•  How often patients got better at getting in and out of bed. How often patients got better at bathing.
•  How often patients’ breathing improved.
•  How often patients’ wounds improved or healed after an operation.
•  How often patients had more pressure sores (bed sores) when home health care ended.
• How often patients got better at taking their drugs correctly by mouth.
• How often patients receiving home health care needed any urgent, unplanned care in the hospital emergency room – without being admitted to the hospital.
• How often home health patients had to be admitted to the hospital.

The above quality measures relate to patient clinical outcomes; in other words, did the agency’s patients improve in these areas.  Additionally, CMS is requiring home health agencies to document certain processes that they do in course of providing patient care.  For example, did their patients receive flu shots during flu season.  Process measures ratings are now being posted on Home Health Compare along with the clinical outcome measures ratings. Patient Satisfaction SurveysMedicare now requires most home health agencies to contract with a vendor to mail patient satisfaction surveys to the agency’s Medicare patients who have been recently discharged from services. The survey is lengthily and the patient may receive help from family members or a caregiver to help complete the survey.  It is important to the home health agency that patients complete and return the surveys. The scores from the surveys will be posted in Home Health Compare beginning in 2012.