Home Healthcare Focus March 2009 Web

Volume 1, Issue 2

focus

Home Health Care

March 2009

Addressing the needs of home health care agency professionals throughout the United States.

An Indura Systems publication Each issue includes:

Stimulating Home Health Care

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Industry Headlines

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Home Health Care Updates and Guidelines

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Event News

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Customer Support

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Igea Product News

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Home Health Care Comments

There appear to be mixed messages coming out of DC about how the Economic Stimulus Package will help or hinder Home Health Care. Some news reports tell us that the allocation of billions of dollars to healthcare will help secure the place of home health care agencies, as a lower cost channel for care-giving compared to hospital beds. Other news reports suggest that Medicare and Medicaid is going to be more tightly controlled, even cut, in certain states, which could negatively impact home health care agencies. The facts of the matter are:

Inside this issue: Stimulating Home Health Care

1

Obama on Home Health 1 Care Hazardous Conditions in 2 the HHC Environment Why Use of HomeBased Dialysis Lags

2

Editorial

2

CMS Policies on Sleep Testing

3

Igea Customer Support

3

A rapidly growing population of baby boomers are requiring an increasing amount of day-to-day care while hospitals cannot keep up with demand for bed space. At the same time, seniors are finding that receiving treatment at home, where they can remain in

the comfort of familiar surroundings, amongst family and friends, is greatly preferred to a lengthy stay in an anonymous hospital bed.

aged more carefully, while home health care is recognized as a popular and lower cost alternative to in-patient care.

So what is the likely outcome?

What will this really mean for the home health care agency owner?

An agreed middle ground is likely to develop, one where Medicare and Medicaid is man-

For more comments on this subject, turn to the Editorial section inside.

Even Now, Health Care Adds Jobs Employment figures for February are out today, and the numbers are a horror show: The economy lost some 651,000 jobs during the month. But health care added some 27,000 jobs. In all, the U.S. economy has lost some 2.6 million jobs since in the past four months, according

to the seasonally adjusted figures in the non-farm payroll report. During that time, health care has added a little more than 100,000 jobs. That’s a small percentage gain, given that the total number of jobs is about 13.5 million. But, these days, any gain at all is pretty astonishing.

The number of people on the payroll increased in categories including physician offices, hospitals, home health services, and nursing homes.

Read the numbers for yourself in this table.

Page 2

Home Health Care Focus—Indura Systems

Hazardous conditions in the home health-care setting may put frail and elderly at risk

Hazardous conditions in home health care settings reported by Columbia University

A large-scale study conducted at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health has identified the type and frequency of hazardous conditions found in the home healthcare (HHC) setting. An anonymous survey of over 700 home healthcare RNs employed in New York City provided the most complete assessment of homecare hazardous household conditions to date. The most common hazardous conditions found in households were environmental and physical hazards, including

animal hair, cigarette smoke, excessive dust, and mold/ dampness. Physical hazards, such as loose rugs, were also common. The paper, "Household-Related Hazardous Conditions with Implications for Patient Safety in the Home Health Care Sector," was published in the December 2008 issue of the Journal of Patient Safety.

and provider safety in this setting," says Robyn Gershon, DrPH, professor of clinical Sociomedical Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health and principal investigator. "Of special concern is the fact that nearly 70% of homecare patients in the U.S. are 65 years or older.

"Although HHC is the fastest growing sector in the health care industry, data are particularly sparse with respect to patient

Read the rest of this story at: http:// www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/200903/cums-hci030409.php

Why Use of Home-Based Dialysis Lags Despite their advantages, peritoneal dialysis and home hemodialysis remain unpopular modalities. By the end of 2006, approximately 355,000 individuals were undergoing dialysis in the United States. Only 8.2% of them were on peritoneal dialysis (PD). The rest were on hemodialysis (HD), according to a 2008 U.S. Renal Data System (USRDS) report. After a high of

9,407 new patients in 1995, the number of new PD users every year has fallen to 6,725 and accounts for just 6.2% of new dialysis patients—a number that continues to decline from a 1982 -1985 peak of 15%, the report noted.

ate professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of CaliforniaLos Angeles (UCLA) and associate chief and director for peritoneal dialysis in the division of nephrology and hypertension at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

―Fundamentally there's very limited enthusiasm among providers and companies for the use of peritoneal dialysis,‖ observes Rajnish Mehrotra, MD, associ-

Read the rest of this story at: http:// www.renalandurologynews.com/WhyUse-of-Home-Based-Dialysis-Lags/ article/127707/

This is likely to be achieved with the use of technology that provides mandatory audit trails, allowing inspectors to regularly monitor compliance and costs, perhaps even remotely.

using a technology solution to help them remain in compliance, while offering the capabilities to quickly respond to new auditing and reporting needs.

Some home health care agencies use just the bare minimum of technology to run their businesses. When new regulations and policies are introduced, to meet the administration’s goals, the agencies that will prevail will be those that are

Such technology is not only critical to minimize the impact of forthcoming changes—it is also essential for the accelerated and successful growth of any business.

Editorial We have been having many discussions, lately, mostly concerning the healthcare direction that the new administration may take, and what this means to home health care agencies. Based on input from experts in the field, as well as on-going research, it is felt that more rigorous control over the running of home health care agencies will be one of the steps taken to crack down on costs.

Page 3

Volume 1, Issue 2

CMS Announces New Policies for Sleep Testing for the Diagnosis of Sleep Apnea The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today a new policy for Medicare coverage of sleep testing for the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The decision provides coverage for specified sleep tests that are used to confirm the diagnosis in patients who have clinical signs and symptoms of OSA. OSA is a condition that is characterized by periods of apnea during sleep. Apnea is defined as a temporary absence in breathing. Persons with OSA usually snore; however, not

everyone who snores has OSA. Persons with OSA also tend to exhibit daytime drowsiness that can cause accidents with motor vehicles and machinery. Long term OSA can lead to cardiovascular problems. A doctor may suspect OSA from taking a patient’s medical history and performing a physical examination. The diagnosis may be confirmed with a sleep test, during which the patient’s breathing, heart rate and other factors are recorded and interpreted. In general, OSA is diagnosed by counting the number of apnea episodes or breathing

disturbances that occur during a specific time span. ―Medicare beneficiaries who have obstructive sleep apnea face significant risks for cardiovascular disease and other ailments,‖ said CMS Acting Administrator Charlene Frizzera. ―This coverage decision establishes nationally consistent coverage and assures that beneficiaries who have sleep apnea can be appropriately diagnosed and referred for treatment.‖

Home sleep testing is covered in the new CMS policies

Read the full story here: http:// tinyurl.com/dkkcje

Product News from Indura Systems At Indura Systems we are always looking for ways to give our customers every opportunity to run a successful and profitable home health care agency.

cated server and all the headaches that go with server installation and hardware maintenance. Anyone with an internet-connected PC can get access to Igea HHC.

After many months of testing, we are now proud to offer our new Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) option for both Igea HHC FastStart and Igea HHC Enterprise.

Tests have shown very fast response times and our first Igea HHC SaaS customers are enjoying high quality service and system performance, thanks to high spec configurations of server software at our 24/7 hosting center.

The installation process has been developed to be fast and simple. A home health care agency can now be up and running on Igea HHC, a market leader in home health management systems, in just a few minutes. And there is no need to invest in a dedi-

Very fast response times from the Igea HHC SaaS option.

Contact your local Indura Systems office for more information on Igea HHC SaaS and start saving on hardware costs today!

Igea HHC Questions and Answers Q: I have a wrong SOC date for a patient and therefore the CP period dates are wrong. How can I fix this? A: This is found in IGEA in The Operations -> Patient Services -> Orders/Care Plans - > Order Profile section. There you will find the CP effective from and to dates. You can manually edit this information.

Q: When I post a MC FC from Initial Billing to Electronic Transmission, I get a ―Validation Checklist‖ window saying ―Claim – Prior Authorization Number – Data Not Found‖ A: This is caused by the fact that after having billed the RAP for that episode, the OASIS was changed,

and therefore the OASIS HIPPS code changed. You will have to cancel the RAP, resubmit the RAP and then finally recreate and submit the FC.

Glossary: SOC Start of Care CP Certification Period RAP Request for Anticipated Payment FC Final Claim MC Medicare If you have a favorite tip on using Igea HHC, send it to [email protected].

Indura Systems Customer Support—Igea HHC experts—home health care experts

Igea HHC is a leading enterprise management application made specifically for home health care agencies. With an established reputation in many U.S. locations, Igea HHC and our point of care application, iPOC, are increasingly being adopted by agencies that are tired of systems which are not user-friendly, cause a demand for more, skilled back-office staff, and do little to help an agency maximize billing accuracy and value.

Indura Systems 851 Irwin Street, #300 San Rafael CA 94901 California Phone: (415) 226-1206 Florida Phone: (786) 871-6755 Texas Phone: (956) 205-0024 Fax: 888-251-9321

Igea HHC, from Indura Systems, helps home health care agencies remain compliant, effective, and profitable.

Igea HHC—Made to Manage Home Health Care Web site: www.indurasystems.com Blog: www.homehealthcarefocus.blogspot.com

For a free demonstration, contact Indura Systems today.

Come and see us at these shows, coming up in 2009: Boot h3

March on Washington & Law Symposium—Washington, DC, March 22-25 B Home Care & Hospice—Raleigh, NC, April 27-28 ooth 71

Home Care Association of NJ 2009 Conference—Iselin, NJ, April 30—May 1 Southwest & Gulf Coast Regional Conference—New Orleans, LA, May 5-6Booth 51

5

CAHSAH Annual Conference—San Diego, CA, May 6-8 HCAF Annual Conference—Orlando, FL, June 24-25 Booth 2 5

Customers Comment on Igea HHC. Valdes Yamiles CEO, Elderly Health Home Care Inc. Billing is a snap with IGEA (HHC), easy and efficient! The support team is there to resolve my issues on the first call. Sucet Lopez Administrator, Advanced Nursing Homecare Services Inc. IGEA (HHC) has fulfilled all operating needs of our home health agency. The help/ support team is great when you are new like us. Juan Parrado CEO, The Lakes Homehealth Corp The Igea (HHC) system is user friendly. It covers every need

in the Home Health Industry and the Customer Support team is always there when we need them. Ernesto Diaz CEO, Samy Nursing Corp. As of today we can truly echo the sentiments of many. It is user friendly and pleasing to the eye. The menus are easy to navigate. We have used the support team and were very pleased with the professional and efficient help we received.

As well as these comments, we regularly hear from customers who have been able to reduce their back office staff overhead since implementing Igea HHC. In many cases,

users of other HHC management systems switch to Igea because of the cost savings available. It is not uncommon for operating costs to be cut by $50,000—$100,000/year based on staff salaries. We also receive feedback about our OASIS and billing capabilities which allow agency administrators to maximize their billing value while reducing claim submission errors. This results in improved, reliable cash flow which helps sustain a growing business. Join the Igea community today!

Join the happy community of Igea HHC customers. Benefit not only from a high ROI, easy to use, fast to implement home health care management system, but also from a company where staff personally know the home health care business.

Igea HHC Made to Manage Home Health Care