Home Health & Hospice Week

3 factors keep proposed arrangement in the clear. The OIG has put its stamp of approval on one hospice's free bridge program, but don't assume that gives you carte blanche to offer free services to potential patients. A hospital-based hospice asked the HHS Office of Inspector General to green light "a volunteer program to provide non-skilled services to terminally ill patients who do not qualify for hospice care," says recently issued Advisory Opinion No. 12-17. The program would be available to those who have up to a one-year diagnosis and/or who have not given up curative treatment. The program would offer non-skilled services such as "companionship, visitation, transportation in the volunteers' personal automobiles, running errands, food preparation, respite for caregivers, and assistance with reading and writing" from unpaid volunteers, the opinion notes. Patients would have to live in their own homes to be eligible, not skilled nursing facilities. Funding: The [...]