Home Health & Hospice Week

Plus, sign up for Eli teleconferences for in-depth OASIS C info.

Transitioning to OASIS C is going to be costly, so take advantage of these free CMS teleconferences and trade group video resources.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid

Services has provided three telephone training sessions over the past three months. The first call (“OASIS C Background,” recorded Oct. 22) provided an overview of the change process and important background information.

The second call (“How OASIS C Gets Collected,” recorded Nov. 12) had Linda Krulish of OASIS Answers reviewing the assessment tool section- by-section, including the new CMS guidance for the items. The third call (the “OASIS C National Provider Call,” recorded Dec. 8) provided an OASIS C overview by CMS’s Robin Dowell, Angela Richards, and Elizabeth Madigan.

Resources: Slides for these calls are at www.cms.hhs.gov/HomeHealthQualityInits/02_CMSSponsoredCalls.asp, under “Downloads.” MP3 files of the calls will be available about three weeks after the live call date at www.cms.hhs.gov/HomeHealthQualityInits, CMS says.

And the National Association for Home Care & Hospice is providing all agencies access to a four-hour OASIS C pre-conference session from NAHC’s October annual meeting in Los Angeles. To see the free four-part training video of the presentation “OASIS C: What You Must Know,” go to www.dcprovidersonline.com/nahc/?event_id+NAHC102.

Finally, for a fee you can sign up for ongoing OASIS C training sponsored by Eli:

• Making Wound Care Work With OASIS C. Jan. 21, 3 pm. Wound care expert Beth Hawkins Bradley will provide you with a framework to help you develop a strategy for integrating wound care plans with OASIS C, as well as sharpen your assessment skills. More information is at www.audioeducator.com/conference-Wound-Care-Work-with-OASIS-C-210110.

• OASIS C Item-By-Item Discussion Series. January and February. Stay tuned for details of this three-part series that will go over the OASIS C items one by one. More information will be at www.audioeducator.com --click on the “home health” link.