Home Health & Hospice Week

Home health and hospice workers struggling to gain access to patients in skilled nursing facilities might get help from a recent Frequently Asked Question set from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to state surveyors.

“Health care workers who do not work in a nursing home, such as hospice workers, surveyors, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel, or dialysis technicians, should be permitted to come into the facility as long as they meet the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines for health care workers,” says the document’s FAQ No.6.The FAQ also mentions “home health nurses” as “other types of health care workers that can be permitted to enter the facility.”

FAQ No.4 advises that “there are times when visits should be allowed” for “compassionate care situations, such as an end-of-life situation.” SNFs, hospices, residents, and families “can work together to identify when a visit for compassionate care is needed, and can be safely conducted,” CMS says.

The FAQs may not help with facilities not governed by Medicare. But hopefully “these facilities and the state departments governing them will consider CMS’ guidance to nursing homes in the development and implementation of their guidance,” says the National Association for Home Care & Hospice.