Home Health & Hospice Week
State Supreme Court Nixes Alzheimer's Lawsuits
Your employees won’t be able to sue your clients for injuries that occur when caring for an Alzheimer’s patient, according to a new decision from the California Supreme Court. “Those hired to manage a hazardous condition may not sue their clients for injuries caused by the very risks they were retained to confront,” Justice Carole Corrigan wrote for the court.
In a 5-2 decision, the state’s highest court said employers have no liability as long as the caregiver was warned of the risks and the injury was caused by symptoms of the disease, according to the L.A. Times. Workers voluntarily assume the risk of violent injury in caring for patients with the brain disease, the court said.
In the suit, home care worker Carolyn Gregory suffered a permanent hand injury while trying to restrain an 85-year-old Alzheimer’s patient at the kitchen sink. She received worker’s comp but also filed a suit against the clients. The majority said the ruling was limited to home health workers trained and employed by an agency.
Home Health & Hospice Week
- Documentation:
Beef Up Your Intake Process As ICD-10 Looms
Start at the beginning to improve documentation. Your intake department has an opportunity to gather [...] - Hospice:
Add Hospice Cap Calculation, Repayment To Your To-Do List
CMS implements new aggregate cap procedures but leaves inpatient cap as-is. If you fail to [...] - Know Your Facts:
Feds Used These Stats To Decide On Your Cap Requirements
More than one in 10 hospices exceeds its per patient cap. Wondering why the Centers [...] - Fraud & Abuse:
Strike Force Cities Rack Up Indictments, Guilty Pleas
Shady physicians, a fugitive nurse, and more figure in home care fraud heat wave. It’s [...] - Industry Notes:
Eliminate Manifestation Codes As Primary Before Jan. 1
Incorrect diagnosis code reporting could bounce your claims back to you when new edits hit. [...] - Industry Notes:
Learn Drug Reporting Lessons From New MAC Tool
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services may have fixed the claims system glitch affecting [...] - Industry Notes:
State Supreme Court Nixes Alzheimer's Lawsuits
Your employees won’t be able to sue your clients for injuries that occur when caring [...] - Industry Notes:
'Confined To Home' Definition Hits The Books -- Again
Nearly three years later, CMS’s regs are catching up with its rulemaking. In the 2012 [...] - Industry Notes:
Medicare Trust Fund Is Safe A Little Longer
The latest Medicare Trustees’ Report released last month offers some good news and bad news [...] - Industry Notes:
Don't Forget Wage Index Change For 2015
You can look at your new hospice payment rates in an official Change Request to [...] - Industry Notes:
Texas HHA Faces Suit Over Murdered Family Member
Your policies on checking out your workers before hiring them may save you in a [...] - Industry Notes:
Long-Term Care Chain Makes L.A. Acquisition
The Ensign Group Inc. has acquired Angeles Home Health Care in Los Angeles, the L.A.-based [...]
