Home Health & Hospice Week

Don't be afraid to admit outlier patients. Home health agencies with large outlier populations should avoid knee-jerk reactions to the 10 percent cap or risk facing survey and other troubles. HHAs that have a large percentage of outlier patients -- often blind, insulin-dependent diabetics who require multiple insulin injections daily -- are managing their outliers with various strategies."Some outlier-focused companies are changing their patient mix," William Dombi with the National Association for Home Care & Hospice tells Eli. Others are focusing on teaching family members or other caregivers how to do the injections and teaching patients themselves to be more independent, Olson says. (For ideas on minimizing outlier risk, see Eli's HCW, Vol. XVIII, No. 43, p. 331.) Agencies that are just now getting hit by the cap need to be careful to avoid patient dumping charges that arise from discharging outlier patients, cautions Lynn Olson with billing company Astrid Medical Services [...]