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OASIS Alert

Regulatory Reform:
CMS BROADCASTS OASIS REDUCTIONS
If your clinicians are pulling out their hair over the length of current OASIS assessmen... Read more
Wound Care:
GO HIGH ON YOUR OWN SUPPLY
Gauze and saline may look like a bargain on paper. But when it comes to treating wounds,... Read more
Wound Care:
ACHIEVE BETTER OUTCOMES AND MORE SAVINGS
Is your agency still committing flaws with gauze? It's time to unravel those old bandages ... Read more
Training:
KEEP YOUR TRAINING ON THE RIGHT TRACK
With more than enough M00s to make a cow mad, theOASIS assessment form creates plenty o... Read more
OBQI:
CATCH UP WITH YOUR OUTCOMES NOW!
If your home health agency has been ignoring OBQI measures and hoping they'll just go aw... Read more
Diagnosis Coding:
ARE YOUR PATIENTS AT RISK?
Drinking, eating and smoking it's often the recipe for a good night on the town. But ... Read more
Risk Factors:
LOOK OUT FOR OBESITY, DRUGS AND ALCOHOL
Whereas smoking is likely to give clinicians the most repeated trouble on M0290, HHAs st... Read more
Reimbursement:
TAKE YOUR CUE FROM MR. MAGOO
If you turn a blind eye to your patients' vision problems, you could see reimbursement y... Read more
Survey & Certification:
SURVEYORS TO SMACK AGENCIES THAT DONT EXPLAIN BUNDLING
As if admission visits weren't already long enough, home health agencies now must add ex... Read more
Industry Notes:
ADMITTING CLINICIAN SHOULD MAKE OASIS CHANGES
Once a clinician has signed an OASIS form, making changes to it gets a bit tricky. An adm... Read more
OBQI:
OBQI BECOMES A BIG GUN IN SURVEYORS ARSENAL
It's official: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has set the wheels in mo... Read more
Diagnosis Coding:
DIFFERENT STROKES FOR THE SAME FOLKS
If youre flip-flopping between the code for acute CVA and late-effect CVA, youre having a... Read more
Survey & Certification:
HHAs MUST BROOD OVER NEW SURVEY PROTOCOL
Do you know what types of adverse events or patient outcomes are likely to send up flare... Read more
Survey & Certification:
CHECK YOURSELF BEFORE YOU WRECK YOURSELF
A new survey protocol is here are ready for it? Now that the Centers for Medicare and Me... Read more
Draft:
SURVEYOR TRAINING WORKSHEET OBQM & OBQI REPORTS
PRE-SURVEY PROCESS AND SAMPLE SELECTION  ... Read more
Reimbursement:
CMS RULE-BENDING COULD BREAK AGENCIES
When providers miss deadlines, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services makes su... Read more
Management:
CONSIDER RESOURCES BEFORE ENLISTING ADMISSION NURSES
Employing a little army of nurses dedicated to start of care OASIS assessments is a great... Read more
Assessment:
MAKE THE MOST OF JOINT VISITS
Double the pleasure, double the fun but don't double the trouble when you double the n... Read more
Therapy:
PAY ATTENTION TO INSTRUCTIONS WHEN COMPLETING M0250
If your clinicians take M0250 at face value, they could cost your home health agency big ... Read more
Compliance:
LOCK AND LOAD
Do lock dates have a sly way of sneaking up on you, or even slipping past you altogether?... Read more
Industry Notes:
PANEL WEIGHS IN ON OUTCOMES SELECTION
A panel of experts, including industry representatives, recently met to make its recommen... Read more
Wound Assessment:
ICD-9 CHANGE DISRUPTS CODE 998.3
Starting now, your clinicians will have to be more specific than they're used to when c... Read more
Survey & Certification:
CMS WANTS TO CHECK YOUR ID
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services plans to use M0016 to hone surveyors... Read more
Coding:
MARK YOUR CALENDARS WITH THESE ESSENTIAL DATES
Don't let vital coding deadlines pass you by, or your competitors might leave you in ... Read more
Quality Monitoring:
BUDDY UP WITH QIOs TO BOOST QUALITY IMPROVEMENT
Quality improvement organizations are the latest wave in QI, and home health agencies... Read more
OBQI:
DEMO BLISS TURNS BLAH IN THE REAL WORLD
The cheery outlook on OBQI the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center gave on ... Read more
Adverse Events:
DON'T LET THE TAIL WAG THE DOG
In an effort to avoid hefty adverse events reports, home health agencies might be tempt... Read more
Diagnosis Coding:
PRIMARY DIAGNOSIS AND OASIS GO HAND IN HAND
If your nurses consider the bottom line when making diagnosis coding decisions, you co... Read more
OBQI:
TRIM YOUR OBQI BUDGET BY TAKING A TIERED APPROACH
If you're trying to pound all the nuances of OBQI into your staffers' heads, you're pr... Read more
Education:
TOO MANY COOKS SPOIL THE BROTH
Don't bog down your staff with unnecessary outcome-based quality improvement educati... Read more
Industry Notes:
CMS POSTS OBQI CROSSWALK
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is revealing valuable information th... Read more
Compliance:
LEAVE NO EMPLOYEE UNTRAINED
The federal government isn't kidding around when it comes to protecting patients' priva... Read more
Reimbursement:
OASIS HOLDS THE KEY TO VERIFYING HOMEBOUND STATUS, REPORT FINDS
Home health agencies in a tangle with fiscal intermediaries over whether a patient meets... Read more
Homebound Status:
HOMEBOUND ALGORITHM BOLSTERS HHAs REIMBURSEMENT CLAIMS
If your intermediary insists that one of your patients doesnt meet Medicares home... Read more
Medical Necessity:
USE OASIS TO PROVE MEDICAL NECESSITY TO DOUBTFUL FIs
If your fiscal intermediary decides to deny a claim on medical necessity grounds for a pat... Read more
Diagnosis Coding:
CMS BLESSES V CODE USAGE ON REVAMPED OASIS
To pass muster under HIPAA, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will allow ... Read more
Adverse Events:
HHAs SHOULD TAKE THEIR CUE FROM THE BOY SCOUTS
Preparedness is the name of the game when a surveyor wants an explanation of the emergen... Read more
Education:
SKETCH COMEDY MEETS OASIS
If your staff members' eyes glaze over during OASIS training, it's time for you to shake... Read more
Assessment:
OVERCOME M0610/620 PROBLEMS
Home health agencies have a duty to monitor patients for signs of behavior problems, but... Read more
Management:
DONT BE SHY ABOUT OASIS TIMEFRAME EXPECTATIONS
In an environment increasingly devoid of nurses, managers at home health agencies are ca... Read more
Quality Improvement:
KNOW THE TOOLS OF THE TRADE
If you feel overwhelmed by information when trying to decide which outcomes to target fo... Read more
Coding:
ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL?
The GAO has sent a message to health care providers that have been clamoring for a sing... Read more
Industry Notes:
HHAs CAN IGNORE OASIS DRAFT DATA SPECS
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued the draft data specifications... Read more
Reform:
CMS SCRUBS UP FOR OASIS FACELIFT
The home health industry clamored, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ... Read more
Reimbursement:
PROTECT REIMBURSEMENT WITH CONTINUED DOCUMENTATION
There's no doubt about it: Documentation can be a pain. Then again, downcoded claims ar... Read more
Reform:
CMS PUTS THE KIBOSH ON SEVERAL M0 ITEMS
As part of its effort to de-fang OASIS, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ... Read more
Diagnosis Coding:
STAY IN THE BLACK BY PRIORITIZING CODING
In a few short months new ICD-9-CM codes will go into effect, and if you drop the ball ... Read more
Therapy:
INVITE THERAPISTS TO HOP ON THE OASIS BANDWAGON
If your home health agency routinely excuses physical therapists from OASIS duty, you ar... Read more
Education:
TAKE A TEAM-BUILDING APPROACH TO TRAINING
Once a home health agency decides to bring physical therapists fully into the OASIS loo... Read more
Reimbursement:
M0150: ALL MEANS ALL
Multiple payors can throw clinicians for a loop when answering M0150, but this item need... Read more
OBQI:
BEWARE OBQIS TRIPLE THREAT
While your outcome-based quality improvement reports can provide you with a treasure-tro... Read more
Assessment:
TRANSFER v. DISCHARGE: DO YOU KNOW THE RULES OF THE GAME?
It's easy to become confused in the "what if" world of OASIS assessments, and the issue... Read more
Medical Review:
RHHI WORD PLAY COULD STIFLE THERAPY WOUND CARE VISITS
Several regional home health intermediaries have put their heads together and come up w... Read more
Industry Notes:
NEW REPORT LAUDS OBQI DEMONSTRATION
Agencies choosing not to implement an outcome-based quality improvement program according... Read more
OASIS Reform:
REFORM PROPOSALS COULD DELIVER HHAs FROM THE DESERT
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services actually is taking action to reduce ho... Read more
Education:
THIS WILL BE ON THE TEST
Want your employees to be first-class OASIS masters? The key word is "class." As thousan... Read more
Education:
HHAs OFFER TWO APPROACHES TO EMPLOYEE TESTING
Just as there is more than one way to skin a cat, there is more than one way to test yo... Read more
Assessment:
THE REGIMENS, THEY ARE A-CHANGIN
Home health agencies usually can consider M0200 the "yes-man" of OASIS, but his cousin... Read more
Adverse Events:
DONT DISCOUNT OUTSIDE CAREGIVERS AT DISCHARGE
Patient abandonment in home care is a touchy issue, and adverse event reports are makin... Read more
Outcomes:
4 STEPS TO A BETTER WOUND CARE PROGRAM
If your home health agency is all over the board when it comes to wound care, a stand... Read more
Outcomes:
CARE PATHS PAVE THE WAY TO IMPROVED OUTCOMES
If you want your clinicians to help your agency reaches its financial and outcomes desti... Read more
Quality Measures:
HOME CARE NEXT IN LINE FOR FULL EXPOSURE
Are you ready for your agency's outcomes to be published next to other agencies' numbers... Read more
Therapy:
DONT LET M0030 PRECEDE M0090
Just as you have to crawl before you can walk, you have to assess a patient before you c... Read more
Assessment:
THERES NO ROOM FOR WHAT IF ON OASIS
Home health agencies can drive themselves bananas if they try to account for every possi... Read more
Industry Notes:
WAYS & MEANS CALLS FOR COPAY AND OASIS TASK FORCE
Despite vigorous industry protest, Medicare reform legislation recently passed by the Hou... Read more
Regulatory Reform:
INDUSTRY CHEERS PROPOSED OASIS CHANGES
The newly created HHS Advisory Committee on Regulatory Reform agrees with many of the c... Read more
Outcome-Based Quality Improvement:
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!
Home health agencies should be ready for some action on OBQI, that is. Now that you'v... Read more
Marketing:
USE AGGREGATE DATA OR AGGRAVATE THE FEDS
Outcome-based quality improvement provides a treasure-trove of information a home health... Read more
Adverse Events:
KEEP CLINICIANS EYES PEELED FOR UTI HINTS
Are all your agency's clinicians attuned to the signs and signals of a urinary tract inf... Read more
Quality Monitoring:
CASE THE JOINT
There's a wealth of information right under your nose that could be the key to unlocki... Read more
Diagnosis Coding:
BEWARE TOP 3 DANGER SPOTS FOR DIABETES CODING
If your home health agency continues to grapple with diagnosis coding for patients wit... Read more
Assessment:
PREPARE STAFF FOR M0610 BY ROLE-PLAYING
"So, Mrs. Jones, does your mother swear at strangers on the street or see and hear th... Read more
Reimbursement:
IMPROPER CODING EQUALS TRAUMATIC RECOUPMENT
If your home health agency has been mistakenly using 800- and 900- series trauma codes t... Read more
Survey & Certification:
DONT DROP THE BALL WHEN YOU ADD A DISCIPLINE
If your home health agency forgets to complete a follow-up OASIS when you add another d... Read more
Industry Notes:
HHAs NEXT IN LINE
Home health agencies might want to take notes on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ... Read more
Prospective Payment System:
HMO SWITCH MEANS MORE PAPERWORK
Home health agencies no longer must feel like they're wandering about in a darkened net... Read more
Prospective Payment System:
CMS OFFERS GUIDANCE ABOUT HOSPITAL STAYS
There has been much head-scratching about what a home health agency should do when a pa... Read more
Benchmarking:
BECOME DATA-SAVVY TO BOOST YOUR CARE AND PROFITS
As hundreds of third- and fourth-string athletes will tell you, there's a lot to be lea... Read more
Therapy:
AGENCIES EXPECT MOST PATIENTS NOT TO MEET THERAPY THRESHOLD
If your home health agency anticipates that the majority of patients will meet the10-vis... Read more
OBQI:
STARTING SMALL REAPS BIG OBQI RESULTS
Home health agencies that choose to ignore the clinical outcomes focus of the future co... Read more
Reimbursement:
SCICs DEMAND BOTH CLINICAL AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
What to do when patients have significant changes in condition continues to be a bane o... Read more
Adverse Events:
ASSESS PATIENTS ABILITY, NOT OPPORTUNITY, TO MANAGE MEDS
Don't let a patient's helpful family member lead to a black mark on your adverse events... Read more
Outcomes:
SUFFRAGE COULD RELIEVE OBQI SUFFERING
If your home health agency is one of the many still trying to choose an outcome to focus... Read more
Education:
3 TIPS FOR SQUEAKY CLEAN OASIS TRANSMITTALS
Home health agencies continue to transmit flawed OASIS assessments, often cheating themse... Read more
Industry Notes:
CMS CLARIFIES ITS VIEW OF PATIENT IMPROVEMENT
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services doesnt distinguish between patients who i... Read more
Adverse Events:
HEALING WOUNDS CAN TRANSLATE TO ADVERSE EVENTS
Wounds continue to be a sore spot for home health agencies when it comes to OASIS. If yo... Read more
Diagnosis Coding:
HHAs SHOULD TAKE PHYSICIANS' DOCUMENTATION AS GOSPEL
The old saying that to assume makes a you-know-what out of 'u' and 'me' is right on ... Read more
OBQI:
OBQI NEEDN'T BE CHAMPAGNE TASTE FOR AGENCIES ON A BEER BUDGET
Don't let financial woes stunt your OBQI efforts even cash-strapped agencies can affor... Read more
Diagnosis Coding:
DON'T CONFUSE SURGERY WITH TRAUMA
Regional home health intermediaries recently have called home health agencies on the ca... Read more
Therapy:
QUANTIFY PATIENTS' ABILITIES BEFORE ANSWERING MO825
If efforts to assess patients' likelihood to meet Medicare's 10-visit therapy threshol... Read more
Reimbursement:
KEEP THERAPY DOLLARS FROM SLIPPING THROUGH YOUR FINGERS
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently passed along some good news ... Read more
Outcome Measures:
OBQ-WHAT?: CONFUSION OVER OBQI AND OBQM CAN MEAN SURVEY WOES
With the recent release of the OBQI reports, many home health agencies are scratching... Read more
Survey & Certification:
OASIS TOP-10 LIST IS NO LAUGHING MATTER
A correction a day keeps angry surveyors away and the Iowa Foundation for Medical Care... Read more
Industry Notes:
CHANGES ON A 485 MEAN CHANGES ON OASIS
If your claim, 485 and OASIS record aren't perfect matches, you're out of step with the... Read more
Education:
TRAIN STAFF TO AVOID PPS DENIALS
What's the prognosis for your staff's diagnosis coding condition? If the outlook appear... Read more
Management:
PREPARE TO BATTLE STAFF'S OBQI 'DATA SHOCK'
Your agency's first glimpse of the outcome -based quality improvement reports could wre... Read more
Industry Notes:
RHHIs TIGHTEN THERAPISTS' WOUND CARE CRITERIA
You can kiss your therapists' wound care visits good-bye when adding up your 10-visit t... Read more
Available Years:  2002