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While it is important for home health agencies to prepare to handle a flu pandemic, there are other infection control issues that agencies face more today than in past years.
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Health care spending growth in the United States slowed for the third consecutive year in 2005; and The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has announced the elimination of the 2007 late enrollment penalty for any beneficiary eligible for the low-income subsidy for a Part D plan.
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When staff at the Hospice of Chattanooga in Tennessee provide wound care, they work to help the patient recover a sense of wholeness.
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All home health agencies have policies to prevent the spread of infection but with recent focus on the threat of a pandemic, home health managers need to look more closely at how well prepared their agency will be ...
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has expanded coverage for preventive services such as diabetes screening. Beginning Jan. 1, 2007, CMS is increasing payments for services that affect people with diabetes.
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A recent Institute of Medicine (IOM) report recommends that Medicare gradually replace its current fee-for-service payment system with a new pay-for-performance system for its 42 million beneficiaries.
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As of 2005, only between 5% to 10% of hospitals are currently using electronic health records (EHRs), according to a new study.
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Designating a staff member as the "coding expert" for your agency is one way to ensure accurate reimbursement; but the person does not have to be a certified coder to help your agency understand the myriad codes and guidelines.
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The prevention of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) is a "national priority ... that requires all health care facilities and agencies assume responsibility," the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasizes in long-awaited new guidelines on the issue.
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Patients' right to freedom of choice of providers has been a source of continuing conflict, especially between hospitals and post-acute providers not owned by or affiliated with hospitals ...