Sertifi Offers Tips to Improve Home Health Industry
Sertifi, an electronic signature software provider, proposes four ways electronic signatures can benefit the home health industry.
Home Care Software has partnered with Sertifi to provide an electronic signature option for home health and hospice agencies. If you would like more information on Sertifi, contact your CareSmart Software consultant.
Four problems continue to plague home health agencies when it comes to excessive documentation requirements.
Sertifi, a leading electronic signature provider, is spreading the word at health care conferences about its time-saving, hard copy document-reducing options for several required documents, including CMS Form 485 and face-to-face certifications, which are two forms that slow a home health agency’s ability to be paid quickly by Medicare and Medicaid.
Form 485 is generated by home health billing systems and requires a physician signature before Medicare/Medicaid will pay for provided services. Face-to-face forms require physicians to certify encounters with patients before home care services are considered valid and payable.
Electronic signature solutions like Sertifi help resolve the paperwork setbacks. Below are four ways electronic signatures can benefit home health care agencies:
1. Expedite document processing - orders sent by fax or courier tend to experience lag in turnaround time. Sertifi’s electronic signature software tracks documents and enables users to know where they are in the signature process. They also can send reminders for documents that haven’t been signed. Resolving this paperwork process electronically also saves time otherwise spent sending items via the postal service, courier or fax machine.
2. Dedicate more time to patients - time often is spent chasing paper-based documents instead of clinicians and nurses spending time on patient-focused activities. When health care professionals eliminate the paperwork burden, they are able to provide better care to their patients.
3. Eliminate worker headache - physicians frequently are frustrated by having to sign yet another document and sometimes believe the home health agency (not Medicare/Medicaid) creates this extra work. Job satisfaction results in higher worker retention rates. Not to mention, future referrals to the home health care agency could increase.
4. Reduce Costs - manually collecting signatures on documents such as these is thought to cost $10-$12 per document. Costs are reduced to about $3 per document by implementing an esignature solution such as Sertifi, says Hamilton Temple, director of sales for the electronic signature software company.
“Signing documents electronically is convenient and eliminates the loss of paperwork,” Temple says. “By making it a simple process that is hassle-free, it’s no longer inconvenient from a physician's standpoint.”
About Sertifi
Based in Chicago, Sertifi provides leading esignature and Web contracting solutions that enable organizations to close agreements up to 30 percent faster. Sertifi is the industry’s most trusted esign provider and has processed millions of electronic signature documents.
Looking for software solutions for your home health agency?
Check out CareSmart AMS.
Copyright © 2011 Home Care Software Solutions. All rights reserved.
HIPAA regulations make home health care agencies responsible for the privacy of their patients’ health information. Max.md enables user-friendly, efficient, and secure communications that improve patient outcomes.
Home Care Software has partnered with max.md to provide a secure communications tool that agencies can you from within CareSmart AMS software or directly from their computers, laptops, iPads, and iPhones.
Home Healthcare Agency Benefits
- Satisfies 100% of HIPAA / HITECH Security Standards
- Reduces administrative workload
- No confusing software- can be installed in minutes!
- Affordable…costs only pennies per user, per day!
- Meets NHIN Direct and FTC Privacy Standards
Some more information from our friends at max.md:
The .mdEmail® national health information network conforms to 100% of the HIPAA, HITECH, NHIN Direct Project and FTC Policy by Design Technical, Security and Policy standards.
Watch Video
max.md utilizes "cloud technology" and a unique (patent pending) infrastructure which allows all .mdEmail® subscribers to conduct peer to peer, physician to patient and business to business electronic communication within a secure global healthcare exchange.
Cloud computing solutions offer increased capacity or capabilities at a fraction of the cost of new hardware or software applications. As a result, users increase office productivity within your existing IT environment or legacy systems, saving time and money. That translates to no work flow disruptions or retraining.
Our tools can be quickly and seamlessly integrated into familiar email clients like Outlook or Thunderbird or Apple Mail; or into other back office applications like Electronic Health Records, Practice Management Systems or HIE configurations. Whether you are a Single Doctor Practice with a laptop and little IT expertise, or a large healthcare organization with its own IT Staff and email server, mdEmail® can transform your office in a matter of hours.
The daily communication challenges of healthcare are time consuming and expensive. Data warehouses and other systems with no ability to communicate "beyond the Firewall", or move sensitive information across the web, are the legacy standard. MaxMD has created the first multi-level secure messaging platform to connect the health care industry, whether communicating in or out of network.
Through .mdEmail® and other .md tools, physicians, nurses, labs, hospitals and "Business Associates" can mobilize information (ePHI) through a secure, direct pipeline to improve office productivity. This results in hard dollar saving and less reliance on outdated means of communicating. No more Phone tag, faxing or scanning. The ultimate result is a paperless work environment and the ability to provide better care.
Whether operating within network or beyond the .md domain, .mdEmail® users can securely transmit any document containing
- ePHI
- CCRs
- Forms
- lab results
- pre-visit or post-visit care instructions
and can be shared in a completely protected manner. With .mdEmail® as a solution, you or your office staff can access your secure communication capability from any computer, tablet or smartphone, at anytime.
Interested in purchasing .mdEmail or other max.md tools for your home health organization? Contact Home Care Software today!
Looking for software solutions for your home health agency?
Check out CareSmart AMS.
Copyright © 2011 Home Care Software Solutions. All rights reserved.
Post-Acute Care
Study highlights cost-effectiveness of home healthcare as post-acute setting
When home healthcare is used as the first post-acute care setting after a hospital stay, it was found to be the most cost-effective care setting, new research suggests.
For the study, conducted by Dobson DaVanzo and Associates, investigators studied Medicare claims data for 24,239,080 total post-acute episodes and a total of $472.8 billion in Medicare payments. Post-acute settings included skilled nursing facilities, inpatient rehab facilities and long-term care hospitals.
According to the executive summary, Home Healthcare Is A Cost Effective Setting for Post-Acute Care. Of the episodes that are admitted to a formal post-acute care setting upon discharge from the index acute care hospitalization
(HHA, SNF, IRF, LTCH), home health first setting episodes are the least costly: representing 38.7 percent
of episodes, but only 27.8 percent of first setting episode Medicare payments. Read the summary HERE.
ICD-10 delay should be one year, says HHS
WASHINGTON – The loose contingent of health professionals railing against the ICD-10 delay will likely consider this welcome news: There is a document circulating the Web right now – with a stamp at the top suggesting it will be published in the Federal Register on April 17, 2012 – in which HHS proposes that the new compliance date for ICD-10 be October 1, 2014. Read more HERE.
Caregiving as a ‘Roller-Coaster Ride From Hell’
In her book, Dr. Denholm discusses a series of coping strategies that she developed with her husband during his long illness. The most important of these is to adopt communication tools that avoid red flags, accusations and self-pity, and instead “create expectations, agreements and understandings, including some that may involve agreeing to disagree,” she said. Continue Reading . . .
April 16th, 2012
National Healthcare Decisions Day exists to inspire, educate & empower the public & providers about the importance of advance care planning. National Healthcare Decisions Day is an initiative to encourage patients to express their wishes regarding healthcare and for providers and facilities to respect those wishes, whatever they may be.
Management
Change the Game, Transform Your Company
The strategic conversation in most companies has shifted from cost-cutting to growth and expansion. But how do companies get out of the "survival mode," identify the right new products and services, and motivate employees to create real competitive advantage? Read more HERE.
10 Requirements of the Perfect Manager
If you could hire your next boss, what selection criteria would you use? Alan Norton shares a make-believe want ad aimed at finding the ideal manager. Read more
Copyright © 2011 Home Care Software Solutions. All rights reserved.
Find news, insight and resources your growing home health agency can use.
Home Health / Post Acute Care
Senior Boom Creates A Demand For Home Health Workers
WASHINGTON, D.C. - At her home health care agency here, Venus Ray quizzes 65 job applicants assembled before her: Can they cook? Do they know the right way to wash their hands? Can they safely transfer patients into wheelchairs? If they give wrong answers, speak English poorly or — God forbid — forget to turn off their cell phones, she asks them to leave. More from Kaiser Health News. . .
Viewpoint: CLASS Long-Term Care Insurance Is Dead, But What Comes Next?
To the surprise of absolutely nobody, the Obama administration today walked away from the CLASS -- Community Living Assistance Services and Supports -- Act, the landmark long-term care insurance program included in the 2010 health reform law. But while CLASS may have disappeared, the challenge of financing the long-term care needs of 20 million Americans over the next few decades has not. More from Kaiser Health News . . .
Compliance
Guidelines for Initiating the HHCAHPS Survey More Than 21 Days After the Close of the Sample Month
Home Health Care CAHPS (HHCAHPS) Survey protocols require that HHCAHPS Survey vendors initiate the survey—that is, begin data collection activities—within 21 days after the close of a sample month. The rationale for this protocol is that sample patients will be better able to recall and accurately report their experiences with home health care if the survey is administered as soon as possible after the care is received.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is issuing the following guidance to HHCAHPS Survey vendors and home health agencies (HHAs) regarding initiating the HHCAHPS Survey more than 21 days after the sample month ends. More . . .
10 security problems you might not realize you have
IT administrators are often so busy just trying to keep up with the obvious security threats that many more problems fly under the radar. Here are 10 security risks you may have in your organization that you are not aware of. More from Tech Republic...
Management
Three Rules for Entrepreneurs During Uncertainty
by Ndubuisi Ekekwe
The Mexican economy was in ruins in 1982. Oil prices had fallen, the peso was devalued, interest rates were high, and some banks were nationalized. Yet a young entrepreneur saw opportunities and invested heavily during that downturn. He acquired clusters of companies, across industries, from foreign and native investors, who were fleeing the collapsing nation. His father had told him that nations never go bust forever. Good times always return. More from HBR Blog Network . . .
Four Motivation Mistakes Most Leaders Make
Irrationality is a basic part of being human. A classic example is buying something we would never otherwise have spent money on — and will never use — simply because it's a great deal. So when it comes to motivating employees to change, it should be no surprise that leaders who rely on rationality typically spend time and energy on the wrong things, send messages that miss the mark, and create frustrating unintended consequences.
More from HBR Blog Network . . .
Copyright © 2011 Home Care Software Solutions. All rights reserved.
Does your home care - hospice agency have a business continuity plan? In the July 2011 issue of Caring Magazine, Steve Brown writes a feature on Oxford HealthCare, located in Joplin, MO. Oxford HealthCare had a well thought out disaster preparedness plan and used technology to play a pivotol role in the rescuing of patients following the May 22,2011 tornado that leveled Joplin.
That technology allowed Oxford HealthCare to be on the front lines of the disaster response. "Without the effective deployement of lifesaving home health technology," writes Brown, " the entire episode could have easily cost more lives and suffering."
10 Technology Tips for Disaster Preparedness
-
Maintain Commuications
-
Plan for Emergency Phone Service
-
Prepare for Extra Remote Access
-
Store a copy of Critical Documents Offline
-
Have an Off-Site Command Center Ready
-
Perform System Backups
-
Be Prepared to Revert to the Ancient Method of Paper Documentation
-
Obtain Extra Batteries and Chargers
-
Consider Uninterruptable Power Supplies and Generator Power
-
Test, Test, Test Your Plan.
Research says that 1 in 3 small to mid-size businesses do not have a business continuity plan. Use these 10 steps to start one for your home health agency.
List authored by Sharon M. Civa. Originally printed in Caring Magazine - July 2011.
Copyright 2011 - National Association for Home Care & Hospice.
Reprinted with Permission.
Copyright © 2011 Home Care Software Solutions. All rights reserved.