Monday, November 15, 2010

Take your daily dose of accreditation!

Last year accreditation was top of mind for every home healthcare provider. The rules of the game changed requiring anyone dealing with Medicare reimbursement to become accredited. Even thought the writing was on the wall for while, many HME provides waited until the very end to become accredited. The mad dash was on and the accreditation race begun. Now the dust has settled.

With their status secured, most HME's are comfortably back to business not thinking too much about accreditation. Most await until their next re-survey round before they will get back into accreditation concerns. Why make accreditation a fire drill for you and your team? It leads to more stress and more work that can be completely avoided. Additionally accreditation checks could occur before a re-survey date. Inappropriate billing errors, fraud investigations, or a possible complaint can lead to an accreditation check. Avoid excess stress and make accreditation a daily maintenance activity just like locking up the building and turning off the lights.

A daily dose of accreditation does not need to be overwhelming. Items include having a defined process for daily patient paperwork, keeping accurate data records, and monitoring the data. Look at the cleanliness of your facility for patient and employee safety. Make sure you are covering equipment, tagging, and appropriately marking clean, dirty, and repairable equipment. Keeping accreditation top of mine is more about being educated and paying attention to details.

What is your facility doing to take their daily does of accreditation? Share your thoughts below!