Posted on Wednesday, July 19, 2017 6:24 PM
On April 21, 2017 Corridor received a 911 call from an Administrator of a home health agency in Pennsylvania.
They just completed a State/CMS re-survey and things did not go well. Serious issues were uncovered and the client/owner had a myriad of concerns that he never had to address in his 30+ years in home health.
He initially called and wanted to know whether or not the situation was salvageable. “How do we fix this? What resources do we need? How do we develop a plan? Where do we start? How much is this going to cost? Can it be fixed? Should I file bankruptcy?”
These were all good questions from an owner and team of professionals that had never experienced a conditional level survey before.
Corridor immediately responded with its 911 support program. We dispatched two expert consultants who arrived onsite to the agency within days. Immediately, Corridor partnered with the Senior Leadership team to conduct an assessment and develop a plan to address the deficiencies including prioritizing tasks that would address the survey results.
After completing a thorough assessment, both the client and Corridor realized immediately that they needed additional resources. Two more expert consultants were assigned as Interim Managers.
Corridor began by reeducating and training the staff. It was discovered that the policy and procedure manuals that the client was using was outdated. Corridor Products and Education Division sent out new up–to-date manuals that were overnighted to the agency. These came with the assurance that would be updated with any future changes in regulations – saving the client research time. To supplement the training for staff, the client purchased enough Corridor Quickflips for each clinician. Corridor Quickflips are a handy reference used by many agencies to guide the clinician in regards to documentation in the patient record.
The team then began the task of completing a chart review. After reviewing a number of charts, both teams realized that they were not going to be able to complete all of the chart reviews in time.
Corridor then reached out to its Coding Business Line and assigned two remote reviewers to assist with chart reviews.
Once all charts had been reviewed, one of the reviewers came onsite to educate the team and fill in as another Interim Manager in a different branch location.
Six weeks after that panic call, the client had their re-survey and the condition was lifted.
For more information on Corridors team of expert consultants, please click here.
Written by Mary Anne Daley, Corridor’s Director of Consulting
About Corridor
Corridor is the nation’s preferred partner and trusted business advisor to home health and hospice providers, providing quality services and impactful results for 30 years. Focusing on key operational, regulatory and financial challenges, Corridor delivering industry-unique solutions and deep expertise in coding, clinical documentation review, compliance, billing and collections , consulting and provider staff education . At Corridor, we make the business of caring for people Better! For the most important industry updates and news that impacts home health and hospice, please make sure to sign up for our weekly newsletter to receive the latest up-to-date industry information direct to your inbox!
For additional information, please contact Corridor at 1-866-263-3795.
