Hospital Home Health Archives – June 1, 2005
June 1, 2005
View Issues
-
Escorts, training, and duress signals improve home health employee safety
This is the first of a two-part article on employee safety in home care. This month's article looks at a comprehensive safety program implemented by an agency in Cincinnati to address violence toward nurses. Next month, Hospital Home Health examines the liability issues associated with employee safety. -
Four tips to protect your agency’s employees
Protecting employees as they travel throughout the area and into many different types of situations often means giving them trainings and tools that can help them avoid, or escape, a dangerous situation. -
HIPAA Q&A
This column addresses specific questions related to implementation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). -
Free HIPAA resources available on the web
Two resources that address the security rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) are available on the Internet. -
Don't be fooled by the illusion of patient safety
Many health care organizations require managers to submit corrective action reports for every significant incident in their department. Those reports may give senior leaders the feeling they are doing something about every identified problem, but such reports may represent more of an illusion of patient safety rather than reality. -
LegalEase: Compliance: Don’t call, unless you can confirm
Home health agencies frequently encounter issues for which there does not appear to be any clear regulatory direction and are tempted to call the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and other regulatory organizations for clarification. But staff must exercise extreme caution when they raise issues and receive answers that are inconsistent with information they previously received. -
Summit highlights gaps, disparity in health care
According to the director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in Rockville, MD, escaping the health care quality "hook" is impossible. She spoke recently at AHRQ's first national summit on health care quality and disparities. -
Aspirin prevents strokes in middle-aged women
Results from a new major study show middle-aged women who take aspirin lowered their risk of having a stroke, but their risk of myocardial infarction or death from cardiovascular causes was not affected. -
News briefs
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced new national coverage criteria for mobility assistive equipment including power wheelchairs and scooters.