Blackfoot Home Health Celebrates 15 Years of Service


About The Aspen Group: Headquartered in Idaho Falls, ID, The Aspen Group is dedicated to providing patients the highest level of skilled nursing, rehabilitative, palliative and hospice care available in the most cost-effective environment, the patient's own home. Since 1995, The Aspen Group has provided patients with quality home healthcare. Services provided include: diabetes education, enterostomal therapy, homecare aides, home medical equipment, hospice/palliative care, infusion therapy, medical nutrition therapy, medical social services, mental health nursing, occupational therapy, pain management, physical therapy, skilled nursing and speech language pathology.

HealthInsight Quality Award

Utah Home Health and Hospice is proud to announce that it is the recipient of the 2010 HealthInsight Home Health Quality Award!


HealthInsight Quality Award 2005

Criteria for 2010 Home Health HealthInsight Quality Awards

1. Agency ranks at or above the 90th percentile nationally using current ranking methods ( nine available measures; giving equal weight to “percentage of patients who had to be admitted to the hospital” and the average percentage of the eight other measures included in the analysis) based on a minimum of one full year of submitted data.
2. Agency has no Condition of Participation level deficiencies on their last State Survey.
3. Agency conducts a systematic review of a minimum of five patients that are hospitalized to identify:
  • Whether or not the hospitalization may have been avoided.
  • Underlying agency process failures contributing to the potentially avoidable hospitalizations.
Data tracking must be done for a minimum of three consecutive months and submitted toHealthInsight for review. If you need a tool, please contact HealthInsight.
Agencies meeting all three criteria will receive the 2010 HealthInsight Quality Award.

Recognition for Excellence in Quality Performance

HealthInsight recognizes that only a limited number of agencies will meet the criteria to receive a Quality Award. However, we also recognize that many agencies have instituted new processes, which have resulted in significant improvements and improved quality of care. HealthInsight will recognize home health agencies that demonstrate the specified level of improvement over a one-year time frame.

To be recognized for excellence in quality improvement, an agency must:
  • Decrease the gap between their ranking for the previous year’s award selection and the 100th percentile by 50%. That is, if the original ranking was the 20th percentile, the agency would have to improve to at least the 60th percentile: (20 + {[100 – 20] * 0.05}) = 60.
  • Have no Condition of Participation level deficiencies on their last State Survey.

For questions or more information, contact Cher Edmonds at 801-892-0155 orhomehealth@healthinsight.org; or Donna Thorson, 702-385-9933 orhomehealthnv@healthinsight.org.

June 14th- June 20th: National Men's Health Week

The purpose of Men's Health Month is to heighten the awareness of preventable health problems and encourage early detection and treatment of disease among men and boys.



Click the Following to Get a Brief Overview of National Men's Health Week



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Closing the Prescription Drug Coverage Gap


Medicare Provides Assistance to Help Low-Income Beneficiaries Get Big Savings on Prescription Drug Costs

For More Information: http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/11464.pdf

More Medicare beneficiaries will qualify for “Extra Help” with their prescription drug costs, and be eligible to pay no more than $2.50 for generic drugs and $6.30 for each brand name drug thanks to changes to Medicare’s Low-Income Subsidy Program (also known as LIS or “Extra Help”) that take effect this year. These changes make it easier than ever for people on Medicare with limited incomes to save on their drug costs.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services estimates that “Extra Help” can save eligible Medicare beneficiaries as much as $3,900 per year. It is estimated that more than 1.8 million people with Medicare may be eligible for “Extra Help,” but are not currently enrolled to take advantage of these savings.

Changes in the law enacted in the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA) of 2008 make it easier for Medicare beneficiaries to qualify for “Extra Help” by changing the way income and assets are counted in 2010. When determining eligibility for “Extra Help,” the Social Security Administration, who handles enrollment in the program, will no longer count life insurance policies as a resource. In addition, help received from family and friends to pay for household expenses like food, mortgage, rent and utilities will no longer count as income.

“These changes to the ‘Extra Help’ program make it easier for more people to get help paying for their prescription drugs,” said Marilyn Tavenner, CMS Principal Deputy Administrator. “Even if you were turned down for ‘Extra Help’ before, you should reapply. If you qualify, you will receive help paying for Medicare prescription drug coverage premiums, copayments and deductibles.”

To qualify, Medicare beneficiaries’ incomes must be less than $16,245 a year (or $21,855 for married couples) and have resources limited to $12,510 (or $25,010 for married couples). Resources include bank accounts, stocks, and bonds, but do not include houses, cars, or life insurance policies.

There is no cost to apply for “Extra Help.” Medicare beneficiaries, family members, trusted counselors or caregivers can apply online at www.socialsecurity.gov/prescriptionhelp or call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY users should call 1-800-325-0778) and ask for the Application for Help with Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Costs.

Medicare beneficiaries can also receive assistance in their local communities from their State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP). Local SHIP contact information can be found on the back of the Medicare & You 2010 handbook, or online at www.medicare.gov/contacts/staticpages/ships.aspx. All the information you give is confidential.

Most beneficiaries enrolled in a Part D plan whose income is too high to qualify for the “Extra Help,” but who enter the donut hole in 2010, will receive a one-time, tax-free rebate check of $250 to help out with high prescription drug costs thanks to the Affordable Care Act. The new law contains some important new benefits to help seniors and others who are caught in the coverage gap. To learn more about the Affordable Care Act and these new benefits through Medicare, visit http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/11467.pdf

These $250 checks will begin to get mailed out to eligible beneficiaries on June 10 and will be sent to beneficiaries soon after they enter the coverage gap. For more information on how to get your rebate check, log on to http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/11464.pdf. (See article below also.)

The donut hole is the period in the prescription drug benefit in which beneficiaries generally pay 100 percent of the cost of their drugs until they hit the catastrophic coverage. Beneficiaries who qualify for Medicare “Extra Help” do not have a donut hole.

To learn more about Medicare prescription drug coverage, visit www.medicare.gov, or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). TTY users should call 1-877-486-2048.



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National Cancer Survivors Day


June 6 is National Cancer Survivors Day. In the spirit of National Cancer Survivors Day, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reminds health care professionals that Medicare provides coverage for a variety of preventive services, including certain cancer screenings. By encouraging your patients with Medicare to take advantage of covered screenings, you can help them lead healthier lives.

Medicare Covered Cancer Screenings

Medicare provides coverage for the following cancer screenings for eligible Medicare beneficiaries:

· Screening mammographies,

· Screening pap tests,

· Screening pelvic exams,

· Colorectal cancer screening, and

· Prostate screening

For More Information

· CMS has developed a variety of educational products and resources to help health care professionals and their staff become familiar with coverage, coding, billing, and reimbursement for the cancer screenings covered by Medicare.

o The Medicare Learning Network (MLN) Preventive Services Educational Products Web Page ~ provides descriptions and ordering information for Medicare Learning Network (MLN) preventive services educational products and resources for health care professionals and their staff. http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNProducts/35_PreventiveServices.asp

o The Cancer Screenings Brochure ~ This brochure provides coverage information on the Medicare-covered cancer screenings listed above.

http://www.cms.gov/MLNProducts/downloads/cancer_screening.pdf

o The Guide to Medicare Preventive Services for Physicians, Providers, Suppliers and Other Health Care Professionals ~ This comprehensive resource contains coverage, coding, and payment information for the many preventive services covered by Medicare, including cancer screenings. http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNProducts/downloads/mps_guide_web-061305.pdf

o Quick Reference Information: Medicare Preventive Services ~ This chart contains coverage, coding, and payment information for the many preventive services covered by Medicare, including cancer screenings, in an easy-to-use quick-reference format. http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNProducts/downloads/MPS_QuickReferenceChart_1.pdf

o The Medicare Preventive Services Series: Part 3 Web-Based Training Course (WBT) ~ This WBT includes lessons on coverage, coding, and billing for several Medicare-covered preventive services, including screening mammography, pap tests, and pelvic exams. To access the WBT, please visit the MLN homepage at: http://www.cms.gov/mlngeninfo Scroll down to “Related Links Inside CMS” and click on “WBT Modules”

o The Preventive Services Educational Products PDF ~ This PDF document contains links to downloadable versions of the many products the MLN has available related to Medicare-covered preventive services, including brochures, quick reference guides, and more. http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNProducts/Downloads/education_products_prevserv.pdf

o To order hard copies of certain MLN products, please visit the MLN homepage at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/mlngeninfo Scroll down to “Related Links Inside CMS” and click on “MLN Product Ordering Page”

· For more information about National Cancer Survivors Day, please visit the official website at http://www.ncsdf.org on the internet.


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How Can Home Health Help You Recover From Joint Replacement Surgery?

For an elderly person, recovering from surgery on his or her own can be an extremely daunting task. Where joint replacement is involved, it can be a near impossible task as movement can be very limited. With Home Health, many services are provided that make rehabilitation much more bearable. Aides, Nurses, and Physical Therapist all work together in a combined effort to help ensure that all of a patients needs are met. So after a joint replacement, how can each of these professionals specifically help you in your recovery?



Nurses

  1. Nurses check all vital signs to ensure that the patient's body is recovering properly.

  2. Often times a patient will be on blood thinner and other medications, so a nurse will be there to make sure that the proper doses and medications are taken.

  3. PT/INR- Nurses perform tests to monitor a patient's blood thinner levels.


Physical Therapists

  1. After a joint replacement, it is crucial that a patient gradually works back in to full movement of the joint. A Physical Therapist will help a patient accomplish this.

  2. A Physical Therapist will come to the patient's home and help them with excercises and movements tailored to their exact needs.

  3. For a typical situation, a Physical Therapist will make around 12 visits, each of these visits providing an opportunity for the patient to increase his or her range of motion and recover more fully.

Aides

  1. An Aide is an added bonus that makes recovery more comfortable for a patient and is provided through Home Health.

  2. Aides help in many simple daily tasks that become difficult after surgery. A few include bathing, showering, and getting dressed for the day.

  3. Once these tasks are accomplished, time permitting, an Aide can also do some light cleaning or any other small tasks that are necessary to help a patient feel more comfortable in their own home.

Everyone deserves to have great healthcare in the comfort of their own home, especially when recovering from surgery. It doesn't matter what type of joint replacement surgery a patient has to endure, having Home Health available during the recovery period is a benefit that each patient should enjoy!

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National Nurses Week

On May 6, 1982 Congress designated May 6 as "National Recognition Day for Nurses." A day, which has now turned into a week long celebration; a time to show appreciation for the incredible job that our nation's nurses do in taking care of the health and well being of America's citizens.

So what exactly does this weeklong commemoration entail? How does one celebrate? Why May 6? Below are a few links that should get any newcomer off on the right foot in his preparation for "National Nurses Week."



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