Effect of an Electronic Face-to-Face Certification Form on Home Healthcare Services Start Date and 30-Day Rehospitalizations and Emergency Room Visits

Patients who transition from hospital to skilled nursing facilities (SNF) frequently require home healthcare (HHC) services upon discharge to home. The certifying physician must document that he or she, or an allowed non-physician practitioner (NPP), has had a face-to-face encounter (FTF) with the patient to document patient ’s homebound status and need for skilled services, and sign the plan of care. Given that a university-affiliated home health care agency (U-HHC) and the university-affiliated providers caring for patients in SNF share the same electronic health record, incorporating the electronic FTF to the usual electronic discharge summary into a ‘combined FTF/discharge summary electronic document’ was proposed as a streamline process to improve communication and timely transmission of required forms, and avoid duplication of work.
Source: Journal of the American Medical Directors Association - Category: Health Management Authors: Source Type: research