Blog
Implementing Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement in Home Health Care
Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) programs are essential to a successful home health agency. In fact, it's been a required process in nursing facilities since the introduction of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. QAPI programs combine all the elements of quality assurance and performance improvement to ensure that facilities meet best practices and care for residents and staff. Why QAPI? Before 2010, quality assurance (QA) and performance improvement (PI) often functioned separately. QA focuses on quality of service related to set company standards. Facilities must closely examine areas they might be underperforming in or risk underperforming in. PI [...]
The Many Ways Forte Consulting Group Can Help Your Hospice Agency
At Forte Consulting Group, we help hospice and home health agency owners manage the day-to-day processes, from cost reporting for Medicare to preparing for surveys. When you have patients to care for, paperwork can be a nightmare—but never when you have Forte on your side. Administrative assistance isn’t the only way we can help you with your home health or hospice agency. If you’ve ever thought about growing your company, expanding to different geographical areas, or even selling your business for the absolute best price possible, we’re here to help with these things, as well. How We Help You Buy [...]
What Happens When There’s a Moratorium on Hospice Care Licenses?
The last time a moratorium on Medicare care licenses was enacted, the moratorium on home healthcare licenses lasted for five years before finally lifting in 2019. When a moratorium is in place, no new licenses will be granted to the healthcare types in question, which means starting a new hospice or home healthcare business could seem impossible. With rumors of a new moratorium on the horizon—this time for hospice care—you may want to start making plans now if you hope to start a new hospice business in 2023. Why Do Moratoria on Hospice Licenses Occur? According to the Medicare website, [...]
What You Need to Know About ADRs in Healthcare
Running your own home health or hospice agency comes with a lot of requirements—some you can plan on, and some that might just take you by surprise. It’s those “surprise” requirements that can be the hardest to handle. After all, the planned trainings and surveys and tests can all be scheduled. You can prepare. When you get an ADR, also known as an Additional Development Request or an Additional Documentation Request, they might just come out of the blue. ADRs are, unfortunately, no longer a rare occurrence. Home health agencies are finding that they receive the dreaded ADRs frequently. Although [...]
Medicare Cost Reporting and Why It Matters
If you run a home health agency, you already know that the administrative side of things can get complicated. Maybe you’re just starting out with your agency, or maybe you’re still pulling things together in the planning stage. One thing you will need to keep in mind when you round out your first fiscal year is Medicare cost reporting. But what exactly is Medicare cost reporting, and how do you do it? It can seem like another difficult clerical task on your plate, but here is a quick run-through on how it works and how you can get it done [...]
How Interim Healthcare Management Benefits Your Home Health Agency
When your home health agency experiences a vacancy in leadership, one option is a consulting management position until new permanent leadership can be found. Interim healthcare management can be beneficial in a variety of different situations, such as when current management has been promoted or fired, a company is undergoing management changes, or a current leader is temporarily unavailable to work. Although it may seem like hiring on new leadership for a short time can be counterproductive, there are actually many benefits to interim healthcare management. In fact, in most cases, fractional management actually improves the productivity of a company [...]