Excellence in Hospice Care: The Plan of Care
Individualized, holistic support is the foundation of quality hospice care and this depends on a well-structured and continuously updated plan of care.
A PHE has been declared for areas of California affected by wildfires. Read a summary of the federal waivers here.
With a concern for the safety of all lives impacted by this ongoing emergency, ACHC is suspending surveys in the affected areas. Additional information from CMS, including guidance for healthcare organizations and Medicare beneficiaries can be found here.
Individualized, holistic support is the foundation of quality hospice care and this depends on a well-structured and continuously updated plan of care.
Achieving accreditation is regarded as one of the key benchmarks for measuring the quality of an organization. Once initial accreditation is achieved, it is not permanent and must be maintained and renewed to ensure continued compliance. ACHC Accreditation is valid for a 36-month time period but preparation for renewal should begin at least nine months before the expiration date. Resources are available to help you prepare.
Maintaining personnel records for staff members is required to achieve ACHC Accreditation and meet applicable state and federal regulations.
New Medicare requirements for hospice certifying physicians will now take effect June 3, 2024, instead of the original May 1 effective date. CMS announced the action in an MLN newsletter on April 25.
Patient records are a vital part of the accreditation survey process. When a Surveyor arrives for your on-site survey, your organization must provide several patient record reports during the opening conference. A new ACHC checklist is available to help you assess your organization’s compliance with patient record requirements.
Standards for ACHC community-based accreditation programs have been released for 2024 and are now available to download from your customer portal. While most standards are unchanged, updates were made to standards for two programs — Hospice and Renal Dialysis Accreditation.
Clients and patients depend on you to deliver excellent services in a secure environment. Performing background checks on personnel validates your commitment to providing safe, quality care.
ACHC Standards and Medicare Conditions for Coverage (CfCs) require organizations to develop an emergency preparedness plan.
The revised Advance Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage (ABN), Form CMS-R-131, is now available to download from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Affected organizations must start using the updated ABN form by June 30, 2023.
On January 27, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released revisions to Hospice-Appendix M of the State Operations Manual.