Home Health Accreditation

Home Health Aides provide personal care services on an intermittent basis. These services are covered by most payors, including Medicare, when other skilled services are also being provided.

Medical Social Services include resolving social or emotional problems that are an impediment to a patient’s recovery, and are provided on an intermittent basis by a Master’s prepared Social Worker (MSW) or a Social Worker Assistant under the supervision of a qualified Social Worker. These services are covered by most payors, including Medicare.

Occupational Therapy services include upper body strength training, improving range-of-motion skills, and a home exercise program, and are provided on an intermittent basis by a licensed Occupational Therapist or Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA). These services are covered by most payors, including Medicare.

Physical Therapy services include gait training, strength training, and a home exercise program provided on an intermittent basis by a licensed Physical Therapist or Physical Therapy Assistant (PTA). These services are covered by most payors, including Medicare.

Skilled Nursing services are provided on an intermittent basis by a licensed Registered Nurse (RN), Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), or Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN). These services are covered by most payors, including Medicare.

Speech Therapy services include improving swallowing, cognition, and speaking, and are provided on an intermittent basis by a licensed Speech Language Pathologist (SLP). These services are covered by most payors, including Medicare.

This additional recognition acknowledges that older adults may have goals and priorities that differ from those of other age groups. Age-friendly care is intentional with regard to safety and reduction of harm and confusion. It focuses on the use of four evidence-based best practices in geriatric care known as the 4Ms*: What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility. The Distinction in Age-Friendly Care is patient-centered and designed to enhance patient outcomes.

This distinction must be achieved in combination with ACHC Home Health Accreditation.

*The 4Ms framework is a key element of the Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative developed by The John A. Hartford Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, in collaboration with the American Hospital Association and the Catholic Health Association of the United States.

This additional recognition integrates behavioral health interventions into home care services for patients whose mental illness, substance abuse, or intellectual/developmental disabilities make it difficult for them to receive care outside of their homes. Services are provided by a psychiatric nurse and other home care personnel, as ordered by a physician.

This additional recognition focuses on collecting and analyzing data across a range of predetermined domains to evaluate the quality of care and guide continuous quality improvement. Measurement-based care highlights the strengths and weaknesses of current practices and provides evidence of goal achievement. Data are used in aggregate to benchmark and identify opportunities to improve processes, services, and operations for better overall care and outcomes. This distinction must be achieved in combination with ACHC Home Health Accreditation.

This additional recognition focuses on patient- and family-centered care that optimizes quality of life throughout the continuum of illness by addressing physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual needs and facilitating patient autonomy, access to information, and choice. ACHC Palliative Care Standards are based on the National Consensus Project Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care.

This additional recognition focuses on the provision of care to clients/patients with acute or chronic conditions, using telehealth technology that allows monitoring in the clinical or home environment. This technology creates disease management empowerment and independence, improved access to care, increased collaboration among healthcare providers, and improved client/patient outcomes. Standards were based on telehealth clinical guidelines of the American Telemedicine Association.