Any Home Health QA Nurses on Board?

[Anjewels]

I'm looking at the possibility of doing QA for a Home Health Agency.

Is there anyone here who can offer any pointers? What does your job entail? Does your employer pay you an hourly rate, or are you payed per case?

Thanks!

[renerian, BSN, RN]

OBQI is alot harder than it used to be. If you can let me know the payers your company would service that would help but here is a list of some of the things I do now:

10 -30% chart audits per pay source that compare (70 indicators an general thresholds)

Policies/procedures

Be able to make excel, power point or other easy to read statistical reports for staff with comparisions and projections/thresholds etc.

Standard operating procedures

Adverse events audits

Track Complaints, incidents, accidents, exposures and keep abreast of the legal and industry standards for employee and patient care for all those issues)

Wound audits

Chair Ethics, OBQI committee and do annual agency evaluation of all financial, QI and patient care mix/diagnosis, etc for the agency for the previous year

Not chair but pretty much coordinate/run and present at the PAC meetings

Handle safety issues

Keep up with Medicare and Medicaid changes

Attend OBQI meetings

Keep up with OIG changes

Present staff education on OASIS and issues that need documentation education

Biohazardous tracking and etc

Assist in testing/trialing etc safer sharps /equipment

Be the lead example of excellence within an agency and be able to sell your idea/direction with everyone or it does not work (you will need to be a key leader constantantly-just the nature of the beast)

Fight for excellence in patient care

Be an excellent negotiator

Be ethical

You need to be able to move and influence people and be able to educate people on why

If your JCAHO that is another whole area of "stuff to know"

Most of the time I love OBQI but it is very challenging to influence people and move the agency in a good direction, most of the time.

Pay stinks though unless you have credentials and your own company and for the most part I work long hours at times. Great job though if you love being a leader and in the front line of fire. I have usually been paid salary so hence the freebee long hours. Now I am working this OBQI job part time/hourly but UH lets just say it hard to keep up. You will find I think if you have similar duties to chart I have listed a company would be foolish to pay you hourly as it would cost them a bundle. :rotfl:

Unless they are hiring someone just to do audit as that in reality does not accomplish anything LOL. (not meant to you but to a company hiring someone just to do that). Someone needs to always/ put corrective action plans in plan and usually it is the OBQI person.

Does this help?

renerian

[renerian, BSN, RN]

Did you get more information on OBQI in home health?

renerian