Home Health - Fraud??

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Specializes in Tele; Med/Surg; ED.

I've been working PRN for a home health for a year now. Primarily because my parents are both nurses with the same h.h. and I thought it wouldn't hurt to get that experience along with working with them.

So, I've given it a fair chance and I'm done. It's the biggest fraud I've ever seen in my life! I had no idea this existed!! Admitting patients that are not home-bound by anyone's standards, admitting diagnosis that are a joke,etc. Yet, if you don't see the patients that are on your schedule you get ******* out and made to feel like an incompetent fool. Try catching someone at home when they don't want to be "caught", multiply that by thirty and you have a nervous breakdown waiting to happen, lol! These people do you a favor by staying home for you!! Oh, and get this. If you don't see the "required" amount of patients (even if that magic number wasn't on your schedule in the first place) you get that number of PTO hours taken away. So even though I haven't taken any PTO time - guess what - I don't have any! This home health has 250 patients and it is a rural area. Go figure...it sucks to have someone who is a higher status than you ranting in your face for something that you can't do anything about and who hasn't worked a DAY in a hospital. It does feel good to know that hopefully one day Medicare will make their world come falling down around them and I'll be happily using what I went to nursing school for...haha:smokin:

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It seems to me that you could avoid the irritants you mentioned in your post by doing shift work. If you are willing to give it another try, why don't you find an agency where you can do some home care shifts instead of visits? I think you will come away from it with a better perspective. JMT

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Specializes in Tele; Med/Surg; ED.

Thanks for the input, but I'm so disgusted I'm just staying at the hospital full-time. If I were to write everything that has happened I'd be here all night! My only concern what happens when they're audited? I don't want to have MY name called...

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Glad you've thought this out and are taking steps to protect yourself. It is true that what you describe is quite common. It takes quite an effort to find those places where one doesn't feel one is taking risks with their reputation and their license. Good luck in your hospital job.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, , Home health, Education.

Hmmmm.....I worked Home health for 8 years. Actually if the patient isn't homebound you are required to discharge them from the regs we followed. It was my understanding the patient could leave for MD appts and to church if it was "taxing" on them and they needed the assistance of another person. If they are driving they certainly are NOT homebound and they can follow up with the MD in the office. Maybe the "rules" for Homebound etc are different in Texas??

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I've worked in HH for almost 10 years & it really depends upon the agency -some are horrible, but others have been great - but I have been in your shoes! Good luck in the future :up:

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