bbritton_64

Thanks Libby. It is laughable for someone to assert that we are trying to lower the scores just for more money. My business partner and I run a very small agency. Many times barely surviving. If we were gaming the system I wouldn't have posed the question.

Not the fall risk part, but the ADL responses.

I have tried to explain it in just that way. What would the patient need to no longer be at risk? But they have a mental block on the availability of assistance. If we say they are at risk yet have no caregiver, and don't want a caregiver for that matter, how do you answer the question? They have trouble separating the way things really are from the way they should be. Does that make sense?

I own a small home health agency. Our operating system has recently began giving feedback on how questions are answered. My nurses have a hard time with the ADL questions when patients live alone without caregivers. Patients may walk with a cane or walker and are scored as a fall risk yet they answer questions such as grooming, upper and lower body dressing with a "0" knowing that the patients do these things themselves. I need examples of how to get my nurses to take into account the "safely" part of the performance of ADLs. Thank you.