Showing Improvement?

[84RN]

We keep getting told that we must show improvements in our patients between the SOC and DC. Yes, we can get the wounds healed, teach them about their meds/disease processes/safety in the home, but sometimes they just won't have any improvement.

At a recent staff meeting, they went over our individual improvement percentages on patients we had. Please tell me who can make a 90 yr old woman not be incontinent anymore???

Sometimes I feel like the majority our our patients (we're a Medicare agency) are just being maintained as-is, which is important for them, but Medicare isn't going to pay for us to be in the home if we don't show improvement.

Eldercare needs a complete overhaul, but I think it'll get worse before it gets better. Thoughts?

[caliotter3]

Agree with you. Personally, have not been able to make a 90 year old continent yet. Plenty of practice over the years, but no go. Perhaps I'm the one that needs the improvement!

[jlmanzano13]

I work for a home care agency, and yes sometimes it seems like they want miracles to happen. Patients that we take under home health services need to actually have a need for skilled nursing visits like a wound, unstable BGL's, unstable B/P, etc... these are all easy examples that will definitely need improvement, wound starts to granulate to completely healed, and BGL's and B/P stable and pt/cg knowledgeble on management and prevention. You're right we can't treat "old age" =) So the home care agency needs to specify at the SOC (most important) what is being treated.