Working for Gentiva

I've been in home health for a little over a month and so far I'm loving it, and I came from OB! but, I'm not working for Gentiva, I've read some awful stuff online, but it was a couple of years old.

Gentiva has a large presence where I work. I know someone who works in their home health section (they do hospice here too). She is paid per visit which was not something she was thrilled with (she worked for another home health agency and was salaried) and mileage of course. She seems to like it ok - not as well as where she was before but she had no plans to leave Gentiva either. One benefit she said is the ability to move up the ladder or into different areas as they like to promote from within.

The paperwork is bad at all home health agencies that are driven by the insurance/medicare/medicaid guidelines/requirements. It seems the key to be organized and learn the documentation system well.

The amount of paperwork/charting in home health is like non other, I haven't met a hospital nurse yet that wasn't blown away.

On the flip side, one on one patient assessment/teaching/procedures. Lots of satisfaction with patient care.

Thr first year is tough, it's a whole nother world with its protocols, regulations and being directly responsible for providing documentation for reimbursement, but if you stick with it you'll become more efficient.

You want to work for an agency that has mgmt who can consolidate patients ie territories. But even if Gentiva doesn't, get a couple of years experience where you can then find a better set up.

I just started working for Gentiva. I have med-surg and hospice experience (8 years total) and I have heard nothing but great things about HH (and Gentiva). I have friends that have worked there for a long time. Their orientation process is lengthy and detailed. Most of the nurses have patients near their homes. It is very fast paced, and the pay is good. The RN that has been training me can manage 6-7 visits/day (including an admission) and she has been working there for 6 months. Our census is generally over 700 patients, so likely 3-5 admits/week for each nurse. Good luck!

I forgot to mention the paperwork...we use iPad's for charting. Since your pay check will depend on your visits being entered into the computer, it is best practice to document AT THE HOME (or in the car after the visit). That way, you will not get behind! :)

Do you have any tips and tricks on ipad documentation? New to the program

First and foremost, navigating through the iPad gets better everyday. On a routine visit, I complete pages 1,2,3 at the visit & then complete page 4 at home. I want my clinical note and education to be reimbursable and back me up in court if need be! If I am doing a ROC or Recert, I open a new window with the patient's previous OASIS assessment, so I can compare. Some people discourage this because YOUR assessment is your own, but there are times that I am seeing a patient for another clinician and I don't know anything about the patient. I want to see where things were prior to my visit. Always enter your interim order WHEN YOU GET IT. I have forgotten to put one in many times. Gentiva uses 2 features for OASIS to check your assessment after it is complete (Validate and SHP). These are very helpful, because Validate tells you if you missed any M questions and SHP tells you if things aren't matching up. Enlarge your screen, especially when typing in dates and times because the screen is tiny! These are just a few tips, hope this helps! I have been with Gentiva for 6 months now...