how to write qow frequency for medicare

[terlyn]

How do most of you write a frequency for every other week?

Terry

[KateRN1]

Make sure that your QOW frequency is an even number as you can't do QOW with odd numbers. For an entire episode, 1W1, QOW8 or if recert, QOW8, 1W1 (insert effective date). Either way, you have to make sure that your final visit of the frequency is in the window for recert, so make sure you plot it out on a calendar before you send out the 485.

[berube]

like Kate said, plot it out first on calendar, we typically write 3month2,,,depending on how it fits on the calendar

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

I hate orders like that. Could it be clarified to something like "Q 14 days," "Q 10 days," or "every other Sunday?"

[HealthyNurse]

I hate orders like that. Could it be clarified to something like "Q 14 days," "Q 10 days," or "every other Sunday?"

No, in home health care, you want to give yourself some flexibility. We just don't write orders like that in home health care. If you were to write an order "every other Sunday", you would be held to making the visit ON Sunday. If for some reason the patient cancelled, you would need to contact the physician for another order to see the patient a different day. In home care, patients cancel visits, they aren't home, you can't get ahold of them, etc. You would not want to write an order like that.