Melissa Kozak
Apr 12 2023
Reading Time: 4 minutes
The Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model is officially here for Medicare-certified home health organizations across the United States. This shift from volume-based payments to a model designed to promote higher-quality care means reimbursements will be driven by performance, which will have a significant impact on your organization.
The good news is that in this new era of reimbursement, technology can help in ways that go beyond streamlining your daily processes and operations. In fact, with the right tools, your organization can gain a competitive edge, increase referrals, and enhance the quality of care you provide.
Here are five ways to modify your communication strategy to succeed in HHVBP:
1. Start care in a timely manner.
A key measure derived from data collected in the OASIS, the timely initiation of care is associated with better clinical outcomes. Start care in a timely fashion, and you’re more likely to have more satisfied patients — and better performance measurements.
The CitusHealth solution: Secure care team messaging that helps you maintain HIPAA compliance allows your care team to communicate in real time, share documents, and start a dialogue about the patient care plan.
2. Be available so that 911 is called only when necessary.
Data from claims-based measures is used to calculate performance. The rationale for these measures is that some hospital care may be avoided if clinical staff are doing a good job tracking health conditions and detecting problems early.
The CitusHealth solution: With auto-routing and escalation, providers can help patients and family caregivers use instant messaging to get routed within a matter of minutes to a nurse on call. When nurses are available instantly, patients and caregivers know you’re there for them in an urgent situation.
3. Reinforce communication between providers, patients, and family caregivers.
When completing the HHCHAPS survey, patients are asked how well the home health team communicated with them throughout their care. The way you engage patients and their caregivers will determine how they rate your organization.
The CitusHealth solution: Omnichannel communication allows patients and caregivers to choose their preferred method of securely sending and receiving information. Our instant messaging and video chat can help you maintain HIPAA compliance, and get patients answers from the care team faster than phone calls and emails.
4. Provide an accessible record of conversations about medicines, pain, and home safety.
To accurately assess medication, pain, and home safety, these topics must be well documented and discussing them should be incorporated into the treatment routine. The problem is that many patients forget these important discussions after the visit.
The CitusHealth solution: Through the platform’s Education Center, care teams can follow up with patients by sending electronic documents, care reminders, and on-demand training easily accessed on any device — empowering patients with knowledge about their care, long after their visit ends.
5. Do a great job and remind the patients of what you did for them.
The HHCAHPS survey gives patients a voice, and its questions give patients a megaphone to share their true care experience. With staff shortages and regulation changes taking their toll on clinicians, organizations must prioritize finding a solution that makes clinicians’ jobs easier so they can focus more on patient care.
The CitusHealth solution: Our customer-facing platform serves as an electronic record of all the good you provided during their care — including training and education materials, access to the plan of care, and a history of the services offered.
Communication is an important component in HHVBP. By focusing on your communication strategy, your organization will be better equipped to succeed.
Talk with a CitusHealth expert to learn how our digital solution can help modify your communication strategy and set your team up for HHVBP success.
