Medicare News
| For Immediate Release: | Contact: |
| Wednesday, March 05, 1997 | CMS Office of Public Affairs 202-690-6145 |
For questions about Medicare please call 1-800-MEDICARE or visit www.medicare.gov. |
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CLINTON ADMINISTRATION PROPOSES NEW HOME HEALTH REGULATIONS, INCLUDING BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR HOME HEALTH AGENCY EMPLOYEES
The Clinton Administration today proposed revisions in the conditions of participation that home health agencies must meet to take part in the Medicare program. The new standards place greater responsibility on agencies to evaluate and improve the quality of services provided to beneficiaries.
It is the first major revision in Medicare's home health conditions of participation since the rules were originally issued in 1973.
One change in the new conditions would require home health agencies to conduct criminal background checks on home health aides as a condition of employment.
"Home health aides care for our most frail and vulnerable citizens," said HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala. "We must make sure that those whom we trust to care for our senior and disabled citizens are beyond reproach."
The proposed new standards, to be published in the Federal Register, place greater responsibility on agencies to evaluate and improve the quality of services provided to beneficiaries.
"These proposals change the way we look at home health regulation," said Shalala. "We're throwing out the old, process-driven approach and ushering in a new patient-centered system. We want patient satisfaction, not bean counting. We're looking for better use of tax dollars, better efficiency for providers, and better service to our Medicare beneficiaries."
The revised Conditions of Participation focus on patient rights, patient assessment, care planning and coordination, and quality assessment and performance improvement. The proposed changes were developed through a series of meetings involving HCFA, the health care community, and consumer advocacy groups.
The revisions reflect the administration's philosophy that the best way to ensure quality is to encourage providers to continuously monitor clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction and improve their performance based on the results of this monitoring. Where possible, the proposed rule deletes requirements that are not likely to produce better outcomes or prevent harmful outcomes.
OASIS
In another proposed rule put on public display today, HHS would require home health agencies to use standard system known as OASIS -- the Outcomes and Assessment Information Set -- to measure quality and patient satisfaction with care.
"In the near future, we want to compare treatment outcomes and patient satisfaction at individual agencies to national data," said HCFA Administrator Bruce C. Vladeck. "We must begin by requiring that home health agencies use the same standardized patient assessment."
OASIS gives HCFA and home health agencies just such a single data system. Systematic and continuous monitoring of the patient is essential to improving patient outcomes. The proposed rule would require a standardized patient assessment within 48 hours of a home health referral to determine the patient's immediate care and support needs. This initial assessment would be updated until discharge to reflect changes in the patient's condition and measures of patient and family satisfaction.
Standardized and more comprehensive patient information will allow the physician, agency, and patient to make more appropriate clinical treatment decisions. The OASIS data will allow agencies to measure individual patient outcomes and identify opportunities to improve performance and patient satisfaction.
