Defensible Documentation in Home Health: Fundamental Concepts

Presented by Cindy Krafft and Diana (Dee) Kornetti

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Video Runtime: 45 Minutes; Learning Assessment Time: 19 Minutes

No one chooses to be a nurse or therapist based on a love of documentation, but the ability to effectively and efficiently communicate defensible content goes hand in hand with providing skilled care. Clinicians often lament the volume of documentation associated with working in home health and express frustration over the tools they are required to complete. This session will establish the foundation of defensible documentation and provide an overview of a framework supporting the ability to make documentation smarter, not harder.

Meet your instructors

Cindy Krafft

Cindy Krafft brings more than 25 years of home health expertise that started with direct patient care and evolved to operational and management issues. Cindy recognizes that providing care in the home environment is different from providing care in any other setting, which is evident in both…

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Diana (Dee) Kornetti

Diana (Dee) Kornetti, a physical therapist for 30 years, is a past administrator and co-owner of a Medicare-certified home health agency. Dee now provides training and education to home health industry providers through a consulting business, Kornetti & Krafft Health Care Solutions. She serves as chief operations officer with…

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Chapters & learning objectives

Getting the Lay of the Land

1. Getting the Lay of the Land

External scrutiny of home health documentation is not new, but it does take many forms. Clinicians need to know who is looking at what and, ultimately, why, in order to approach requirements in an intentional way. This chapter will outline the current and future trends and risk areas seen with external audits.

Critical Definitions

2. Critical Definitions

Many denials are tied back to documentation not supporting “skilled," "reasonable," and "necessary,” but hearing those terms over and over can make clinicians numb to what actual expectations are. This chapter will reframe these terms to establish the correct context for defensibility.

Coverage and Qualifying Criteria

3. Coverage and Qualifying Criteria

Defensible documentation requires the clinician to speak to both coverage and qualifying criteria specific to the setting in which the clinician works. This chapter will compare and contrast both areas and provide strategies for compliance.