A Good Track Record: Why Hospice Documentation Tracking Is More Important than Ever

The digital revolution of data, analytics, and software solutions has been incredibly beneficial for healthcare and the hospice industry is no different. There are now so many opportunities to increase efficiency, streamline processes, and generally improve care across the board.

All these gains are not without drawbacks, however. Inaccurate data and poor documentation, for example, continue to plague the sector and can cause major headaches for administrators. In the worst cases, they can even lead to negative care outcomes and most hospice agencies already know – perhaps too well – about the possible compliance problems. 

Hospice documentation tracking can solve many of these problems. Let’s take a look below at a few ways it can help: 

1) Avoids Auditing

When EHRs and other documentation are inconsistent or simply wrong, a costly and potentially devastating audit may be right around the corner. And the consequences are only getting worse now that officials have been calling for greater enforcement in recent years from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Inspector General’s Office (OIG) and U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). ¹

The message should be clear: Status quo documentation and digitization alone are no longer enough. There is no more room for excuses that can be blamed on technology and considered just another cost of doing business. These days, hospice agencies need to get it right – not just get it done – or they may end up paying the price. Fortunately, as long as they know where to look, there are better solutions than ever to track hospice documentation and avoid running afoul of regulators. 

2) Provides a Comprehensive Solution

One of the biggest keys for many hospice agencies is tracking eligibility and election requirements, which have been cited as a leading cause of claims denials and has taken on even more significance since a regulatory addendum rule that sets strict documentation timelines took effect in October 2020^{. 2}

With so much changing over the past year, educating staff is more essential than ever. Unless a hospice agency has a knowledgeable workforce, it will be very difficult to stay on top of all these critical decimation tracking requirements. Then comes the systems and storage that help to log and maintain it all. Every company needs something that is capable and comprehensive, of course, but usability is also a key consideration.

3) Helps With Efficiency and Accuracy 

Clunky, older platforms lead to mistakes, not to mention extra time and expense to train new employees. And even after people learn the ins and outs of the software, every friction point and finicky menu can lead to errors that prevent the data from being properly input into the system.

Last year, in a National Association for Home Care & Hospice survey, 60% of hospices predicted a drop in revenues for 2020 due to the pandemic and resulting restrictions and economic fallout^{. 3} This desired state of affairs only further reinforces the need for efficiency and accuracy when it comes to documentation.

As they say, if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Well, a similar sentiment applies here. When it comes to hospice documentation, you have to be able to track it well.

Want to learn more about how the right solution can transform your documentation tracking needs? Find all your answers here.

References:

¹ Hospice News, “Confessions of a Hospice CEO: CMS Audits May Kill Us,”  July 30, 2019.

² Hospice News, “COVID-19 Complicates Hospice Compliance With New CMS Addendum Rule,” November 3, 2020.

³ National Association for Home Care & Hospice, “Hospice in the Time of COVID-19: Findings from the NAHC National Survey,” May 27, 2020.