Being in the home health care business is no child’s play. We know that all too well. Individuals and families are depending on your company and its health professionals to help them regain health and live a dignified, happy life. And to top such an immense moral and social responsibility, there are regulatory, administrative, and legal hurdles that pop up without fail becoming yet another distraction in your firm’s mission to serve the people. One such necessary obligation companies like yours need to constantly abide by are HIPAA guidelines. Being HIPAA compliant is imperative for any entity wishing to be in the medical industry as patient data privacy is of utmost importance. However, keeping track of yearly updates to these complex set of guidelines and ensuring that there are no data or security breaches is a Herculean effort.

Since the scope of talking about anything related to HIPAA compliance is vast, this article will choose to focus on the changes made to its regulations for the year 2020. Attached below is an overview of what these guidelines cover and how to deal with any potential data breaches. For this year, the significant changes being made are in relation to Protected Health Information (PHI), Covered Entity (CE), and Business Associate (BA).

Protected Health Information (PHI)

Protected health information (PHI) is any demographic information that can be used to identify a patient or client of a HIPAA-beholden entity. Common examples of such data points include names, addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, medical records, financial information, and full facial photos to name a few. PHI which is transmitted, stored, or accessed electronically also falls under HIPAA regulatory standards and is known as electronic protected health information or ePHI. This is regulated by the HIPAA Security Rule.

Covered Entity (CE)

A covered entity is defined as any organization that collects, creates, or transmits PHI electronically. Health care organizations that are considered covered entities include health care providers, health care clearinghouses, and health insurance providers.

Business Entity (BE)

A business associate is defined by HIPAA regulation as any organization that encounters PHI for the work that it has been contracted to perform on behalf of a covered entity. Common examples of business associates affected by HIPAA rules include billing companies, practice management firms, third-party consultants, EHR platforms, MSPs, IT providers, faxing companies, shredding companies, physical storage providers, cloud storage providers, email hosting services, attorneys, accountants, and many more.

If your company was compliant in 2019 and faced no fines then updating your knowledge with changes in these three terminologies will hopefully ensure that you set another year of no HIPAA violations or breaches.

Healthefirst specializes in HIPAA-compliant systems for healthcare providers and other medical businesses, with continued customer support and cutting edge innovation. Visit https://healthefirst.com/ for further information.

Improving home care for clients is the priority for health care practitioners all over the world. Client satisfaction is taking precedence in the healthcare industry. This is due to increasing awareness, demand for better care, tougher competition, more regulation, and the rise in litigation.

The quality of home healthcare is determined by the quality of infrastructure, training quality, the competence of personnel, and operational systems’ efficiency. It has become a fundamental requirement to adopt a system that is ‘client-oriented and provider friendly’. Problems in healthcare can relate to both non-medical factors and medical factors. Non-medical factors include administration or miscommunication between patients and healthcare providers. Medical factors consist of a lack of trained personnel, incorrect actions, bad records management, or bad equipment.

Quality of care is measured through factors like safety, effectiveness, efficiency, and equitability. Healthcare professionals can often push for home healthcare for client recovery. They encourage thorough client and caregiver education, which allows the clients to recover comfortably. It also comes at a lower price of service reimbursement, fewer readmissions, and consequently lower healthcare billings and healthier long-term outcomes.

Client autonomy is valued in hospital-based care. Nonetheless, many decisions are made on behalf of clinicians.  In-home health care, clinicians realize that the setting – the home – is the client’s inviolable domain. Thus, home care clients have more authority on whether they want the recommended interventions implemented compared to hospitalized clients. This elevates the client’s perception of their individual autonomy and positively impacts their mental state, which might help them recover faster. The more in control they feel about their surroundings, the more they believe they can control their healing.  Additionally, home-care clients receive support and care from not just medical practitioners but diverse professionals as well as their friends and family.  This also boosts morale. Seeing loved ones may help quickly catalyze the healing process. The key issue in all this process is the management of all the features via simple and efficient tools.  This is where HealtheFirst delivers huge value to clients, caregivers, and home health providers.

Improving client care is a dynamic, multi-dimensional process, and it has recently become the uppermost priority of providers and caregivers. A ‘client-sensitive system’ is critical to achieving this objective. Paying attention to every aspect, whether medical or non-medical, is of utmost importance in this context. HealtheFirst was created with care providers specifically for care providers.  The solution is nimble, adaptive, and simple to train for use. Outcomes are amazing to agencies and providers. HealtheFirst is very affordable and available as a SaaS solution and can be implemented with little commitment or struggle by company leaders and owners.  Just reach out for a demo-discussion and you will be incredibly happy with the outcomes of a few minutes investment.

Workforce management utilizes an integrated set of processes that a company uses to optimize the productivity of its staff. This involves effectively and efficiently managing labor requirements and creating and managing staff schedules to accomplish particular or unusual tasks on a regular basis.

Workforce Management (WFM) systems enable organizations to gain insights into business details such as the exact number of employees needed to complete a particular job as well as track employees’ daily performance.

Workforce Management Processes

A complete and reliable workforce management system encompasses a range of activities within the broader framework of human resource management, such as:

• Forecasting and Budgeting – Forecasting is knowing beforehand how many and the type of staff resources are needed for a particular project during a certain time of the year. Budgeting is knowing how many resources a company can afford to have on hand. 
• Staff Scheduling – Scheduling is a significant part of WFM as it allows companies to simplify staffing based on all business variables, such as vacations, availability, workload, and absences.
• Time and Attendance – Using WFM tools and processes reveals attendance patterns and helps companies to better predict changes in demand and manage planned and unplanned staff absences and/or leaves.
• Performance Management – WFM gives businesses a better understanding of the work process and progress of employees so they can better focus on what drives employee productivity.
• Compliance – Compliance tracking includes the tracing of required certifications and training for specific roles, missed breaks, labor standards, family/sick leave requirements, and union agreements.
• Payroll and Benefits – WFM makes payroll processes and queries quicker and easier. It allows for payment options, such as shift or job payments, and syncing of timesheets to payroll.
• Leave Planning – WFM allows companies to track staffing levels and digitally handle time-off requests and approvals.

Benefits of Workforce Management

Workforce management can make a great difference for a business to be successful. Some of the potential benefits of using this system include better productivity, improved labor planning, lower operational cost, efficient time and attendance tracking, and better customer service. Besides those things, the benefits do not just stop there!

Other WFM benefits include:

• Improved payroll efficiency.
• Employers are given better insights, which allow them to give maximum performance.
• Reduction and optimization of the cost of labor.
• Instant-accessibility and simple reporting for workforce-related data that improves HR productivity and reduce administrative costs.
• Increased employee productivity.
• Lower non-compliance risks.
• Increased operational agility; companies can easily allocate people with the right skills at the right time.
• Improved employee morale due to transparency.

Conclusion

With the growing challenges and competition among organizations getting more and more intense, WFM has become a necessity. However, many organizations, particularly small companies, often do not value the need of a proper workforce management system and keep lingering on the obsolete and inefficient methods. Some only take care of core functions like attendance, time tracking.  They often neglect the importance of a real and easy to use workforce management solution that can resolve many of their existing and future problems.

HealtheFirst specializes in workforce management systems and software for all kinds of businesses with customer support and cutting-edge innovation. Visit https://healthefirst.com/  for further information.

Dr. Clute will be active in review and direction for enhancing IP, design, and development of the HealtheFirst technology to fill the needs of the health and wellness services industry.   

“I am delighted to welcome Joran to our board,” said Steve Clute, HealtheFirst’s chairman and CEO. “He brings a fresh medical perspective for digital technologies of particular relevance to our innovation agenda, together with broad experience in medicine. Our company will benefit from Dr. Clute’s insights, understanding, and professional perspective as a focus on executing our strategy and delivering value for clients and investors.”

Dr. Clute is currently working at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics. He graduated from Augustana University in Sioux Falls, and after working at Sanford Health received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine. Experience with volunteerism, a community medical clinic, the Peer Messenger Committee, and Anesthesiology Department Resident Education Committee give him a broad and diverse perspective across the industry.

“We are fortunate to have Joran’s medical understanding and experience to assist HealtheFirst in growing as a leader in the healthcare industry,” said Steve Clute. “We are moving fast and need essential insight and support to carry out our strategies. Joran is a head down, hands-on doctor who understands delivery of outcomes using tools dedicated to creating efficiencies and lowering costs.”

Dr. Clute said, “I am enthusiastic to give my support to HealtheFirst. I know that high-quality technology really makes a difference to people on the front lines – especially in the world of case management where everything has and continues to change and adapt.”

Launched in late 2017, HealtheFirst is a fast-growing leader in business process and case management software, services, and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

HealtheFirst today announced that Dr. Tim Stark has been selected as a new board member to join its leadership team.  For more than 20 years Dr. Stark has worked as a practitioner, educator, director, and developer of university undergrad and post-graduate educational programs across the specialties of Sports Chiropractic and Physical Rehabilitation.  He is completing his tenth year as the Chair of the Education Commission for the FICS and was recently awarded the American Chiropractic Association Academician of the Year and the American Chiropractic Association Sports Council Sports Chiropractor of the Year.

“I am honored to be a member of HealtheFirst’s board.  It is a privilege to be part of an organization that delivers high quality services and innovative solutions to great clients,” said Dr. Stark.  “This is an organization led by a great purpose – to make a positive, long-term impact that matters to everyone that HealtheFirst touches. I will do my best to support our leaders and team to make case management and business processes better using HealtheFirst’s high quality technology.”

“We are thrilled to have Dr. Stark on our team. His business ownership and development skills along with global experiences in education leadership and healthcare delivery are phenomenal.  Global connections and industry leadership in innovating chiropractic education and services delivery make Tim the perfect addition to our board at HealtheFirst,” said CEO Steve Clute.

Launched in late 2017, HealtheFirst is a fast-growing leader in business process and case management software, services, and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

An essential part of successful case management is identifying patient risk, especially those with high risk, and then to engage them in a suitable management program. To achieve this, however, health systems need to stop relying solely on claims-data as that provides a partial and incomplete picture of patients.

Instead, other sources of data such as clinical data, pharmaceutical data, and social determinants of health such as homelessness, abuse, lack of insurance, and lack of access to routine care are important factors to consider. The industry is adopting this approach and working to create and support each individual user appropriately.

This fundamental shift from simple descriptive analysis to real-time and predictive understanding and perception is a fundamental driver to keeping costs low and to ensure that resources are spent in the best and most efficient way possible.

Companies who have not made the switch to intelligent and technology-driven management and execution models may think that the cost is too high, or the operating solutions are too complicated for their team members. This is because it is important to create a very precision-based model that can track and manage all of the resources, services, and data points of each individual patient in order to efficiently deliver timely and effective care at the best cost.

To top that there is a colossal amount of data to be stored, used, delivered, considered, and shared from and to many different sources – some are part of medical records while others require the engagement of team members, administration, other companies, and patient caregivers.  All this action and information needs to be HIPAA compliant, shared, and stored in a confidential and safe manner.

As the trend of using technology to manage all business processes inside case management agencies increases, more firms are now implementing the software and interfaces to help create a sound and reliable means to operate efficiently with financial effectiveness.  With HealtheFirst, processes are customized and data is used to allow for seamless integration and application of the requirements for positive service and financial outcomes. HealtheFirst reduces the cost of using a bunch of separate services as well as manual workload by providing an interface that allows the entire company to operate smoothly and generate positive results for all stakeholders.

Jason is the current Chief Nursing Officer for Mayo Clinic Health System – Franciscan Healthcare in La Crosse, WI. He has had a broad and successful career in healthcare, including the Chief Nursing Informatics Officer for the Mayo Clinic enterprise, as well as administrative leadership for areas including pediatrics, trauma, radiology, intensive care, and emergency services. Dr. Fratzke has led and partnered on many key strategic priorities and initiatives during his tenure. As a leader in nursing, Dr. Fratzke takes pride in mentoring and developing both nurse leaders and nurses engaged in direct care to measure, assess, and improve client outcomes for the future.

“We are fortunate to have someone of Jason’s caliber and experience step up to assist HealtheFirst in moving forward as a leading Case Management and Business Process technology leader,” said Steve Clute, CEO. “We are at a critical time and want insightful support and leadership knowledge to successfully implement our strategy in leading case management companies who seek heightened efficiency and outcomes at lower costs of time and money.  Jason is a technology visionary with a proven track record of execution.”

Fratzke said, “I am honored and excited to support HealtheFirst. I believe HealtheFirst really matters – especially in the world of case management where so much is new and changing at this time.”

HealtheFirst is proud to announce that its CEO has appointed Mark Setterstrom as board member.

“During this time of transformation and change, there is serious need for diversified thought and engagement for leadership of HealtheFirst.” said Steve Clute, HealtheFirst’s Founder and Member of the Board of Directors. “Mark is a proven leader with fluent engineering skills, business vision and ability to bring people together. His vision for how technology can and will be used and experienced around the world is exactly what HealtheFirst wants as the company enters this new chapter of expanded product innovation and growth. His mastery of Strategic Management coupled with the discipline and competitiveness learned in the NFL are strengths we need at HealtheFirst.”

Mark commented, “HealtheFirst is a rare healthcare company focused on a light and nimble operating structure filled with intelligence and ability to revolutionize business process through its unique and adaptive SaaS technology.  The opportunity ahead for HealtheFirst is vast, but to seize it, we must focus clearly, move fast and be willing and able to transform.”

“Mark is clearly a great person to support HealtheFirst, and he is a perfect fit with the rest of our Board,” Clute said.

Launched in late 2017, HealtheFirst is a fast-growing leader in business process and case management software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

For most of his adult life, David recalls experiencing random bouts of a racing heart.  However, it wasn’t until his late forties did he discover that the irregular activity in his chest was actually atrial fibrillation (irregular heart rhythm).  Although various treatment methods helped at first, his heart condition was never fully reversed. Because of this, David’s primary care physician explained that he could be at the risk of a stroke.  He was then placed on anticoagulants (blood thinners) in order to prevent the possibility of blood clots forming in his heart.  

At its essence, health care is all about delivering the best possible outcomes for patients. Superior care is essential to success – no ifs, ands, or buts, about it. The challenge is that improving care can be expensive and many health care providers overlook the fact that failure to do so can lead to costly repercussions.