News

February 2009

Cindy Krafft Appointed to NAHC Therapy Advisory Committee

Cindy Krafft, PT, MS, COS-C, an Assistant Director of Operational Consulting and Rehab at Fazzi Associates, has been named Chair of the newly formed NAHC Therapy Advisory Committee. The NAHC Board of Directors approved the new committee to promote active involvement of physical and occupation therapists and speech language pathologists in the organization. Among the primary functions of the committee are to serve as a resource on regulatory issues that impact therapy in home health and hospice, to review and solicit therapy related submission for NAHC educational programming, and establish a collaborative networking opportunity for all three therapy disciplines involved in home health.

July 2008

Fazzi Associates Acquires Leading OASIS Educational Firm

Fazzi Associates announced that it has acquired one of the home care industry’s largest clinical educational companies, NP Services, a web based educational company located in Skaneateles, New York.

NP Services provides an array of educational products to the home care and hospice industry including the industry’s leading OASIS competency training tool, the web based OASIS NP©. Over 1,000 agencies throughout the United States presently subscribe to the service and it is estimated that as many as 50,000 nurses, physical therapists and other clinical staff participate in their monthly training programs.

Calling it an important step to expanding its ability to serve a greater number of home health agencies with a broader array of educational products and services, Dr. Robert Fazzi, Managing Partner for Fazzi Associates, stated the acquisition will “not only enable Fazzi Associates to reach far more clinicians, it will dramatically improve the company’s ability to impact the quality of care provided to Medicare patients throughout the country.”

As part of the acquisition NP Services two founders, Mel Duerr and Kitty O’Donnell, have agreed to join Fazzi Associates and continue to manage the NP program. According to Ms. Duerr, the co-creator of OASIS NP©, joining Fazzi Associates was an important step to expand its ability to better serve its nationwide client base. “Through our merged efforts,” said Duerr, “we will be able to take full advantage of Fazzi’s extensive on-site training and quality improvement services in agencies throughout the country.”

“As we look to the future,” said Kitty O’Donnell, the other OASIS NP© creator, “we are absolutely committed to finding better ways to expand our ability to help clinicians in every state gain both the skills and confidence to deal with the complex challenges of completing an OASIS assessment in a timely and accurate manner. This partnership with Fazzi now provides us with a wealth of resources and expertise that will enable us to more effectively serve our present and future clients,” she added.

Fazzi Associates presently provides an array of services to over 700 agencies in nearly every state. They have also conducted some of home care’s most important best practice studies including the 3M OASIS Integrity Project, the Briggs National Quality Improvement/ Hospitalization Reduction Study, the Philips National State of Technology and Telehealth Study in Home Care and most recently the Philips National Chronic Disease / Telehealth Best Practice Project.

June 2008

Rhonda Will Named to Editorial Board

Fazzi’s Senior Clinical Consultant, Rhonda Will, RN, BS, HCS-D, COS-C has been named to the National Editorial Board of Home Healthcare Nurse Journal.

“We are incredibly pleased and excited to have Rhonda named to the Editorial Board of the most respected clinical journal in the home care field,” said Dr. Robert Fazzi, President of Fazzi Associates. Rhonda has served as the clinical leader of some of home care’s most important clinical planning efforts including the 3M National OASIS Integrity Project. She is the author of Fazzi’s OASIS Integrity Manual (the manual of best practices for OASIS assessment) and has provided OASIS trainings and consultations to state associations and home care agencies in nearly every U.S. state.

Home Healthcare Nurse Journal is the professional, contemporary journal serving the educational and communication needs of home care and hospice nurses. It is the official journal of the Home Healthcare Nurse Association. The journal focuses on the multidimensional, interdisciplinary, and specialty practice areas of home care nursing. Clinical, operational, and educational home care nursing issues are the core of the publication. Plentiful columns and features focus on practical, up-to-date approaches to everyday situations, as well as analysis and interpretation of how healthcare trends affect the home care nurse's practice.

Three Fazzi Clinical Leaders Named to Review National Clinical Handbook

Three of Fazzi Associates clinical leaders have been asked to participate in the review and revision of one of home care’s most important publications – the Handbook of Home Health Standards and Documentation: Guidelines for Reimbursement.

Cindy Krafft, MS, PT, COS and Rhonda Will, RN, BS, HCS-D, COS-C, two of Fazzi’s leading staff consultants and Nancy Kendrick, RN, BSN, MS, a leading Clinical Associate, were all asked to participate in the review and revision process of this book. “To have one of your key clinical staff asked to participate in a review of this important is quite an honor,” said Kathleen Wright, Partner and Director of Fazzi’s Quality Institute. “But to have three leaders all from the same agency being asked not only is incredibly exciting, it clearly show the depth of the home care expertise of Fazzi’s clinical staff. We are incredibly proud of all three of these clinical leaders,” she added.

Handbook of Home Health Standards and Documentation: Guidelines for Reimbursement is the standard reference in the home health field. It includes everything a home care nurse needs to effectively document care based on accepted professional standards. For each of the more than 60 clinical problems included, this handbook offers detailed standards and documentation guidelines including ICD-9-CM diagnostic codes, service skills, factors justifying homebound status, outcomes and goals, discharge plans, and specific tips for reimbursement. Widely known as the "little red book," the new edition has been thoroughly updated and expanded and will be released fall 2008. For more information, go to www.marrelli.com.

April 2008

Philips Announces Release of National Technology and Telehealth Study

Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG; AEX: PHI) today released the final results of a survey conducted by Fazzi Associates of nearly 1,000 home care agencies in the United States. Results of the Philips National Study on the Future of Technology and Telehealth in Home Care show that nearly one third of large agencies are currently using a telehealth system and that industry use of telehealth is expected to double over the next two years, principally as a means of managing patients with chronic disease. In addition, over 88 percent of agencies report that telehealth services led to an increase in quality outcomes, as evidenced by a reduction in unplanned hospitalizations and ER visits, and over 71 percent report an improvement in patient satisfaction.

Co-sponsored by Philips, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC), and Fazzi Associates, this first-of-its-kind study gathered insights about the use of home care technology from nearly 1,000 agencies across the U.S. The study represented all major segments of home care: large and small, rural and urban, free-standing and hospital-based, and for profit and not-for-profit.

“What makes this study so important is that it is the first representative sample study on technology and telehealth in home care that has ever been undertaken,” said Val Halamandaris, president and CEO of NAHC. “We now have a much clearer sense of how specific segments of home care are responding to and using these technologies. One finding that is particularly significant is that the utilization of telehealth by home care agencies also correlates directly with providing the highest quality of care.”

“Philips Home Healthcare Solutions was pleased to sponsor a study of this magnitude that could provide insights to advance the home care industry, as well as share these findings at no cost to the field,” said Mike Lemnitzer, senior director, Philips Telehealth Solutions. “We believe that home health agencies will be a critical part of the solution to the U.S. healthcare crisis and ensure a continuum of care from the hospital to the home.”

According to Dr. Robert Fazzi, project co-director, the Philips study was designed to address questions that are most on the minds of agency leaders about the role of four major home care technologies: human resources and billing systems, point of care systems, electronic medical records, and telehealth systems. Given the importance of telehealth to the future of home care and hospice agencies, much of the study focused on the various types of telehealth systems being used, the components of these systems, what agency leaders liked and disliked about their systems and most importantly, what leaders felt were the most significant impact of these systems on various aspects of quality and financial outcomes. Among the findings were:

• 17.1 percent of agencies use some type of telehealth system. A much higher percentage of large agencies (32.0%) report that they provide telehealth services.
• 88.6 percent report that telehealth led to an increase in quality outcomes:
  • 76.6 percent report a reduction in unplanned hospitalizations
  • 77.2 percent report a reduction in emergency room visits
  • 71.3 percent report that telehealth services improved patient satisfaction. No agency reported that it reduced patient satisfaction.
• 83.9 percent state that less than one in ten patients refused a home telehealth system.
• 79.2 percent of patients or family members were reluctant to have the telemonitoring system removed.
• 42.8 percent report that telehealth led to a reduction in cost. A similar number reported it as cost-neutral.
• 63.5 percent report that telehealth had no impact on clinical caseloads. As more agencies use telehealth and move up the learning curve, clinical productivity measures may increase.
  • 49.7 percent report telehealth decreased on-site visits
  • 45.2 percent report telehealth increased the number of referrals
• 56.9 percent report that their nurses were very receptive to having a telehealth service after one year as compared to 36.3 percent at the beginning of the program.
• 89.1 percent stated that given everything they know today, they would still have started their telehealth program.

Philips has been active in telehealth for over seven years, and has recently focused on the home care market after its acquisitions of Lifeline and Healthwatch, both in the medical alert business.  In 2007, the company announced a preferred provider contract for telehealth solutions with the Visiting Nurse Associations of America (VNAA) and a GPO agreement with the California Association for Health Services at Home (CAHSAH). Building on core competencies in cardiac care, Philips offers comprehensive Home Telehealth products and services, featuring wireless measurement devices and robust web-based clinical support for post-hospital discharge monitoring. For more information about Philips telehealth solutions, email telemonitoring@philips.com or visit www.medical.philips.com/goto/telemonitoring.

To receive a copy of the full report, go to: www.philips.com/HomeCareStudy.

Cindy Campbell Named Assistant Director of Operational Consulting

Fazzi Associates is pleased and excited to name Cindy Campbell as Assistant Director of Operational Consulting. Tim Ashe, Director of Operational Consulting and a Partner at Fazzi Associates, calls Cindy a “ true” national home care leader. She is a home health advocate at state and federal levels; past NAHC Board Member and Chair of the Pediatric Home Care Association of America, and current Executive Committee Member for the American Telemedicine Association's Special Interest Group: Home Telehealth and Remote Monitoring. She is a highly skilled executive change agent providing effective organizational assessment, redesign and change management to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in a variety of home health settings throughout the country. Cindy specializes in operational reviews, OASIS improvement efforts and of course, her greatest passion, helping agencies choose, implement and maximize the value of telehealth and remote patient monitoring.

Fazzi Unveils New Web Site

While Fazzi Associates may be an agent for positive change in home care and hospice agencies throughout the country, we are also a firm that recognizes the importance of objective operational analysis and changes. During January and February a full operational review was conducted on the firm. The goal: To improve our ability to better support our clients and our colleagues. As with any operational review, many opportunities for improvement were identified. One of the first to be addressed was the need to update our web site to make it more attractive, less cluttered and more easy to navigate. Led by Fazzi’s Partner and Director of Development, Lynn Harlow, a complete review and total revamping was undertaken. Lynn combined input from staff and clients with a review of award winning sites in an array of industries and input from a national web design firm. The result: a totally new look and more dynamic and easy to use web site.

March 2008

Krafft Named APTA's 2008 Excellence in Home Care Recipient

Cindy Krafft, MS, PT, COS-C, Fazzi Associates National Senior Consultant for Rehab Services, has been named the 2008 winner of the American Physical Therapy Association's prestige's Excellence in Home Care Award. This award is presented annually in recognition to the one physical therapist that has made an exceptional contribution in promoting physical therapy practice in home care. "We are incredibly excited and pleased for Cindy," said Dr. Robert Fazzi, Managing Partner for Fazzi Associates. "Her passion, commitment and exceptional knowledge of rehab services and her ability to help agencies improve and enhance their services, has placed her consultation in high demand by agencies and associations throughout the country. To have someone of Cindy's caliber and commitment working at Fazzi Associates is certainly an honor for us," he added. Cindy is the current Vice President of the Home Health Section of the American Physical Therapy Association. She has received her COS-C, the designation of Certified OASIS Specialist - Clinical and is an affiliate member of the American Occupational Therapy Association. Krafft has presented at both state and national levels on topics of program development, therapy utilization and recruitment.