GPS Cuts Fraud, Costs For Home Healthcare

About Us

Advertise

Newest First | Oldest First | Threaded View

[close this box]

50%

Ariella,
User Rank: Author
11/5/2014 | 2:33:01 PM

Re: Hmm

@Alison we've now had some experience with visiting nurses on the receiving end. My concern about having things set too much in such a system is that the nurses wouldn't have the flexibility to add on a patient as needed. The nurses we've used seem to have the ability to set their own schedule and so adapt to come when patients ask for them. For example, we've requested that nurse come in the morning some days but in the afternoon on others, and she does without having to get some external approval. We were even able to get add on a visit that wasn't previously scheduled for a Sunday when we needed another component to drain a valve. The nurse was able to add this visit on, so she should get paid for it (she said weekend rates are higher), and we will be billed for our share via our insurance.

Reply | Post Message | Messages List | Start a Board

50%

Alison_Diana,
User Rank: Author
11/5/2014 | 2:16:46 PM

Re: Hmm

As I wrote in the article, many places still do use paper systems with patient verification: Patients sign an Excel sheet each time a nurse comes to visit. The problem is, sometimes nurses ask patients to sign for multiple visits at one time, so it looks -- on paper at least -- that a nurse has visited every day that week when, in fact, s/he has only been there a few times. And if a nurse is tending to a patient who can nornally live alone but is mentally challenged and needs a nurse for a physical illness, then they may fall prey to fraud.

Also, these EVV systems automate the collection of timesheet data into payroll, so from what I gathered from user organizations, the process of tracking nurses' timesheets is streamlined and much, much faster -- and more accurate -- since the back office no longer has to manually input hours from potentially hundreds of nurses. It's also safer for nurses, who are traveling into residential neighborhoods of all kinds. I know my friends who are home health nurses have had a few horror stories about some of their clients' neighborhoods, especially one friend who prefers night duty. While GPS won't save her life, at least her office knows her location at all times that she's working, should the unimaginable happen.

Reply | Post Message | Messages List | Start a Board

50%

Ariella,
User Rank: Author
11/5/2014 | 1:27:54 PM

Re: Hmm

I know that we like technological solutions, but wouldn't it be simpler to have the patients verify that they were visited? Or is this to be used for patients who are so out of it that they can't be relied on for verification?

Reply | Post Message | Messages List | Start a Board

50%

Alison_Diana,
User Rank: Author
11/5/2014 | 11:44:51 AM

Re: Hmm

That is a terrific point, @Whoopty! It's very easy to blindly and immediately blame a nurse, especially when there's technology "evidence" to support his/her apparent no-show, without even asking for a reason. In no case should GPS be viewed as reason for punishment, any more than it should be used that way in any other industry. But just as we've seen Nannycams often show touching moments between caregivers and their charges, GPS can help reward the (as i said before) very many dedicated women and men who tend to the elderly and sick while weeding out the handful who neglect, steal from, or abuse them.

Living in Florida -- where I have several good friends who are home-health nurses -- we hear a lot about both great and awful cases of elder care, in both residential and institutional homes. I know if one of my loved ones needed tending to by a team of people and they wouldn't be okay if one of those folk didn't show up, I'd feel better knowing there was something -- human or technological -- monitoring attendance. Whether for a valid or invalid reason (car accident vs. goof-off), if that nurse was a no-show, at least then the caregiver organization could soon send a replacement. And in the case of fraud, taxgivers just can't afford to keep paying thieves for services and goods they're not providing or aren't needing. It's unfair to those, like your wife, who ARE providng these invaluable services and then find cuts across their industry.

Reply | Post Message | Messages List | Start a Board

50%

Whoopty,
User Rank: Ninja
11/5/2014 | 11:31:01 AM

Hmm

I'm a little wary of so much onus being put on nurses for late or missed calls. In my experience (wife was a carer for 10 months) it was regularly the fault of the caring organisation. She would often be given calls that coincided with others, with no time allowance for travel time in between.

If GPS is indeed added to a nurse's mandatory carry list, I would like to see a pledge for their employers that they will give them a realistic schedule and not blame them for being late while giving them impossible tto complete timetables.

Reply | Post Message | Messages List | Start a Board

50%

Alison_Diana,
User Rank: Author
11/5/2014 | 9:43:11 AM

Love This Tech

I heard about this technology before my family's medical emergency made users of a visiting nurse. In all the emotional upheaval, I never asked Gayle whether she was connected to her service via GPS, although she did receive many calls and texts while at the patient's home -- and we all know your service provider can track you down that way! In our patient's case, there was plenty of family to follow up, if necessary (it wasn't). Sadly, especially in instances of permanently required care, there are no loved ones or friendly neighbors to make sure nurses show up on time, that meds are taken/not stolen/needed, and that patients do their necessary exercises. To be sure, the vast majority of home nurses are wonderful, dedicated people. But sadly, there are some who view lack of supervision as a license to cheat or steal.

By going a step further and integrating EVV into payroll, these solutions remove another expense and time-consuming task from cash-strapped home-health providers.

Reply | Post Message | Messages List | Start a Board

Reports

The State of Cloud Computing - Fall 2020

Download this report to compare how cloud usage and spending patterns have changed in 2020, and how respondents think they'll evolve over the next two years.

Download Now!

More Reports