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Social Workers in Palliative Care Settings

Next Reply: Re:Outpatient follow-up from an Inpatient PC program
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Post Outpatient follow-up from an Inpatient PC program
Author: harpal
Date: Sep 1, 2010 3:02 pm
Our inpatient palliative care program is new (1+ years old) so we are learning as we go. A question our team has is, are there any federal regulations prohibiting the SW from conducting outpatient follow-up home visits on identified patient/families who would benefit from said visits? We live in a rural area, so following-up with certain patients/families may be helpful regarding resource linkage, primary care follow through, medicine, etc...
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Re:Outpatient follow-up from an Inpatient PC program (by StacyRemke on 09/01/2010)
Hi. This is a good question. While I am not familiar with federal regulations that may govern this particular activity,there are in many states rules that govern home based services of various kinds. I think it would make good sense to check with your state office of health and human services or corollary to see what guidelines may apply. Whether you consider this a medical follow up, a mental health or social services intervention may make a difference, as well as if you intend to bill. Certainly it would be a good idea to address plans for mileage reimbursment, liability coverage for employees performing their duties in a home setting, etc. This may also be a wonderful opportunity to partner with a home care or hospice / palliative care agency in order to offer more comprehensive services. As someone who once did try to cover home based and hospital based patients at one time,I can say that as your program grows, it can be very difficult to stretch to meet both sets of needs with one person.
Re:Outpatient follow-up from an Inpatient PC program (by patsylang on 09/02/2010)
I am the nurse manager for the Thomas Palliative Care Unit at Virginia Commonwealth University. Previously I managed the discharge of inpatients who needed some IV therapies so I worked in the care coordination dept which also included the Social Workers. As for our unit, we are assigned a SW from that dept. who also follows other services. She is strictly inpatient and would not have time to be outpatient as well. Not sure of fed. regs but when I functioned in that role I too was strictly inpatient and not covered to make home visits. However, I have worked for an outpatient company and then strictly outpatient as the regulations / requirements are very different. Hope this helps. Patsy Lang

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