HQAA Blog

How do you ensure your delivery vehicle is roadworthy, safe and prepared for your daily delivery and pick-up activities?

You keep in mind the three keys to an HME accreditation-compliant delivery vehicle: safety, maintenance and security.

Topics: HME Accreditation Requirements, Compliance, Delivery

When it comes to DME accreditation, surveyors receive multiple inquiries on an ongoing basis regarding how to monitor quality continuously and improve the performance of their organization.

Topics: Quality Improvement, Quality Standards, HME Accreditation Requirements, Process Improvement

In reviewing over 1,000 patient files in the past six years, here is a list of some of the most common patient file deficiencies I have found.

Topics: HME Accreditation Requirements, Patient File Requirements, Avoiding Deficiencies

In order to determine if a grievance or complaint needs to be recorded, you must first decide what is, and what is not, a complaint. Your team must determine the threshold that it takes for a concern or question to truly be a complaint/grievance. Not every concern expressed may be a complaint. Let’s look at two examples:

Topics: HME Accreditation Requirements, Avoiding Deficiencies, Complaint Process

The Boy Scouts' motto “Always Be Prepared” can often come in handy, especially when it comes to an emergency situation. Having working disaster and emergency preparedness plans in place before you need them, training your staff in advance and reviewing/testing the plans on an annual basis ensures you are prepared. You may never have to use either one, but if you do, you will have a more positive result in a potentially difficult time.

Topics: HME Accreditation Requirements

There are several issues to address when dealing with transporting your equipment. To meet the intent of the infection control standard properly you need to protect your patients from potential pathogens, transport oxygen properly, avoid excess dust and dirt on equipment and more.  

Follow these five rules to help you meet and exceed your standards for infection control:

Topics: HME Accreditation Requirements, Compliance, Materials Management, Delivery

Whether you keep paper or electronic personnel files, you must maintain them in a secure and organized manner so they will be ready for your surveyor during your unannounced survey. A good best practice is to audit your personnel files two to four times annually to ensure that the files are complete and up-to-date. 

There are a few items that are commonly marked as personnel file deficiencies. Make sure the following articles are completed, organized and stored in a secure fashion.

Topics: Personnel Files, Avoiding Deficiencies