HQAA Blog

What to Expect During an Accreditation Survey

Posted by Steve DeGenaro on Mon, Apr 10, 2017 @ 02:04 PM

Companies going through an accreditation process usually experience at least some degree of anxiety.  The importance of achieving and maintaining accreditation is often “life and death” to an organization—lose it and you may not be able to continue billing or receive referrals from a payer or a referral source.  If it’s the first time you’re going through the process, you can also add the fear of the unknown to that equation.  Add these factors together and you have a combination that can cause a lot of stress!

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Topics: Renewing Accreditation, Quality Standards, HQAA Accreditation, HME Accreditation Requirements, Compliance, Avoiding Deficiencies

Top Ten Deficiencies & How to Prevent Them

Posted by Steve DeGenaro on Wed, Mar 08, 2017 @ 11:33 AM

The nature of accreditation is that a company embraces a continuous quality improvement methodology and operates its business in compliance with laws, regulations, and industry best practices to the best of its ability. Accreditation is a journey not just a destination – a journey full of learning opportunities, education, and revision and tweaking of your company’s processes and procedures.

That process doesn’t lend itself well to quick “punch lists” and it is not advisable to look for shortcuts along the journey. However,

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Topics: Quality Standards, HQAA Accreditation, HME Accreditation Requirements, Compliance, Avoiding Deficiencies

Law & Regulation: An Accreditation Issue?

Posted by Steve DeGenaro on Mon, Dec 12, 2016 @ 01:25 PM

 

Organizations are sometimes surprised to find out that surveyors look at various state and federal laws along with accreditation standards during the survey.  The fact of the matter is that law and regulation overlaps accreditation standards in many ways and in many places.  In fact, many accreditation standards have their basis in law and regulation.  Standard ORG 2 states that an organization willdemonstrate compliance with “all required federal, state, and local licenses, permits, certifications, and registration requirements”.  It also references compliance with Medicare enrollment standards, meaning that you must comply with the Quality Standards, which were the basis for all accreditation standards.  Essentially, what ORG 2 says is that you must follow all applicable law and regulation. 

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Topics: Quality Standards, HQAA Accreditation, HME Accreditation Requirements, Compliance

4 Best Practices for Managing DME Employee Competence

Posted by Steve DeGenaro on Thu, Nov 07, 2013 @ 11:37 AM

In healthcare and the healthcare workplace, competency assessment has become crucial to ensuring employees—particularly those providing direct patient care—have the necessary training and skill to do  their job and care for their patients.

For DMEs that provides medical equipment and supplies to patients, this concept of assessing and maintaining staff competence is crucial, and sometimes misunderstood. 

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Topics: Employee Training, HQAA Accreditation, HME Accreditation Requirements, Competence

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