Policy Manual sample

MDT Home Health Care Agency, Inc. UNCOMPENSATED CARE FOR INDIGENT PATIENTS PURPOSE: To define guidelines for accepting referrals for uncompensated care. POLICY: · Patients who are unable to pay for services are accepted for care under certain conditions. (See item #3 in Procedure section below) · If there is no third-party source for reimbursement of services, the patient (or his/her guarantor) is responsible for payment · Cases arise whereby the patient or guarantor is financially unable to pay for services due to limited income. The ability to provide funding to those patients who do not have the means to pay is limited and must be approved by the President. PROCEDURE: The Referral/Intake Staff obtain and verify insurance and financial information from the patient or referring party. Staff verifies insurance coverage If the patient has no source of third-party reimbursement and is requesting financial assistance from the agency, theMedical Social Worker will performan in-home assessment to determine patient’s needs and make recommendations of the financial assistance required to ensure a positive patient outcome The President must approve acceptance of all uncompensated care clients In addition to the agency criteria for admission, which address appropriateness of home health care and staff safety, the following guidelines are applies when providing any uncompensated care to patients: The patient and/or family accept the program of care in the home and agree to learn to independently manage health car needs The patient/family provides all supplies and pharmaceuticals necessary tomanage health care needs Referrals to the agency for uncompensated care must include a Social Work referral to continue to look at community resources. If the agency is unable to admit the patient or to continue to deliver service, every effort will be made to refer the patient to an appropriate institution, state, local, or county agency for needed care. Home Health Agency Overall Plan and Budget F-22