Author: Maxwell Healthcare Associates
Posted: October 17, 2024
Discover How nanaBEREAVEMENT Is Transforming Bereavement Support [Free Webinar]
MHA’s nanaBEREAVEMENT offers compassionate, lasting grief support to families during the bereavement process through personalized text messages that honor loved ones with care and dignity. This thoughtful approach helps guide families through the challenging journey of loss, while also supporting hospice providers in meeting the CMS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Hospice Conditions of Participation (CoPs). In this blog, we will cover how nanaBEREAVEMENT ensures compliance with hospice bereavement regulations by delivering ongoing grief support that fosters healing, resilience, and peace of mind for families.
Hospice bereavement regulations and requirements, such as the Medicare CoPs and HIPAA, ensure that families are supported during the holistic end-of-life care process. By making bereavement services accessible, hospice agencies help grieving individuals navigate their loss and promote healing, ultimately enhancing the quality of care provided.
The CMS Medicare Hospice Conditions of Participation were created alongside the Medicare Hospice Benefit that was enacted in 1993. The CoPs were put in place to not only meet the medical needs of a patient, but also to address the mental health and well-being of their families. The CoPs mandate hospices offer bereavement services to resolve any mental or emotional needs that may come with the loss of a loved one.
Bereavement is an important part of the grieving journey, and hospice agencies must make their bereavement services available for at least 13 months after a patient’s death. This might include grief counseling or support services to help families navigate loss. In the CoPs, it is also a requirement to assess the family’s needs during this process and document the assessment properly to align with regulatory standards.
In addition to meeting hospice bereavement regulations under Medicare CoPs, agencies must follow the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA. The CoPs and HIPAA are closely related in the sense that they both emphasize protecting patient privacy and ensuring quality care by providers.
nanaBEREAVEMENT helps you remain HIPAA compliant by ensuring the privacy and security of all patient data shared through the platform. It uses encryption to protect sensitive health information (PHI) and limits data access to authorized individuals only. The platform follows HIPAA guidelines for safeguarding PHI, ensuring that communications and data management meet the necessary compliance standards. This gives you confidence in maintaining patient confidentiality while offering compassionate bereavement support.
Free Webinar: Modern Approach to Bereavement Support
As of October 2024, MHA is proud to share that nanaBEREAVEMENT has received accreditation by the Accreditation Commission for Healthcare or the ACHC. The ACHC works closely with various healthcare sectors to help uphold value, integrity, and quality on services and products provided by hospice agencies. This accreditation highlights nanaBEREAVEMENT’s support in helping agencies deliver quality care, ensure regulatory compliance, and streamline their operations.
nanaBEREAVEMENT's ACHC accreditation affirms its alignment with national quality and safety standards. This recognition reinforces the credibility of nanaBEREAVEMENT as a trusted solution grounded in bereavement best practices.
Traditionally, the post-acute industry has sent paper bereavement letters or postcards to connect with grieving families. These bereavement letters can cost as much as $0.75 each, using up agency staff’s valuable time and resources. The current process also does not allow family members to interact with the agencies, provide feedback, or request additional help.
MHA’s tech-enabled nanaBEREAVEMENT solution modernizes this workflow with personalized text messages, costing providers only one half of the price and saving hours of time through its fully automated process. nanaBEREAVEMENT streamlines the bereavement process and reduces the cost burden on hospice agencies by more than 50% compared to traditional letters. This system enhances communication during the bereavement and grieving process while still meeting and maintaining all hospice bereavement regulations.
Recognizing each family’s grief and bereavement journey is different and unique, nanaBEREAVEMENT utilizes a risk assessment from the EMR to help personalize and tailor bereavement communications to each grieving individual. Under the CoPs plan by Medicare, agencies must keep and maintain detailed assessments during the bereavement process, which may involve sensitive patient or family information. By evaluating specific needs or circumstances of each family, nanaBEREAVEMENT fosters a compassionate and supportive environment during the bereavement journey.
nanaBEREAVEMENT enables customizable messages that resonate with each family’s situation to ensure they receive the right resources and support at the right time. The messages are connected to agencies’ existing bereavement websites, where contacts can find local bereavement support groups and services.
Most importantly, nanaBEREAVEMENT emphasizes and promotes a holistic approach to bereavement care, incorporating practical resources in addition to emotional support. By prioritizing individualized care and connection to various support systems, nanaBEREAVEMENT eases the burdens of the grief journey and fosters a healing environment that respects each grieving family’s unique situation.
Learn How St. Croix Hospice Leverages nanaBEREAVEMENT
In today’s digital age, 33% of Americans prefer texting compared to all other methods of communication. MHA’s nanaBEREAVEMENT connects with families where they spend their time—on their phones—by sending personalized, compassionate messages via text. Unlike traditional postcards that can feel impersonal and delayed, text messages offer immediate, real-time support during a time of grief.
This modern approach not only provides timely, meaningful communication but also allows families to engage directly with the hospice care agency. Through texts, families can express thanks and provide feedback—both positive and negative—ensuring any issues are quickly addressed. AI components are built into nanaBEREAVEMENT, helping agencies quickly filter messages from contacts that need immediate attention. This allows agencies to get immediate help to these contacts, which can be challenging within paper-based bereavement processes.
nanaBEREAVEMENT additionally allows families to reach out in times of need or even refer others to the hospice, enhancing the level of care and connection while reducing costs by over 50% compared to direct mail. This ensures that families receive the support they need, when they need it most, while fostering a meaningful two-way relationship with the hospice.
Ultimately, by modernizing bereavement communication and complying with hospice bereavement regulations, such as the Medicare CoPs and HIPAA, nanaBEREAVEMENT enhances hospice agencies’ capacity to offer compassionate, individualized care so that families receive the support they need in a secure and respectful manner.
The hospice and home health industry is experiencing transformative change, and the team at MHA is here to help. Our team of experts, with vast experience in the home health and hospice industry, assists agencies in developing an efficient and cohesive strategy to navigate industry changes.
Our innovative tech-enabled solutions such as nanaBEREAVEMENT help agencies streamline operations, cut costs, and provide better care experiences. To schedule a demo or discover more about MHA’s tech-enabled solutions, reach out to us at [email protected] or www.maxwellhca.com/technology.