The same goes for home care.
Well, pre-PPS, my experience was that a competent pro-active OT could show what OT could do and generate referrals. This is not as true, post PPS, at my agency, (which does have a lot of PTs in management and may not be representative) , in their understandable desire to limit visits, there is some push for PT to address ADLs. I don't think our PTs do this particularly well, but nevertheless, management desires for them to do so, especially with those patients who may be running over cost.
I think what OT needs to do is
1. Do a great job in making really practical ADL gains with the referrals we get, and make sure everyone in the office serving that client knows about it.
What management needs to do ( and maybe we need more OTs in management) is:
1. Support OTs by helping to provide adaptive equipment for bathing and toileting.
2. Put OT in before or instead of a home health aide when there are needs in bathing.
3. Consider using OT alone to limit costs when there is limited potential for the patient's body to change, so it is more appropriate to change the environment and learn new techniques, rather than always using PT and sometimes adding OT to a POC.
What do y'all say ?
-- Jody
