Understanding social work in the home health care setting

Abstract

Social work is one of the least understood services in home health care. Frequently, social work ers are limited to the provision of concrete services, such as linkage with community resources or long-term planning. Social workers are capable of providing a wide range of services beyond community resources, including short-term therapy and crisis intervention. Clear understand ing and interpretation of the regulations are necessary to utilize the full range of reimbursable social work services. This article reviews skilled social work services in the home health care setting, as defined by the Medicare guidelines in the Home Health Agency Manual. The key ingredient for justifying reimbursement of skilled social work services is the identification of social and emotional problems impacting the patient's medical condition, treatment plan, or rate of recovery together with the establishment of a social work treatment plan and clear and concise documentation of findings. Other issues related to the delivery of social work services will be examined, including understanding the social work codes, supervision of social work assistants, appropriate social work referrals, and productivity expectations. Key words: social work, home health care, skilled social work services