A Patient’s Right to Choose their Healthcare Provider is Centerpiece of Settlement Agreement with Providence.

 

 

Assured Home Health & Hospice settled its lawsuit with the Providence Health System in Washington State.  In 2003, Assured brought an action for violations of various federal laws by the Providence System whom Assured had claimed had been “steering” patients into their own home health and hospice agency and not allowing patients the “freedom of choice.”  Medicare law requires that patients be given the right to freely select their own healthcare providers, be it doctor, nursing home, home health or hospice agency.

 

The Agreement calls for a series of steps to be taken by the Providence System to educate employees about patient’s rights and for periodic audits, to verify that the policies and procedures of that discharge process are followed by all employees.  This will assure that patients and their families in Lewis, Mason, and Thurston Counties, will be given a choice of their home health and hospice provider by the hospitals and nursing homes controlled by the Providence System.  Richard D. Block, President of Assured said:

 

            “The real winners in this action are patients and their families in our communities.  As workers in America, we all pay equally in to the federal Medicare program.  Under the Medicare guidelines, all patients can choose any healthcare provider they want who participates in the program.  It is unlike the traditional HMO where it is a closed panel of a select group of providers.  The reason Medicare is so popular is that it does provide for ‘choice.’  I am pleased to see that Providence’s management has agreed to improve the process to further guarantee the right to choose by all patients in our communities, no matter where they reside.”

 

Mr. Block was further quoted as stating that,

 

            “Patients have many tools to use to select the Home Health and Hospice agency they want when they are in need of none of those services.  On Medicare’s web site http://www.medicare.gov/ the section labeled Home Health Compare the differences between various home health agencies and their selected outcomes for a variety of patient needs.  I am proud of Assureds ranking in the top 15% of agencies nationwide and the number one ranked agency in Lewis, Mason and Thurston Counties since the web site started publishing the outcome results.  In addition, agencies like Assured provide a great deal of outreach and community activities that also indicate a commitment to the health and well-being of the citizens in that community.  We just finished the last of our flu shot clinics providing protections for thousands of seniors and other vulnerable adults.  Some agencies, like Assured, have specialty devices, systems and technology that improve care and provide for better outcomes and faster healing while being monitored on a daily basis.  Assured has been serving the residents in our three counties in home health and hospice for over a quarter century.  It is all we do!

 

The Agreement covers all Providence institutions, including nursing homes in the three county area and applies equally to home health and hospice services.

 

Assured has offices in home health and hospice in Morton, Olympia and Centralia.  Assured also serves residents in Forks, Sequim and Port Hadlock for hospice.  Assured can be reached at (800) 833-9404.