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April 18, 2019

Home Health Therapy Goals Reminder

Patient services are provided under a plan of care established and approved by a physician. As indicated in the Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, Pub. 100-02, Chapter 7External PDF Section 30.2.1, if the plan of care includes a course of treatment for therapy services:

  • The course of therapy treatment must be established by the physician after any needed consultation with the qualified therapist;
  • The plan must include measurable therapy treatment goals which pertain directly to the patient’s illness or injury, and the patient’s resultant impairments;
  • The plan must include the expected duration of therapy services; and
  • The plan must describe a course of treatment which is consistent with the qualified therapist’s assessment of the patient’s function.

Therapy should establish short and long term measurable therapy goals and the goals must contain an objectively measurable component with an achievement timeframe/date for each goal:

  • Physical Therapy
    • Patient will improve to greater than 25 on the Tinetti balance test to demonstrate lowered risk of falling in 4 weeks.
  • Occupational Therapy
    • Patient will be able to stand for 8 minutes with walker support to allow for effective clean-up of kitchen after meal preparation in 6 weeks.
  • Speech-Language Pathology
    • Patient will utilize phonation at the phrase level with 80 percent accuracy for increased volume for speech production in 3 weeks.

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