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March 10, 2011 - HVA just finished the release of Version 2.1
of the software for its Patient Data Vault (PDV) subscription service. HVA continues
to upgrade the capabilities of the service at no cost to its subscribing member hospices.
The recent upgrade to the PDV software adds the following:
- Automated volunteer hours reports for reporting compliance with the 5% Medicare
requirement. No need to do anything more than click a button for end of month, quarter
or annual hours reports.
- Built-in automated mileage reporting for volunteers to use in preparing their income
tax return
- More flexibility to accommodate volunteers who do not have computers while still
allowing your hospice to have paper form submitter's reports in electronic form
for ease of access and ease of complying with management reporting.
- increased capability to identify skill sets of your volunteers and locate them to
fill an assignment quickly.
- improved access to archived patient data when a bereaved family comes forward for
support from your hospice months or years after their loved one has died or when
you need to reaccess a patient's records when they come back on service.
The cost-to-benefit ratio of the PDV service is extremely low. You will not find
a lower cost hospice volunteer management and reporting service anywhere with the
features of the PDV. Our member hospices find the service to be extremely cost effective
and easy to use. HVA has not had one subscriber choose to decline the service after
directly experiencing its benefits with a
30-day Free Trial. Why not give it a try? You have absolutely nothing to
lose and everything to gain whether you are a hospice with 10 volunteers or 600!!
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Volunteers Love It Too!! Never has reporting
volunteer activities been so easy. The benefits mentioned above are just the advantages
for volunteer managers but we must tell you, volunteers are very happy too. Submitting
forms, coordinating vigils with other volunteers, journaling, keeping up with volunteer
meetings and special events has never been easier. In this day and age younger volunteers
are not interested in filling out paper forms. Some of our member hospices tell us one of
the reasons they chose the PDV is because their volunteers wanted an online alternative
to paperwork.
If you want to improve your volunteer recruiting efforts, let prospective
volunteers know that they will automatically receive a free membership (if your
hospice is a member) and that your hospice uses the latest technology to make it
easy for them to report their volunteer activities.
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HVA was founded in 2005 with the goal of Encouraging
Excellence in Hospice Volunteering Through Education and Communication.
Since its inception, HVA has continually introduced new services and tools for hospice volunteers
and their managers that are innovative and unique. The PDV service was designed with
the guidance of volunteers and volunteer coordinators to meet the unique needs of hospices.
The current economic climate calls for cost-effective, belt-tightening methods for
hospice business operations. Hospices currently using the PDV Service are finding
many such advantages. The cost savings in time and materials, the variety of volunteer
forms available and the improved efficiencies in communication methods are significant.
Most importantly, these improvements meet the strict requirements of the HIPAA Security
Rule for storage and transmission of Electronic Protected Health Information (EPHI).
Volunteers and staff can access, share and report sensitive patient information
wherever there is an Internet connection.
[Sign-up] Today for a No-Risk 30-day FREE Trial!!
The monthly subscription price of this cost-saving service is very affordable,
$1.95/month per volunteer -- approximately equivalent to the monthly cost of postage
per volunteer for mailing volunteer forms. Also, charges only apply when a volunteer
actually uses the PDV during the billing period. No minimum charges apply.
HVA member hospices have found the PDV service is a true benefit to their volunteer management
operations and makes it easier for volunteers to communicate with hospice staff.
Read on to learn more about this member service that is the solution
to a long-standing problem of sharing sensitive patient data electronically over
the Internet. To sign-up for a no risk 30-day Free Trial contact HVA.
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The Patient Data Vault (PDV) is a hospice volunteer management
system that provides a secure place to electronically store and retrieve patient
data over the Internet using security measures that comply with the requirements
of the HIPAA Security Rule. Data that is stored in the PDV is encrypted and can
only be accessed by the hospice that reposited the data. The greatest benefit of
the PDV is that it permits volunteer coordinators and volunteers to efficiently
communicate patient data between themselves and other hospice staff.
The PDV was originally developed in 2008 to resolve the long-standing security problem
associated with sharing sensitive patient data electronically over the Internet
while meeting the stringent HIPAA Security Rule. Resolving this problem with the
PDV service has led to many side benefits relating to operating a more efficient
volunteer program. HVA's PDV service permits the volunteer coordinator (VC) to move
from a burdensome paper-based volunteer reporting system to an electronic one while
enhancing communications at the same time.
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 The challenge to hospices wanting to use electronic
communications is ensuring that the patient information that is communicated between
the VC and the volunteer meets Federal government guidelines for privacy. The Standards
for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information (“Privacy Rule”)
establishes national standards for the protection of certain health information.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued the Privacy Rule
to implement the requirement of the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). If your hospice
is using conventional e-mail with or without file attachments for this purpose,
be aware that this medium does not meet these standards.
The Privacy Rule standards address the use and disclosure of individuals’ health
information — called “protected health information” by organizations subject to
the Privacy Rule — called “covered entities,” as well as standards for individuals'
privacy rights to understand and control how their health information is used.
A major goal of the Privacy Rule is to assure that individuals’ health information
is properly protected while at the same time allowing the flow of health information needed to provide
and promote high quality health care and to protect the public's health and well
being. The Privacy Rule strikes a balance that permits important uses of information, while
protecting the privacy of people who seek care and healing. Given that the health
care marketplace is diverse, the Rule is designed to be flexible and comprehensive
to cover the variety of uses and disclosures that need to be addressed.
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 HIPAA standardized the electronic exchange of sensitive
patient data to protect patients from unauthorized disclosure of their medical records.
HVA warrants that the PDV will meet or exceed the requirements for
encryption of authentications and identifications as set forth within the following
Department of Health & Human Services HIPAA Security Standards documents:
- The
HIPAA Security Rule: Health Insurance Reform: Security Standards, February
20, 2003, 68 FR 8334.
- The
HIPAA Enforcement Rule: Administrative Simplification: Enforcement,
February 16, 2006, 45 FR 8390.
- The
HIPAA Privacy Rule: Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health
Information, December 28, 2000, 65 FR 82462, as amended August 14, 2002, 67
FR 53182 Final Rule 20Feb2003.
HVA's PDV also complies with all security requirements specified in the
HIPAA Security Guidance for Remote Use of and Access to Electronic Protected Health
Information. The key to achieving the required level of patient
data security is to implement a data vault that uses the most robust encryption
technologies available and in use by institutions that require high levels of security.
The PDV utilizes two levels of security access. The first level is a username and
password. The second level is a Master Key independently defined by the hospice's
PDV Services Administrator (PSA). Finally, all activity relating to the PDV is monitored and recorded
to establish an audit trail regarding any and all transactions.
It is equally important that hospice volunteers and staff receive adequate training
on the basic requirements of HIPAA so that inadvertent disclosures do not occur during
patient data collection, entry, transportation, storage and retrieval operations.
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These are some of the key benefits of the PDV Service:
- Operating costs are reduced while volunteer service is enhanced
- Communication with volunteers is greatly improved and more frequent
- Volunteer reporting is much faster and simplified
- Coordinating common management tasks such as new assignments and volunteer vigils
is easy
- Quality and integrity of volunteer reporting data is improved
- Volunteer journaling and special projects where patient information must be protected
to meet HIPAA are now built-in to the service
- Manual entry of volunteer data into Misys and Horizon can be eliminated by importing
data from the PDV directly. Contact HVA for more details on this capability.
- Wide selection of PDV forms available enhances program management
Managing a hospice volunteer program can be a real challenge. In the early days
of hospice the VC was primarily tasked with recruiting, training
and coordinating volunteer assignments. While these continue to be the principal
tasks of the volunteer manager, today they are also expected to take on numerous
other management responsibilities such as paying bills, preparing budgets, participating
in strategic planning, doing volunteer performance reviews, gathering statistics
for upper management, dealing with regulatory compliance issues, policies, volunteer
appreciation activities, community development, volunteer procedures, attending
team meetings and facilitating regular volunteer meetings.
This growing list of responsibilities suggests a need for higher productivity tools
that will improve volunteer program operating efficiency so that VCs can still maintain
a stable volunteer force that will provide the level of patient care that is required.
The current economic climate has also increased the challenge for hospice volunteer
managers as budget cuts to hospice are reducing funds available to run volunteer
programs.
The PDV Service was originally developed in 2008 to resolve the long-standing security
problem associated with sharing sensitive patient data electronically over the Internet
while meeting the stringent HIPAA Security Rule. Providing this new management tool
is allowing hospices to operate a more efficient volunteer program because the burdensome
paper-based volunteer communication and reporting systems are not really meeting
today's needs for patient care.
Using this service leads to prompt submittal of required volunteer forms by virtually eliminating
the use of U.S. postal system. Even more important is the rapid communication that
is possible in filling volunteer assignments, eliminating conventional phone methods
of fulfilling such requests. The PDV allows a VC to send sensitive patient data about
an assignment directly to their volunteers while meeting HIPAA's privacy requirements.
These and other improvements can have a significant impact on patient care.
Information, such as patient visit notes, can be entered once by the volunteer during
form submittal with their home computer and then securely transmitted over the Internet
and stored in the hospice's Patient Data Vault. Once reposited, it can be retrieved
and manipulated at any time for future reporting purposes. It therefore becomes
unnecessary for hospice administrative staff or VCs to expend any additional time
to do further manual data entry. The PDV service even provides a means to automatically
import PDV data into your hospice's electronic records system. This feature, whose
setup requires coordination with your IT department, frees the VC to focus on their
primary mission -- coordinating and nurturing their volunteers so they can provide
patients with the best care possible. There are many other important features of
the PDV service that are described below.
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Communicating by telephone is inefficient because the likelihood of reaching a volunteer
during normal business hours is a hit-and-miss proposition. Whether you need a volunteer
to correct a form that was mailed-in to you, or you need to discuss the content of a submitted form,
playing phone tag is a waste of time for both of you.
Conventional email is much more efficient and timely, but because of HIPAA privacy
rules, can become cumbersome due to the need to sanitize and anonymize electronically
communicated information. A word of caution to hospice organizations
that rely on this method of communicating about a patient -- this is not recommended.
Allowing volunteers to make decisions about how to sanitize a return communication with
sensitive patient information is opening your hospice up to potential fines for
inadvertent disclosure. Even experienced staff can make mistakes in attempting to
do so opening up your hospice to severe fines for HIPAA violations.
The principal trait of an effective VC is being a good communicator. Good communication
tools are vital in this day and age when VCs are being asked to perform more functions
above and beyond coordinating volunteer activities, thus requiring them to become
more efficient. One of the great features of the PDV is that you can access it from
anywhere.
As a result you can securely communicate sensitive patient-related data to your
volunteers from the office or home -- all you need is a Internet connection. Your
ability to communicate information is greatly enhanced. In the first quarter of
2009 HVA expects to have a fully encrypted e-mail system integrated into the PDV,
providing the ultimate in communication flexibility.
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There are times when a VC is trying to fill a volunteer assignment and time is of
the essence. A vigiling assignment is a perfect example. The amount of communication
and coordination required between a small group of vigiling volunteers and the volunteer
coordinator can be substantial when attempting to support a dying patient who does
not want to be alone as death approaches.
If this request comes up late on a Friday afternoon, the problem is exacerbated
because no one is in the office on the weekend except on-call staff. Attempting
to fill the need for someone who is actively dying requires efficient communication
methods. Hospices often rely on the on-call nurse to help fulfill and coordinate
this care. The additional burden of the task on this nurse, who must also serve
all of the other patients with off-hours needs, can be an impediment to adequately
serving other patients.
The PDV service has brought two solutions to bear on time-critical situations such
as managing vigiling needs. The first is a form that can be broadcast to the vigiling
team by the VC from anywhere, providing all of the details of the assignment. The
form also permits all individuals involved in fulfilling the vigiling need to communicate
through a log. This form can be accessed and monitored by the on-call nurse, without
having to field all the associated phone calls.
The second aspect of this solution is the use of automatic e-mail and optional cell
phone text message notifications. These notifications are sent to the VC and the
vigiling team members whenever a new communication is submitted in response to the
latest broadcast. These features of the PDV can compassionately impact the care
of those who are actively dying.
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The PDV service completely eliminates the need for paper forms. This means no more
photocopying and mailing forms or preparing and sending pre-paid postage envelopes
out to volunteers. No longer does the volunteer have to wait days to receive a new
set of forms through the mail so that they can submit last week's volunteer patient
visit report. No longer does a VC have to wait several days (or several weeks) to
receive a volunteer's paperwork from a patient visit so they can prepare monthly
reports.
Volunteers with a computer and an Internet connection can easily submit forms in
a timely manner without having to worry about envelopes, postage and getting them
in the mail. An automatic e-mail notification feature notifies the VC that a volunteer
has submitted a form for approval. The VC can immediately provide feedback to volunteers
when a submitted form requires corrections without mailing it back or asking them
to submit a new form. This eliminates the need for a VC to make phone calls or play
phone tag to get such corrections made. Whenever a form is rejected for errors,
the automatic e-mail notification feature notifies your volunteer that a form requires
attention. Most significant is the fact that all of this communication takes place
over a secure Internet link that meets the stringent security requirements of HIPAA.
Volunteer form processing with the PDV service also allows the VC to send a return
note or message to a volunteer who submitted a form, providing an easy way to make
a volunteer feel that the VC is staying in touch with them.
When it comes to volunteer forms, getting started is easy. The PDV service provides
a variety of form options to hospices that wish to get started right away while
maintaining continuity with current form usage:
- The PDV contains an extensive library of forms for managing volunteers and the many
tasks that they are asked to perform.
- As part of the PDV service setup, if you have special needs, HVA will create up
to five customized forms based upon the existing paper forms that are in use by
the volunteers at the time of sign-up. (see sample form at right)
- As part of the PDV service setup, HVA will make these forms look just like your
hospice's website. If your hospice does not have a website, you can choose your
own color scheme for your PDV forms from HVA's own design library (sample form above
is from HVA's design library).
- During the PDV setup period, a VC may select forms from the PDV Volunteer Forms
Library (see examples below) or they may request a modification to an existing library
form to meet their needs.
- The following is a partial list of the most commonly used PDV forms available in
the PDV Forms Library:
- Request for Volunteer Services
- Volunteer Patient Visit Report
- Bereavement Volunteer Visit Report
- Non-Patient Volunteer Contact
- Volunteer Change of Status Request
- Meeting/Event Announcement with auto-RSVP
- While the trend is to use electronic medical records and get away from paper-based
records, if your hospice currently a requirement to put copies of the volunteer
reports in the patient's chart, the PDV service offers a customized print tool at
no extra cost that will duplicate your current paper forms from PDV data for this
purpose.
- If you are presently manually transcribing submitted volunteer data into an electronic
records system such as Horizon, the PDV service offers a customized time-saving
PDV data import tool at no extra cost that will eliminate your manual data entry
and automatically import the data into your system (this feature requires coordination
with your IT department to determine you hospice's data requirements). Since each
hospice's records system is unique, HVA technical staff will coordinate with your
IT staff to provide this import capability. PLEASE NOTE: Misys (Allscripts) does
not currently have the ability to import data from 3rd party systems such as the
PDV. Misys management has indicated they hope to have this capability in 2012.
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The potential impacts of the PDV service are not limited to hospice volunteer programs.
The improvements in communications and the ease of access to sensitive patient-related
data can be very beneficial to the entire hospice interdisciplinary team. Nurses,
social workers and other clinicians that visit patients in the field could benefit
from the PDV right now. For example, it is well-known that volunteers often have
the luxury of spending hours with a patient on a visit. The volunteer can become
a very useful source of information about what is going on with the patient. By
allowing all members of the interdisciplinary team to have PDV access, clinical
staff could obtain the latest information about patients from volunteer reports
by logging into the PDV from anywhere, including the field.
If you would like to explore the use of the PDV and all of its time and cost-saving
features for your interdisciplinary team, contact HVA by
e-mail or toll-free by telephone at (866) 489-4325.
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HVA's PDV service was designed from the very beginning with the guidance of volunteers
and volunteer coordinators specifically for the unique needs of hospice VCs. This
member service offers VCs new methods for improving the efficiency of their volunteer
programs through enhanced forms submittal, forms processing and highly efficient
volunteer communications methods. The PDV not only provides a very secure storage
vault for patient data, it also provides the utmost in communication flexibility
that satisfies the stringent data privacy protection requirements of HIPAA. Here
is a summary of the features of the PDV:
- Contextual Communications
- the most important benefit of the PDV is its communications features. All communications
are contextual, that is, all communication about a patient, meeting or event takes
place within the form it applies to. No need to search for that e-mail to remember
a conversation you had with a volunteer, patient or family.
- No New Software Required or License
Fees to Pay - your hospice does not need to purchase or install any new
software or pay exorbitant license fees to use this service. The software is upgraded
periodically at no cost to your hospice.
- Easy access - volunteers and VCs
can access full PDV functionality from anywhere at any time through a standard Internet connection
without compromising patient data security.
- Management Reporting - volunteer
hours reports for reporting compliance with the 5% Medicare requirement. No need
to do anything more than click a button to get your end of month, quarter or annual
hours reports.
- Mileage Reporting for Volunteers - it is
easy for volunteers to retrieve their volunteer mileage for income tax reporting purposes.
- Customizeable to your needs - the
user interface and data entry forms are simple and friendly with a flexibility that allows
HVA to customize report forms and communications to meet your hospice's specific needs.
- Volunteer Forms Library - volunteers
can fill out and submit reports for a variety of tasks from an Internet browser on their
home computer directly into the hospice's PDV. The volunteer does not require any
special software and all data entered into a volunteer form is encrypted before it is sent to the vault.
- Secure & Timely Volunteer Communications
- volunteers and VCs can send messages containing sensitive patient data to each
other by sending them through the PDV. The volunteer and VC can access these communications
from anywhere through a standard Internet connection without compromising patient
data security. Automatic notifications via e-mail and optional cell phone text messaging,
keeps everyone promptly informed about ongoing forms processing, urgent assignments
and important meetings.
- Security that meets HIPAA requirements - robust security measures
protect all patient data and volunteer communications:
- Username & Password protection
- All patient data stored and retrieved from the PDV is encrypted
and deciphered at two levels. Only your hospice holds the combination to unlock your patient data
vault, therefore no one else can read your patient data.
- HVA provides security guidelines to each subscriber, which
specifies procedures on how to manage all aspects of the PDV service to ensure
HIPAA Security Rule compliance.
- Form Print Tool - HVA
provides an optional tool that allows you to convert your online forms into the original hard
copy forms, if you wish to continue to place copies of those original forms into a patient's
chart.
- Data Import Tool for Electronic Records
Systems (ERS) - the PDV has the capability to eliminate manual entry
of your volunteer data into your electronic medical records system. At no extra
cost to you, HVA will coordinate with your electronic medical records system provider
and your IT staff to automate this process using our PDV Data Import capabilities.
PLEASE NOTE: Misys (Allscripts) does not currently have the ability to import data
from 3rd party systems such as the PDV. Misys management has indicated they hope
to have this capability in 2012.
- Flexible storage options - patient
data can be maintained in your vault for an indefinite period of time. Specific
data management and automated archival functions are based upon your specific needs.
- Exportability of PDV data to Excel
- the ability to produce a variety of patient volunteer reports by downloading them and accumulating
all volunteer records in a spreadsheet will save time in monitoring volunteer hours
and computing totals for weekly, monthly or annual hospice reports.
- Help when you need it - HVA's technical
support staff will assist you in getting your hospice's vault set up and ensure
that your ongoing needs are being met.
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The PDV offers several benefits:
- Ease of Management Reporting
- the PDV has built-in Medicare reporting of volunteer hours at the click of a button. Export
features of the PDV also make customized reporting easy.
- Ease of form submission -
volunteers can easily submit forms in a timely manner without having to worry about
envelopes, postage and getting them in the mail. In this day and age volunteers
want an online option to submit their forms. The hospice VC can expeditiously return
forms back to volunteers for corrections without making phone calls or playing phone
tag. An automatic e-mail notification feature is also available that immediately
makes your volunteer aware that a form requires attention.
- Improved access to information -
volunteer patient data records can be organized and accessed rapidly by downloading
the data from the vault and immediately displaying it or storing it in a local database
or spreadsheet to make reports.
- Automated processing saves time & money
- material and labor cost savings from automated PDV processing can be significant.
The PDV service eliminates mundane tasks like volunteer data entry into Horizon
electronic records systems. PLEASE NOTE: Misys (Allscripts) does not currently have
the ability to import data from 3rd party systems such as the PDV. Misys management
has indicated they hope to have this capability in 2012.
- Photocopying eliminated - no need
to spend time photocopying patient visit forms, putting them in envelopes, and addressing
them for distribution to volunteers.
- Mailing costs eliminated - the average
hospice (100 volunteers) spends over $3,000 a year on postage and labor associated
with providing self-addressed stamped envelopes for their volunteers so they may return their
patient visit notes to the hospice.
- Improved operating efficiencies -
having volunteers enter their own patient visit information into online forms that
are then stored in the PDV eliminates the need for other administrative staff to
transcribe the same information from hard copy forms that are mailed back to the hospice.
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Here's what Volunteer Coordinators are saying about the PDV Service:
"HVA should receive an award for the PDV software!! "
Bob Willis, Volunteer Coordinator
AseraCare Hospice - Philadelphia, PA
"We had been looking for a HIPAA-friendly way to
respond to the repeated requests from our volunteers for ways to electronically
submit their volunteer notes. What we have discovered after using the Patient Data
Vault is that it offers much more than a simple convenience for the increasingly
tech-savvy volunteer such as:
- the ability to provide immediate feedback to our volunteers on their volunteering
activities -- this turned out to be the most valuable, yet unexpected, asset to
me as a volunteer manager
- enhancing my ability to stay in touch with our volunteers and their needs
- decreasing operating costs for our volunteer program
- providing a timely, yet HIPAA-compliant, method of posting sensitive patient information
so that a volunteer can access it without having to wait for it to arrive in the
mail or requiring them to come by the office to get it
- allowing me to broadcast a new volunteer assignment by sending a message to any
or all of my volunteers by e-mail and/or cell phone text message with a
simple click of the mouse
Volunteers really appreciate the ease of reporting. HVA is great to work with and
we have been very pleased with the way they bend over backwards to meet the needs
of our agency. They genuinely believe that technology is supposed to serve people,
not the other way around.
I would highly recommend the Patient Data vault to anyone exploring this option."
Kelly Keller, Volunteer Coordinator
AseraCare Hospice - Omaha, Nebraska
"We have reduced our costs associated with volunteer
form submittal by 30%. This cost savings is realized from mailing cost savings alone.
This savings does not include labor costs associated with mailing and return processing.
As a VC, I can review, accept, export and print volunteer notes in about 2 minutes.
No time spent grouping together notes and envelopes, stuffing and mailing. "
Kris Scanlon, Volunteer Coordinator
AseraCare Hospice - Lincoln, Nebraska
"I had been waiting for something like the Patient
Data Vault for years!! "
Katresha Taylor, Volunteer Coordinator
AseraCare Hospice - Indianapolis, Indiana
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