For Immediate Release

Media Contact: 

Valerie Budach, CovenantCare at Home

1-773-878-4371 (office);  1-773-850-9952 (mobile)   

 CovenantCare Hospice Granted Community Health Accreditation

 Chicago Area Home Health Agency in Compliance

with National Standards for Hospice Excellence

 Skokie IL — November 28, 2011 — Community Health Accreditation Program, Inc., (CHAP) announced today that CovenantCare Hospice, an additional option for care offered now by  CovenantCare at Home of Illinois (CovenantCare), has been awarded CHAP accreditation under the CHAP Hospice Standards of Excellence. This is the second CHAP accreditation for hospice excellence that CovenantCare has been awarded (its Hospice care in Colorado was certified in 2010).   

 CHAP accreditation demonstrates that CovenantCare and its Hospice Services meet the industry’s highest nationally recognized standards. Rigorous evaluation by CHAP focuses on structure and function, quality of services and products, human and financial resources, and long-term viability.

 “We are very pleased that CovenantCare Hospice chose CHAP accreditation,” said Terry A. Duncombe, CHAP President and CEO. Continued Duncombe, “Voluntarily selecting to achieve CHAP accreditation and meeting our high standards of excellence demonstrates CovenantCare’s commitment to quality. It has been a delight to work with their entire team through the ongoing process of quality improvement to successful certification.”         

Joseph Haughney, president of Covenant Care, credits the conscientious and focused hospice team for the successful accreditation. “Kathy Allburn, our Illinois Administrator, has assembled a great, cohesive team,” said Haughney. “They are talented, committed to our mission, and provide the best resources and options to care for our clients.”

Continued Haughney, “We offer routine, general inpatient, and respite hospice care for patients and their families. With this certification for excellence, we have added another element in our comprehensive continuum of care in the Covenant Family of Services.”

About CovenantCare at Home

CovenantCare at Home is a non-profit,Chicagobased, Medicare-certified Home Health, Hospice, and Personal Care (private pay) healthcare provider. It is affiliated with Covenant Retirement Communities (CRC), one of the largest networks of residential communities for seniors in the country. CovenantCare partners with hospitals, physicians, and residential care facilities to provide Medicare–certified, skilled healthcare, personal care and hospice services – with a focus on patient-centered care and teamwork among all medical providers.

 CovenantCare’s services are grounded in a 125-year heritage of healthcare services and senior care.  For more information about Covenant Care at Home, visit www.CovenantCareatHome.org.

 About CHAP

CHAP is an independent, not-for-profit, accrediting body for community-based health care organizations. Created in 1965, CHAP was the first to recognize the need and value for accreditation in community-based care. CHAP is the oldest national, community-based accrediting body with more than 5,000 agencies currently accredited nationwide. Through “deeming authority” granted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), CHAP has the regulatory authority to survey agencies providing home health, hospice, and home medical equipment services, to determine if they meet the Medicare Conditions of Participation andCMSQuality Standards. CHAP’s purpose is to define and advance the highest standards of community-based care.

 For more information about CHAP, please visit www.chapinc.org or call 202.862.3413.

####

Click on the links below to read about:

• Hildred – 99 years old and healthy at home despite some chronic health conditions that can lead to hospitalization

(http://www.covenantcareathome.org/resources-news/press-releases/going-strong-and-staying-healthy-at-home-at-99-years-old/)

• The specific savings and health benefits that home health care offers as a solution to the rising costs of senior rehospitalization

(http://www.covenantcareathome.org/resources-news/press-releases/home-health-care-a-cost-savings-solution-for-medicare-senior-rehospitalizations/)

 For more information, contact:

Don Ingle: 630.710.8091

Valerie Budach: 773.878.4371 or 773. 850.9952

For Immediate Release

Media Contacts:

Don Ingle:1-630-710-8091

Valerie Budach:1-773-878-4371(office);1-773-850-9952(mobile)

Home Health Care Lowest Cost Provider

In Saving Billions in Avoidable Hospital Readmissions

The Costs of Hospital Readmissions

• The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has estimated the cost of avoidable hospital readmissions to Medicare at more than $17 billion a year.

• Nearly one in five Medicare patients discharged from the hospital is readmitted within 30 days; that is approximately 2.6 million seniors at a cost of over $26 billion per year, according to CMS.

• According to CMS, the average Medicare cost for a hospital readmission stay is $9,600.

• A new report from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice examined 10.7 million hospital discharges for Medicare patients from 2004 – 2009 and found little progress in reducing hospital readmissions or improving care coordination for Medicare patients.

• Hospital readmissions are usually due to three factors: medical mismanagement, inconsistent communication among post-discharge healthcare providers or lack of patient knowledge.

•  Beginning in October, 2012, CMS will begin to reduce Medicare payments to hospitals for excessive hospital readmissions rates.

• An independent, not-for-profit organization, the Joint Commission, which accredits and certifies more than 19,000 health care organizations, says hospital readmissions are mainly a result of gaps in follow-up care.  “This presents an opportunity for home health providers who are increasingly managing the transitions of sicker Americans out of acute-care settings and into the home. Appropriately managed transitions can also help patients avoid medication errors and unintentional falls, which cause thousands of deaths and cost approximately $19 billion per year,” the Joint Commission says.

Home Health Care Preferred Patient Setting for Improved Quality, Lower Costs

• The Joint Commission cites four studies in its report on home health care. “Just about everyone agrees: the home is the best setting for providing health care to increasing numbers of patients. Not only can care be provided less expensively in the home, evidence suggests that home care is a key step toward achieving optimal health outcomes for many patients.  These studies show that home care interventions can improve quality of care and reduce hospitalizations due to chronic conditions of adverse effects.[1]

•  According to the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC), a home health visit by a registered nurse costs $135 nationally. But, if a patient does not have home health care and instead goes to the emergency room, the same services provided by the nurse at home average $1,800 at the hospital, NAHC says.

• Avalere Health, a Washington, D.C.- based healthcare advisory services organization, found that home healthcare use by patients after an initial hospital visit saved $2.8 billion in Medicare spending over a three-year period (2006 – 09.) If patients had used home healthcare instead of other services, Medicare spending could have been further reduced by $2.1 billion over the same time period.  “Our study shows that home healthcare is cost effective and benefits patients by improving the continuity of their care,” said Emil Parker, director, Avalere Health.

CovenantCare at Home a Leader in Care Transitions Pilot Program to Reduce Readmissions

• CMS has launched a Care Transitions Program aimed at helping healthcare providers work together to avoid readmissions.  In a pilot program inDenver, CovenantCare at Home played a leadership role in developing a Patient Health Record that is credited with helping reduce hospital readmissions by 9.3% over three years at two major hospitals.CMSis now rolling out the program nationally.

• “We are thrilled with these results, from the dual perspectives of improved patient care and cost savings,” said Joseph D. Haughney, President of Chicago-based CovenantCare at Home. “What theDenverteam has learned, in terms of sharing patient information and educating caregivers and patients during transitions among healthcare settings, will contribute to meaningful healthcare collaboration and dramatic cost savings.”

• CovenantCare at Home plans to participate in Care Transitions Programs in its six major markets. “We believe that our expertise in delivering healthcare to seniors at home is perfectly aligned with the goals of successful Care Transitions programs. And, we are committed to the delivery of quality healthcare through collaboration among all healthcare providers.”

• “Everyone, from American taxpayers to patients and their caregivers,” he concludes, “will benefit from the cost savings to Medicare that home healthcare delivers.

About CovenantCare at Home

CovenantCare at Home is a non-profit,Chicagobased, Medicare-certified Home Health, Hospice, and Personal Care healthcare provider. It is affiliated with Covenant Retirement Communities (CRC), one of the largest networks of residential communities for seniors in the country. CovenantCare partners with hospitals, physicians, and residential care facilities to provide Medicare–certified, skilled healthcare, personal care and hospice services – with a focus on patient-centered care and teamwork among all medical providers.

CovenantCare’s services are grounded in a 125-year heritage of healthcare services and senior care.  For more information about Covenant Care at Home, visit www.CovenantCareatHome.org.

PS – This model could save billions in medicare expenses by preventing senior re-hospitalization!

Media Contacts:

Don Ingle: 1-630-710-8091 (office and mobile)

Valerie Budach: 1-773-878-4371 (office); 1-773-850-9952 (mobile)

 Carol Stream, Ill. – Nov. 16, 2011 – Hildred is 99 years old; like most people her age, she has medical conditions.  Arthritis, hypertension, macular degeneration, hyperthyroidism and the most critical, congestive heart failure (CHF).

But when you visit her, you’d never know it.  She fills her bird feeders outside her beautiful apartment inWindsorPark, a Covenant Retirement Community and takes daily walks around the grounds. She writes poetry, creates colored-pencil and watercolor artwork that adorns her walls, is still active in the book club she started, and has lunch and dinner with friends.  She doesn’t look, or act, her age; more like someone at least 20 years younger. 

What has kept Hildred from being admitted to the hospital, where the average Medicare cost of treating CHF is $20,000, is a small care team – the adult caregiver, (her daughter), a doctor who didn’t just “automatically” admit her when her CHF symptoms worsened, and a nurse and nursing aide who to manage and monitor her medications and overall health conditions every day.  Her home care typically costs $152 per week.

If everyone had care like this, Medicare estimates its savings from hospital readmissions alone would be $17 billion annually. In fact, it is now rolling out a national program that will support better communication among aftercare providers and, starting next year, penalizing hospitals that underperform on hospital readmission rates. (http://www.covenantcareathome.org/resources-news/press-releases/home-health-care-a-cost-savings-solution-for-medicare-senior-rehospitalizations/)

“I think I’ve done it myself,” says Hildred, the very independent former teacher, mother of two, grandmother of four and great grandmother of five, when first asked how she’s been able to stay out of the hospital.  But then, she admits, “Well, I have to give the nurses some credit.  If there is anything wrong, they’re onto it immediately.  They come to my apartment every day and also call me.  They have been very good in keeping a relationship with how I’m feeling and noticing things that may need attention.”

CHF is a chronic illness, one of three leading causes of hospitalization among the elderly. “It goes from stabilized to recurrence of symptoms very rapidly,” explains her registered nurse, Rosann Forni of CovenantCare at Home.

In April, Rosann noticed that Hildred had shortness of breath, swelling in her legs, fluid retention and changes in her blood pressure.  She immediately contacted Hildred’s daughter Carol, who lives an hour’s drive away, and then her physician, Dr. Kenneth Ha.

“When she and her mother came in, I suspected CHF and confirmed that,” explained Dr. Ha. “We could either admit her to the hospital or try to treat her as an outpatient. In cases like this, hospitals can be almost counterproductive at times.  For the geriatric population, there can be issues with increased confusion of the patient, and a prolonged stay can lead to physical problems and the risk of infection. So, initially I decided to treat her with medications.”

Dr. Ha said that having home health care was ideal for Hildred’s situation.  “For the next month or two, there was a good amount of going back and forth” with Rosann, adjusting Hildred’s medications and monitoring her conditions every day.

In fact, says Dr. Ha, “Medication monitoring is huge in treating the geriatric population.  At first, patients are resistant to having help because they want to retain their independence. The first step is getting them to realize that they need someone to help them.  Otherwise they’ll say, ‘I’ll take care of myself now; I’m not going to pick up the phone and call you.’ But they could be very sick.”

Dr. Ha relies on home health care to monitor his patients. “I just feel like it’s almost impossible to deal with elderly patients the way you should without it. Rosann has been very good about informing me of Hildred’s conditions. She is my eyes when I can’t be there,” he said.

Monitoring Hildred’s conditions happens every morning and evening, when her private care worker from CovenantCare visits.  “My day doesn’t start until Patty arrives,” Hildred says, and her daughter Carol considers Patty, “a very important part of the team.”  Rosann sees Hildred weekly, fills her medication box and examines her. 

CovenantCare nurses and aides are on call 24/7, which is frequently necessary for seniors.  Last Christmas Eve, when Hildred was having difficulty taking her medications and was starting to feel ill, Rosann said, “I was on my way to services with my family, but I turned around.  I always want my patients to feel like they can call me anytime.  I went to see her, we adjusted her medications and we all had a wonderful holiday. ”

Hildred’s CHF is in remission now.  This has enabled her to stay in herWindsorParkapartment, where she has lived for 22 years.  While her daughter and she have discussed a move into assisted living at the Covenant Retirement Community, Hildred says, “Of course, you want to stay in your own home.”  And countless studies show that the elderly recover faster and enjoy a better quality of life if they are able to stay at home.

Hildred’s quality of life is remarkable. Of her book club, as one example, she says, “I love to learn new things. Are you interested in the new book I’m reading now?”

For the foreseeable future, Hildred intends to remain right where she is, in her home, surrounded by friends and close to family, including her daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren and great grandchildren, who exchange visits regularly.  “It is a wonderful life here atWindsor,” she concludes.  

A wonderful life that her healthcare team and her family are committed to maintain.

About CovenantCare at Home

CovenantCare at Home is a non-profit,Chicagobased, Medicare-certified Home Health, Hospice, and Personal Care healthcare provider. It is affiliated with Covenant Retirement Communities (CRC), one of the largest networks of residential communities for seniors in the country. CovenantCare partners with hospitals, physicians, and residential care facilities to provide Medicare–certified, skilled healthcare, personal care and hospice services – with a focus on patient-centered care and teamwork among all medical providers.

CovenantCare’s services are grounded in a 125-year heritage of healthcare services and senior care.  For more information about Covenant Care at Home, visit www.CovenantCareatHome.org.

Denver, Co – September 19, 2011 – The leaders of CovenantCare at Home/Denver participated in a national project to care for seniors in their homes. The results demonstrated that home health services reduce readmissions to hospitals AND are an effective, cost-efficient way of allowing senior loved ones to remain in their homes.

CovenantCare is a health care solution while delivering excellent health care to your home!

Click below to read more about CovenantCare’s solution to the need for exceptional care, delivered at home!

http://www.9news.com/news/local/article/219462/346/Home-healthcare-benefits-patients-saves-costs

Home healthcare benefits patients, saves costs | 9news.com

www.9news.com

WESTMINSTER – About three times each week, 90-year-old Arlene opens the door of her Westminster apartment and welcomes Connie Horak inside…(read more…)

• Fact Sheet – Aug. 9, 2011
• DenverCare Transitions Program – Aug. 9, 2011
• DenverCare Transitions Feature Story – Aug. 9, 2011

Media Contact:

Don Ingle:1-630-710-8091(office and mobile)

Valerie Budach:1-773-878-4371(office)

1-773-850-9952(mobile)

Media Contact:
Valerie Budach: 1-773-878-4371 (office); 1-773-850-9952 (mobile)
Don Ingle: 1-630-710-8091

CovenantCare at Home of Colorado Plays Leadership Role
In National Healthcare Community Partnership That Could Save Billions

Hospital Readmissions Cut 9.3% in Denver pilot; CMS Program to Expand Nationally

Denver CO – July 1, 2011 – CovenantCare at Home of Colorado has played a leadership role in a just-completed, three year community pilot program that has reduced hospital readmissions by 9.3%, resulting in significant reductions in Medicare costs while improving the health of senior citizens. This unprecedented public/private partnership funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) demonstrated that by working together, the medical community of providers in Denver could promote seamless transitions for Medicare patients who move between healthcare settings.

“We are thrilled with these results, from the dual perspectives of improved patient care and cost savings,” said Joseph D. Haughney, President of CovenantCare. “What the Denver team has learned, in terms of sharing patient information and educating caregivers and patients during transitions among healthcare settings, will contribute to meaningful healthcare collaboration among all providers as this program is rolled out nationally.”

The Care Transitions project in Northwest Denver was one of 14 projects across the country that participated in the CMS pilot. During the past 18 months, the program has already saved an estimated $100 million in Medicare spending at hospitals due to reduced readmissions among seniors.

“Connected for Health” – How it Worked

Two dozen medical organizations in Denver, including two large hospitals, participated in the pilot. Teams identified that patient care transitions – the “handoffs” from one provider to another – are not standardized. Thus, discharge instructions from providers or each patient’s healthcare team were not consistent, resulting in confusion among patients, caregivers and families that contributed to high hospital readmissions.

“What we learned is how fragile the handoff process is between providers,” said Breanna Gaetzi, home health specialist for CovenantCare at Home of Colorado, who was among the leaders of the CMS project communications team the past two years. “We learned the value of working together, forging bonds between sometimes competing organizations and implementing sound business practices to improve the delivery of information and care to customers,” she explained.

The project partners created a program called “Connected for Health” and committed to make measurable improvements for patients by standardizing the transfer process and increasing patient education.

Education and Coaching a Key Factor in Program’s Success

Gaetzi’s communications team created a standardized Personal Health Record, a 16-page booklet for patients that is being used by hospitals, physician offices, senior resource centers, nursing facilities and residential communities. Healthcare coaches and community volunteers use it to help patients and family caregivers learn how to take charge of their healthcare in the hospital aftercare process.

Patients take the Personal Health Record to all follow-up doctor visits. As a personal tool, it provides information on when to call the doctor, educates them about medications they are taking and teaches them how to update their medication record with any changes.

CovenantCare at Home has adopted it with its own patients. “As an organization, our clinical staff focus on what patients can do to recover after a hospital stay,” Gaetzi explained. “What we’re teaching them is how to manage their own healthcare, because it not only saves money, it really improves their quality of life.”

“In terms of dollars, a 24-hour hospital stay costs $1,500, but home healthcare costs $150, so you can see the huge potential cost savings to the entire healthcare system,” she added.

Connected for Health has also developed a Post Acute Care Tool that will be used by hospitals to help seniors understand their choices for continued care.

Going forward, the Northwest Denver Care Transitions team has created a group representing the gamut of medical professionals to implement continuous improvement processes and has applied for additional federal grant money to further improve the delivery of aftercare services to seniors in the community.

National Implications

In April, U.S. Health and Human Services made $500 million in federal funding available under the Affordable Care Act to expand the Community-based Care Transitions Program nationally. It is a major part of the Partnership for Patient program, which the agency estimates has the potential to save to up to $35 billion in healthcare costs and $10 billion for Medicare over the next three years.

“As the Care Transitions program rolls out nationally, CovenantCare at Home will participate in the communities where we do business,” Haughney said. “We believe that our expertise in delivering healthcare to seniors at home is perfectly aligned with the goals of successful Care Transitions programs. And, we are committed to the delivery of quality healthcare through collaboration among all healthcare providers.”

About CovenantCare at Home
CovenantCare at Home is a non-profit, Chicago based, Medicare-certified Home Health, Hospice, and Personal Care healthcare provider. It is affiliated with Covenant Retirement Communities (CRC), one of the largest networks of residential communities for seniors in the country. CovenantCare is also a medical partner to hospitals, physicians, and residential care facilities to provide Medicare–certified healthcare, personal care and hospice services – with a focus on consistent transitions among all medical providers.

CovenantCare’s services are grounded in a 100-year Christian heritage of service and healthcare outreach.

For more information about Hospice of CovenantCare and Covenant Care at Home in Colorado, please call 303-487-1009 or visit www.CovenantCareatHome.org.

####

For Immediate Release

Media Contact:         

Valerie Budach; 1-773-878-4371 (office); 1-773-850-9952 (mobile)        

CovenantCare at Home of Colorado Granted Hospice Certification

Denver Area Home Health Provider Complies

with

National Standards of Excellence for Hospice Medicare Services

Denver CO – March 22, 2011 – Less than a year after their CHAP (Community Health Accreditation Program) accreditation for Medicare-eligible home health services, CovenantCare at Home (CovenantCare) of Westminster, CO, has been granted accreditation to deliver quality, Medicare-eligible hospice care throughout their Denver market area.

The CHAP gold seal of approval assures patients and their families, physicians, insurance companies and health care professionals that CovenantCare has met the industry’s highest nationally recognized standards of excellence for delivering home health – and now hospice – care. Due to this recognition of quality service, the federal government recognizes CovenantCare as meeting Federal standards of quality and performance and therefore certified to provide care to Medicare patients.

Joseph D. Haughney, president of CovenantCare, credits the Colorado leadership for their accreditation. “We have a great care team in Colorado,” said Haughney. “Their collective clinical expertise, combined with the fact that we provide a Christian option of care, support, and resources, provides important choices for patients and their families.”  

According to Terry A. Duncombe MSHA RN, President and Chief Executive Officer of CHAP, “The accreditation that CovenantCare has achieved is important to the local and national health care community, and to the public at large. It demonstrates that an organization has achieved excellence in operations and the services it provides to people in need.”

To earn CHAP accreditation, CovenantCare voluntarily completed an intensive process of self-evaluation. CHAP experts were also on-site to conduct interviews, review documentation, and observe patient care and interview patients. All aspects of patient care and care-providing staff management were evaluated. Beyond licensure or certification where required, CovenantCare voluntarily sought this higher standard of excellence.

Congratulations to CovenantCare and the communities and customers fortunate enough to receive its superior services.

About CovenantCare at Home

CovenantCare at Home is a Medicare-certified Home Health, Hospice, and Personal Care service provider. A member of a national network of hospitals, residential communities for seniors, and homes for adults and children in need, its services are grounded in a 100-year Christian heritage of service and the ministries of the Evangelical Covenant Church. For more information about Hospice of CovenantCare and Covenant Care at Home in Colorado, please call 303-487-1009 or visit www.CovenantCareatHome.org.

####

For Immediate Release

CovenantCare at Home of Golden Valley Granted Medicare Accreditation

Minneapolis Area Home Health Agency in Compliance with National Standards of Excellence for Medicare Services

Golden Valley, MN – September 1, 2010 – CovenantCare at Home (CovenantCare) of Golden Valley, MN, has been granted initial accreditation for quality home and community care by the Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP).

Since 1965, the CHAP gold seal of approval assures patients, their families, physicians, insurance companies, and health care professionals that programs and services provided by Covenant Care Golden Valley have met the industry’s highest nationally recognized standards of excellence. During the rigorous evaluation, CHAP focused upon the agency’s structure and function, quality of services and products, human and financial resources, and long-term viability.

With this acknowledgement, the federal government recognizes CHAP accredited organizations as meeting Federal standards of quality and performance and therefore able to provide care to Medicare patients.

According to Terry A. Duncombe MSHA RN, President and Chief Executive Officer of CHAP, “The accreditation that CovenantCare has achieved is important to the local and national health care community, and to the public at large. It demonstrates that an organization has achieved excellence in operations and the services it provides to people in need.”

In less than a year, CovenantCare of Golden Valley established an office, hired and trained clinical and administrative staff, complied with CovenantCare policies and procedures, and began to care for patients.  

Joseph Haughney, president of CovenantCare, credits the conscientious and focused team for the successful accreditation. “Nadia Geigler, our Golden Valley Administrator, has assembled a great team,” said Haughney. “They are talented, committed to our mission, and enlist the best resources and options to care for all of our clients.”

About CovenantCare at Home

CovenantCare at Home is a Medicare-certified Home Health and Private Duty (personal assistance) services provider. It evolved from Chicago’s Home of Mercy, which expanded to include hospitals, enabling residents and children’s homes, and retirement communities. In addition to its exceptional care and quality outcomes, its services are grounded in the ministries of the Swedish Evangelical Covenant Mission Church and its 100-year Christian heritage of service.

CovenantCare’s mission is to “…enrich the well-being of individuals in their homes.” Its values, including compassion, respect, a commitment to service, and a ministry of healing and serving others, are reflected in its brand statement: Exceptional care. At home. Our promise.

For more information about CovenantCare in Golden Valley, please call 763-732-1400 or visit www.CovenantCareatHome.org.

About CHAP

CHAP is an independent, not-for-profit, accrediting body for community-based health care organizations. Created in 1965, CHAP was the first to recognize the need and value for accreditation in community-based care. CHAP is the oldest national, community-based accrediting body with more than 5,000 agencies currently accredited nationwide. Through “deeming authority” granted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), CHAP has the regulatory authority to survey agencies providing home health, hospice, and home medical equipment services, to determine if they meet the Medicare Conditions of Participation and CMS Quality Standards. CHAP’s purpose is to define and advance the highest standards of community-based care.

For more information about CHAP, please visit www.chapinc.org or call 202.862.3413.

Contact:

Valerie Budach, CovenantCare at Home

1-773-878-4371 (office)      

1-773-850-9952 (mobile)   

 Denver Area CovenantCare Agency Complies

with

National Standards of Excellence for Hospice Services  

Westminster CO — July 20, 2010 — Community Health Accreditation Program, Inc., (CHAP) announced today that Hospice of CovenantCare, a service of CovenantCare at Home (CovenantCare), has been awarded CHAP accreditation under the CHAP Hospice Standards of Excellence. This is the second CHAP accreditation for excellence that CovenantCare has been awarded in 2010 (its Home Health Services were accredited in February 2010).  

CHAP accreditation demonstrates that CovenantCare and its Hospice Services meet the industry’s highest nationally recognized standards. Rigorous evaluation by CHAP focuses on structure and function, quality of services and products, human and financial resources, and long-term viability.

“We are very pleased that Hospice of CovenantCare chose CHAP accreditation,” said Terry A. Duncombe, CHAP President and CEO. Continued Duncombe, “Voluntarily selecting to achieve CHAP accreditation and meeting our high standards of excellence demonstrates CovenantCare’s commitment to quality. CHAP is delighted to work with their entire team through the ongoing process of quality improvement.”                        

Joseph Haughney, president of Covenant Care, credits the conscientious and focused clinical staff for the successful accreditation. “Theresa McCoy, our Colorado Administrator, has assembled a great team,” said Haughney. “They are talented, committed to our mission, and enlist the best resources and options to care for all of our clients.”

About CovenantCare at Home 

CovenantCare is a nonprofit, faith-based, Medicare-certified Home Health, Hospice, and Private Duty (personal assistance) services provider. It has a 100-year Christian heritage of service, based upon a foundation of whole-person wellness and community health care outreach. CovenantCare evolved from the Evangelical Covenant Church, including its original Home of Mercy, and educational, outreach, and support ministries. The Covenant Family of Services includes hospitals, enabling homes, and continuous care residential communities for seniors.

CovenantCare’s mission is to “…enrich the well-being of individuals in their homes.” Its values, including compassion, respect, a commitment to service, and a ministry of healing and serving others, are reflected in its brand statement: Exceptional care. At home. Our promise.

For more information, please visit www.CovenantCareatHome.org.

About CHAP

CHAP is an independent, not-for-profit, accrediting body for community-based health care organizations. Created in 1965, CHAP was the first to recognize the need and value for accreditation in community-based care. CHAP is the oldest national, community-based accrediting body with more than 5,000 agencies currently accredited nationwide. Through “deeming authority” granted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), CHAP has the regulatory authority to survey agencies providing home health, hospice, and home medical equipment services, to determine if they meet the Medicare Conditions of Participation and CMS Quality Standards. CHAP’s purpose is to define and advance the highest standards of community-based care.

For more information about CHAP, please visit www.chapinc.org or call 202.862.3413.