Justifying Skilled Care With Ambulation

Justifying Skilled Care With Ambulation

To continue to see our patients and get paid we need to document skilled care. Just ambulating with a patient is NOT skilled care.

And providing the same cues every time is NOT skilled care.

So how do we show our skill:

• Educate patient and caregiver on safety and technique with rolling walker (RW) including staying close to RW and extending hips and knees
• Provide tactile cues at scapula for posture and verbal cues for patient to look straight ahead
• Provide visual cues with a mirror in order for patient to self correct
• Patient reported a 5/10 on RPE scale after ambulating 1000 ft (was 7/10 last week)
• Patient ambulated decreased distance today secondary to reports of fatigue. Vitals accessed and normal. Nursing (or caregiver) aware.

Remember if the only cue your patient requires is to increase heel strike (or whatever the 1 cue is you always provide)  that can be given to a caregiver and therefore is no longer skilled (Medicare does not care if they actually have a caregiver, just that it could be given to one.)

Do you know other therapists that could use more ideas for client-centered treatment? Make sure to share this post and follow us and tag them on Instagram www.instagram.com/thenoteninjas

And if you haven't yet, make sure to download our FREE PDF with skilled care documentation tips HERE!

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