This discussion was moved to the Volunteer Management Group -- HCF Members: please use our Groups feature to categorize your questions and discussions as it makes it easier for others to find the topics. Even better is to post a note in the Forum that directs people to your specific discussion in the applicable Group would also be useful. Thanks. Greg Schneider
This is a great question!! Thanks Janet.
My agency is questioning what activities should constitute a volunteer hour of service for the 5% calculation. We are aware of the obvious things - direct patient care in the home, clerical hours in the office are both YES, and "crafts" are NO --
BUT --
What about assistance to the foundation in fundraising events, contacting donors by mail or phone, data entry of foundation activities?
What about all of the Bereavement services?
What about service to community members (like community people served by Grief Support, but were not actually a "hospice family"?
What things should be counted that I'm not necessarily thinking of?
And, probably most importantly - Where can I look to prove that a particular kind of service is or is not acceptable?
Thanks!!
Replies
Bereavement - Direct suppot hours include in-home/in-person family time, telephone contact, composing bereavement notes.
Hope this helps
Jennifer Thompson, CVA
Rivercross Hospice - Tulsa OK
Generally speaking, hours that are applicable to the 5% requirement must be related either Directly or Indirectly to patient/family care. The CoPs (Conditions of Participation) is the primary legal document establishing requirements for the 5% mandate. The nitty-gritty details are discussed in the Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 109 / Thursday, June 5, 2008 / Rules and Regulations (PDF file attached to this discussion). The latest version of the CoPs (Conditions of Participation) is dated June 5, 2008.
The CoP document is intentionally not very explicit as to what activities apply because Congress did not wish to constrain hospice activities -- this makes your search for "proof" as to whether a service applies a bit tricky. Furthermore, it is our experience at HVA that hospice organizations do not always interpret the CoPs in the same manner, especially with regard to what is considered Direct or Indirect.
With regard to your specific questions and whether they apply:
If you have other specific items, please post them here and other HCF members will help you out.
I would also suggest asking regulators that come to your hospice for inspections for other resources that may be useful to you.
A related discussion can be found in Suggestions for Increasing Volunteer Hours to make mandated 5%. I suggest doing a search in the HCF on 5% and see what other discussions exist.
Greg Schneider
President, HVA
HCF Creator
Melissa,
As Jennifer indicated, fundraising and community outreach are not included, this is because these activities are neither directly or indirectly related to patient care. Those are typically considered to be marketing activities that help grow the business of the hospice. Filing the paper work of a patient is an example of an indirect activity since it is not an activity directly involving the patient but is related to the care of a specific patient.
Your comment "If my hospice agency was paying a staff member for this work and it can be completed by a volunteer, it would count." is true but with the clarification as described in the previous paragraph. In other words the paid staff activity must by directly or indirectly related to caring for a patient.
Greg
This response was posted by Frances Shani Parker in this discussion in the Forum on 6/4/2011:
Community outreach, fundraising, and office work are all eligible. It’s important that people know these other options because patient care is not for everyone. Other hospices can give you more specific needs volunteers can meet.
You might be interested in my blog post titled “Hospice Volunteers With No Patients" that includes a brief video of a hospice volunteer describing how she educates the community about hospice services through public speaking at various events:
http://hospiceandnursinghomes.blogspot.com/2010/10/hospice-voluntee...