A volunteer hour or not a volunteer hour - that is the question (con't)

Posted by Greg Schneider on June 5, 2011 at 9:41am

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!!

 

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Replies

  • Frances Shani Parker June 11, 2011 at 4:16pm
    Greg, thanks for making this clearer. There seems to be some confusion among hospice organizations about which services are applicable to the 5% requirement.
  • Jennifer Thompson June 6, 2011 at 9:11am
    The volunteer manager tool kit through NHPCO has a cople of pages of what counts and doesn't count. If your hospice is a member you might look into this. I got a copy during our quaterly meetings for volunteer administrators but don't have the ability to get it to everyone. Under Administrative it shows filing, auditing, copying, data entry of records, developing & packaging patient inforamtion packets, but not travel. Not included sewing, flower arranging, craft projects, singing at hospice inpatient unites, fundraising, participation in organization's governing boards, thrift shopes, volunteer training hours.

    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
  • Greg Schneider June 5, 2011 at 10:29am

    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:

    • Assistance to the foundation in fundraising events, contacting donors by mail or phone, data entry of foundation activities -- NO
    • Bereavement Services including Grief Support to community members that were not a "hospice family" -- YES

    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 Woods > Greg Schneider June 6, 2011 at 5:39am
       The way I understand this discussion Greg, your first respose implies that the time with fundraising, community outreach, and office work are eligible, towards the 5%. The second response you are saying NO to these activities. I guess I like so many others are desperately seaking ways to make that 5%. My thoughts would be if my hospice agency was "paying" a staff member for this work and it can be completed by a volunteer, it would count. Am I misinterpreting? Thank you for the clarification!
    • Greg Schneider > Melissa Woods June 11, 2011 at 1:11pm

      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

    • Melissa Woods > Greg Schneider June 13, 2011 at 5:12am
      Thank you! I think I have a much better understanding of whats going to count now. Have a great day!
  • Greg Schneider June 5, 2011 at 9:48am

    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...

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