Contract guides for home health, hospice and hospitals

What is a contract notice period, and when is yours? Contract notice period: how it works in a healthcare vendor contract, and how to work out your real last day to say no.

Auto-renewal clauses: what to watch in healthcare contracts Auto-renewal clauses in healthcare contracts: the details that cost home health agencies, hospices and hospitals money, and what to check first.

Who gets notified when a contract is about to renew? Contract renewal notifications: most missed renewals come down to who was told and when. What to check before your next deadline.

Expiring or renewing? Why the difference matters Contract expiration vs renewal: one stops unless you act, the other keeps going. How to tell them apart and what to do with each.

Tracking contracts in a spreadsheet: where it breaks Contract tracking spreadsheet: a fine place to start. The columns it needs, a formula for the notice date, and signs you've outgrown it.

What is your contract negotiation cycle? Contract negotiation cycle: if it starts when the invoice arrives, your leverage is gone. How to plan backward from the notice date.

Does every contract have an owner? Contract owner: why contracts without one renew by accident, how to assign owners, and what each owner should be responsible for.

Vendor contract management for healthcare organizations Vendor contract management for home health agencies, hospices and hospitals: a simple way to get control, starting with one complete list.

What is contract lifecycle management? Contract lifecycle management in plain words: the stages, where healthcare organizations really lose track, and how much of it you need.

What to look for in healthcare contract management software Healthcare contract management software: the questions to ask before you buy for a home health agency, hospice or hospital.

Home health services under arrangement: keeping the contracts straight Home health services under arrangement need a written agreement under Medicare rules. What the rule says and what to check in each contract.

The contracts every home health agency should have on a list Home health agency contracts checklist: the contract types most agencies run on, grouped by type, and what to watch in each.

Hospice vendor contracts: what to watch when rates tighten Hospice vendor contracts: what to review when the payment update doesn't keep up with costs, from pharmacy and DME to inpatient agreements.

Hospital contracted services: keeping the list the rule requires Hospital contracted services list: what 42 CFR 482.12(e) requires, why the list goes stale, and how to keep it current across departments.

What is a business associate agreement? Business associate agreement: a plain explanation of who needs a BAA under HIPAA and what 45 CFR 164.504(e) says it has to include.

How to find the vendors missing a BAA Find vendors missing a BAA: a practical audit of business associate agreements, starting from everyone you actually pay.

When a vendor contract ends, what happens to the PHI? When a vendor contract ends, the PHI they hold doesn't leave with them. What a BAA requires at termination and what to check on the way out.

Free BAA tracker template (Excel) A free spreadsheet to track which vendors touch PHI, which have a BAA on file, and which are missing one, with the 13 terms HIPAA requires.

Vendor contract compliance checklist for home health and hospice (free) A free checklist of what Medicare's Conditions of Participation, HIPAA and the referral rules expect in home health and hospice vendor contracts, with every rule cited.