December 2021 Newsletter
Merry Christmas!
Where did the year go? As we turn 18 years old on December 3rd, our thoughts turn gratefully to those who have made our success here in D/FW possible. We know you have options and we appreciate your trust and support of our service and staff over the years. DFW area is a big place but small at heart and the friendships we have developed over the years mean the most to us! This festive season, we wish all of you the priceless gift of peace that surpasses all understanding, as well as indescribable joy, quality health and blessings of prosperity at Christmas and throughout all of 2022.
Happy Birthday DiagnosTEX
DTEX turns 18 years old this year! Pam and I would like to thank not only our customers and those who have supported us all of these years in DFW. We would also like to thank all of our employees for the many years of friendship, belly laughs, and so many precious memories! Thank you for your hard work and commitment to what DiagnosTEX stands for! We truly treasure each and every one of our customers and employees and are blessed to have you all a part of our daily lives! To love what you do and the people you do it with is the true definition of success and happiness! Friday December 3rd , DiagnosTEX will close for a for an extended lunch hour for a staff holiday and DTEX birthday lunch. If you call in and we do not answer, please leave a message and we will return your call.
It’s a Giving Time of Year!
It is better to give than to receive and we enjoy giving back to you for teaming with us every year! Look for your Christmas gifts as December rolls in. The 2022 DiagnosTEX Dysphagia Calendar and the new DiagnosTEX anatomy clipboards including DiagnosTEX Christmas pens! You will get yours next time we see you! Merry Christmas from us to you!
If you receive this newsletter and we do not service your facility or your area, the clipboards are available for purchase on our website in SHOP at www.dysphagiadiagnostex.com, and will be available at TSHA.
DiagnosTEX December Holiday Schedule
This year, both Christmas and New Year’s land on Friday. We all like long weekends! DiagnosTEX will be closed Friday the 24th for Christmas holiday as well Friday December 31 and we will operate Monday – Thursday both weeks. We want to meet all of your MBSS needs; we know PO feeding becomes very important on several levels to many patients and their families around the holidays. The days prior to the holidays are long for us as we work very hard to get everyone’s requests completed. We must also be considerate to all of our DiagnosTEX employees and their families. Please keep these holiday schedules in mind when scheduling your MBSS in December!
******Please take note during this busy time of year******
ASAP requests often cannot be accommodated to the satisfaction of those requesting it. Specific requests for specific times and/or days become exponentially difficult to accommodate and therefore, we may be unable to quickly schedule your patient with any specific time and day requests. Please notify your staff, patients, and families as such. Being mobile allows the convenience of the service coming to you – not for the customized flexibility of schedules and times. We are a venue option for an MBSS and we must schedule our mobile clinics for efficiency and cost effectiveness. If you or the patient and family require a specific time and/or day with limited flexibility, please consider a free-standing outpatient facility (e.g., a hospital).
Change in payor requirements
As we move into 2022, payors can change requirements, change policies, change auth and PCP requirements etc. We often do not know details until after January 1. Due to this, getting to these patients may take a little longer than normal as we decipher what is required in the new year. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to call the office and discuss with billing staff.
Updated 2022 DiagnosTEX paperwork
Updated Medicare fee schedules mean updated paperwork, no matter how you look at it. DiagnosTEX will update the service agreement fee schedules and send out to all facilities. Any new facility or change in companies will be required to sign a new service agreement. Also, due to changing commercial insurance and Medicare advantage plan requirements, additional information and documentation is required for us to collect, therefore other DiagnosTEX forms will also be updated January 1. We have had many SLP’s state recently “you never use to require this”, or “you never use to require this much information”. Please understand, anything that we have not required in the past and do now, is usually not something we just woke up one morning and decided we wanted to collect. We agree with you, the less paperwork the better BUT………. these are things we are being required to do by payment sources so that we are able to get paid for the services we are providing to your patients.
Digital copy of MBSS
As is the standard with all imaging and hospital facilities, due to cost and supply issues, as well as unprecedented social media misuse of images resulting in HIPAA and liability concerns, DiagnosTEX will begin to phase out handing out the copy of digital images of the MBSS (DVD) to the home health and facilities next year. This portion of the medical record can always be requested and copies ordered by family for a charge of $10.00. I know some of you will be very disappointed with this change and we understand why. We apologize for the inconvenience but please know this was a very difficult decision that had to be made in this strange and unforgiving new high-tech world. We always encourage all treating SLPs to attend the study if you anticipate any questions or concerns. As always, the evaluating SLP is available to discuss the evaluation and recommendations with you at any time.
Home Health Transport to mobile clinic
All HH patients must be up and ready when the mobile clinic arrives. All individuals must be able to safely transport outside the home in the safest mode of transportation (wheelchair, walker etc). DiagnosTEX staff will not get a patient out of bed, transfer to a wheelchair, carry a wheelchair or a patient down a staircase, and we will not push WC through yards. For the safety of the patient and our staff, not to mention the liability issues, we will strictly adhere to these guidelines. All HH patients need to have a safe and accessible access to the mobile clinic from the front of their home or garage. If the patient needs assistance coming down from an upstairs living area, please call your local fire department to assist with this on the day of the scheduled study.
DiagnosTEX Outpatient Clinic
Unfortunately, the ongoing pandemic issues has delayed the opening of our NRH outpatient clinic in both 2020 and 2021, but we have HIGH hopes for a grand opening in 2022. Stay tuned!