Susan Collins: “That has been the experience of the nurses in Maine, that the patients believe this is unnecessarily intrusive. We are…”

“That has been the experience of the nurses in Maine, that the patients believe this is unnecessarily intrusive. We are not talking about patients, in these cases, who are receiving home health because of emotional problems. Obviously, those questions might be appropriate in some cases, but they are clearly not in these cases. What the nurses explained to me is that the patients say: What does this have to do with what you are treating me for? The nurses expressed concern that this 'exercise of Olympian endurance' inevitably elicits a negative response from their patients. That is a problem because that patient-nurse relationship is very important. It is a relationship that respects the confidentiality and the privacy of patients, or it should. Unfortunately, the OASIS information mandated by HCFA immediately erects a barrier that is often difficult to overcome. There is one example I want to share with my colleague from Kansas, one 76-year-old Medicare patient about whom I was told was being treated for a wound to his left shoulder. The wound care and teaching provided by the home health nurse took approximately 30 minutes. Completing the OASIS form took an hour and a half. The patient understandably asked: What does all this have to do with my shoulder? A very common response.”