What Is An OASIS Review and Why Does It Matter for Home Health Agencies?

May 2, 2025

If you’re new to home health, it can feel like your coworkers have their own language filled with new terms you’re not familiar with. One of those terms you will hear thrown around frequently is an OASIS, and you’ll also hear home health leadership emphasize the importance of proper documentation.

What is an OASIS in home health care? At K&K Healthcare Solutions, we know OASIS documentation like the back of our hands, and we’re here to clear the air and get you on the road to success. We’ll briefly go over the basics of what an OASIS is, its role in home health documentation, common data collection pitfalls to avoid, and what you can do to maximize your accuracy.

What is OASIS?

OASIS stands for Outcome and Assessment Information Set, and these forms contain standardized data about patients and their care needs. OASIS data collection in home care consists of information such as a patient’s clinical condition, any comorbid conditions, physical and mental state, functional status, current living situation, and current health care needs.

It essentially gives home health providers a screenshot of the patient’s general condition and current treatment plans. Home health agencies use this screenshot to assess a patient’s current status and look for areas in their treatment plan that need improvement.

Not only that, but agencies submit the OASIS data directly to Medicare for analysis. Medicare uses the data from an OASIS assessment to determine the payment for care and measure the impact of that care on the patient. If you need an OASIS review before sending the data to Medicare, our certified OASIS review team at K&K can ensure data accuracy before you send it off.

Who Needs an OASIS Assessment?

At this time, not every patient requires an OASIS assessment in home health care. This data is only necessary for Medicare and Medicaid patients over 18 years old and receiving skilled home health services.

The only exceptions are patients who are under 18 or only receiving personal services, homemaker services, or maternity care. Personal and homemaking services consist of bathing, dressing, cooking, or other chore services.

Starting July 1, 2025, these submission requirements will change. OASIS data will be collected and submitted for all payers, not just Medicare and Medicaid. However, the age and service exclusions will not change. For many agencies, this will mean that more clinicians will be involved with OASIS data collection.

What qualifies as skilled home services? These services include part-time or intermittent care that requires the presence of a trained medical professional, such as a physical therapist, occupational therapist, or nurse. From physical therapy to wound care, a licensed and certified professional must perform skilled home services.

Importance of An OASIS Review for Home Health Agencies

An OASIS review is a vital part of ensuring data accuracy for a handful of reasons. As mentioned earlier, this review plays a part in confirming your financial reimbursement for your services. In other words, it helps make sure you’re paid appropriately for your work.

Medicare and Medicaid require extensive OASIS data collection at different points in a patient’s care to determine the quality of the care and your reimbursement. An OASIS review is key to confirming that the data meets Medicare requirements.

Not only do OASIS and home health go hand-in-hand for your payment, but proper documentation can also help ensure your patients get the best care possible. With so much patient information in one place, healthcare providers can look for areas to improve or adjust care for the best results for the patient.

Challenges and Pitfalls of OASIS Reviews

OASIS-related home health documentation is extensive, sometimes up to 40 pages! Some of the most common mistakes experienced OASIS reviewers find include:

Failure to Comply with OASIS Guidance
Incorrect Functional Scores
Incorrect Data for Risk of Hospitalization
Inconsistencies Throughout the Assessment

Failure to provide an accurate OASIS review can have serious consequences for both you and your agency. For starters, improper data or failure to meet deadlines can result in a reduction or withholding of your reimbursement.

Your agency can also be hit with audits and penalties that come with hefty fines. Both of these lower your star rating, which can lead patients to look elsewhere for their care.

Best Practices for OASIS Reviews

Mistakes are bound to happen, but a keen eye can help prevent them. As the clinician, when completing an OASIS assessment, provide as much detail as possible about the patient’s status and ongoing treatment plans.

A proper OASIS review can catch common errors and make sure the data is accurate. Outsourcing these reviews to a third party, such as K&K Healthcare Solutions, gets a second set of eyes on the data and can help clinicians improve their data collection accuracy. Our team will comb through the assessment and double-check for consistency, adherence to OASIS guidelines, and correct patient data.

Proper training will keep you informed about OASIS guidelines and help you build your skillset. Online OASIS training and education can teach you how to conduct a proper patient assessment and integrate that data into your care.

Let K&K Healthcare Solutions Take a Look

OASIS documentation plays a crucial role in ensuring proper reimbursement and agency compliance. Home health providers create an in-depth summary of a patient that can be used for proper documentation and improved patient care.

Need help with your agency’s OASIS documentation? K&K Healthcare Solutions offers extensive online OASIS training to set your team up for success as they take care of patients.

We also offer documentation compliance auditing that gives you a report of your current OASIS data collection and ways you can improve. Let us take care of the paperwork so your clinicians can focus on quality patient care.

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