Wendy Abbott

2002-2007: Case Manager with anywhere from 10 to 20+ patients, completing comprehensive assessments, care planning, medication management, communication with physicians as needs arose, and many other responsibilities.

2007: Team Manager for the Gadsden/Liberty; managed a team of around 15 to 20 employees, with up to 65 patients. During this time of manager, I also typically carried a small caseload. Manager responsibilities included hiring employees, conducting performance evaluations, managing on-call duties for the area, auditing documentation for employees, completing weekly IDG meetings, overseeing the office budget, maintaining the office, serving on the Advisory Board for the area, attending local meetings, and many other job responsibilities.

2012: received CHPN Certification

2014: Education Coordinator Responsibilities: teaching Electronic Health Record to all new employees, educating nurses on hospice documentation, completing ride-alongs with nurses, and completing the Hospice Item Set (a quality measure for hospice). The Hospice Item Set was a new quality measure for hospice. I was responsible for learning requirements, completing training materials, and training registered nurses on completing the measure. Each admission and discharge from hospice required a Hospice Item Set. This was reviewed for each admission and discharge, sent back to nurses with education on how to update, and then submitting this to the CMS via the QIES website.

2015 RN Coding Compliance Specialist: Big Bend Hospice asked if I would take over this role. This required a move to the Compliance department and becoming a Hospice Coder through Decision Health. Some of the responsibilities included coding all charts for admissions, which typically was around 150-160 charts; pulling records for all admissions to ensure physicians had documentation for terminal diagnoses; continuing to complete the Hospice Item Set, including uploading to CMS; conducting chart audits for documentation of hospice eligibility; overseeing the Eligibility Meeting; and, with any external audits (financial, ACHA, CHAP), sitting with auditors to find information or assist with EHR issues.

2023: Interim Director of Compliance: Big Bend Hospice asked if I would step in to cover as Interim Director of Compliance. During this time, I completed many roles, including the above roles, as an RN Coding Compliance Specialist, except coding was stopped in October 2023.

2016: Received Recertification for CHPN.

2024 Quality Manager: Responsibilities: continuing to complete the Hospice Item Set, including uploading to CMS; conducting chart audits for documentation of hospice eligibility; overseeing the Eligibility Meeting; and, with any external audits (financial, ACHA, CHAP), sitting with auditors to find information or assist with EHR issues, reviewing Quality Measure scores from the Hospice Item Set/CAHPS Scores/Star Rating/Hospice Care Index, Monthly Quality Meetings reviewing quality measures and how they can be improved, HOPE Tool Monthly meeting, leading the HOPE Tool Assessment that was to go into effect in October 2025, and managing new changes for the CAPHS survey in April 2025.

2024: Received Recertification for CHPN.

• Trained other nurses on patient care and daily tasks, supporting growth and professional development.
• Maintained comprehensive patient care plans and monitored staffs' implementation of physician's orders.
• Coordinated care with physicians and other clinical staff to prepare for treatment, carry out interventions and enhance continuum of care.
• Evaluated patient response to interventions and adjusted treatments accordingly.
• Administered injections, medications and wound care according to needs.
• Observed nurse administration of oral, intramuscular and IV medications to patients as prescribed, monitoring responses for adverse reactions.
• Maintained an environment conducive to providing safe quality care within regulatory guidelines.
• Built and maintained excellent rapport with patients and loved ones.
• Served as a resource for clinical questions from nursing staff members at all levels of experience.
• Started as new nurse in step down unit, caring for critical care patients, became Charge nurse for almost 2 years