Home Health Line Breaking News
09/28/2012

Fifteen years after CMS published a final rule that required home health agencies to obtain surety bonds, that regulation still has not been implemented, the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) notes in a report published Sept. 28.

09/24/2012

CMS has released a new tool that shows the public reporting schedule for the Home Health Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HH-CAHPS) survey at a glance.

The tool also shows what care periods will be included in each public reporting period.

09/20/2012

The number of Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollees referred to home health in 2013 could rise.

CMS projects an 11% increase in the number of beneficiaries choosing an MA plan over Medicare fee-for-service care, bringing the total to 14.5 million.

09/20/2012

Your hospice will continue to be able to use contract nursing staff if you’re unable to hire sufficient staff to serve your patient population.

CMS has extended an exemption from the requirement that hospice core services be provided only by employees.

09/17/2012

The U.S. could be facing a growing shortage of health care providers just as the baby boomer generation reaches retirement age, Bloomberg News reports.

The reason: As career opportunities improve in developing countries, many prospective emigrants are staying home.

09/12/2012

Many agencies choose to add questions to the existing HH-CAHPS patient satisfaction survey, but CMS contractor RTI International now is asking providers and their vendors to check the wording of those questions closely.

09/10/2012

To the extent that party platforms actually influence candidates once they’re elected, the Republican and Democratic platforms for 2012 both have good things to say about home care.

The GOP platform is more specific, asserting that “because seniors overwhelmingly desire to age at home, we will make home care a priority in public policy.”

09/04/2012

Although Congress is scheduled to reconvene Sept. 10, don’t expect any immediate clarity about plans for dodging sequestration – which would clip Medicare provider reimbursement 2% in 2013.

The only Medicare element on the agenda is possible relief from the steep drop in physician payments scheduled for Jan. 1, 2013.

08/30/2012

CMS has made a major step on the way to leaving behind its current “pay and chase” approach to dealing with fraudulent claims, according to a new transmittal.

A new edit will deny claims that fail certain criteria on a prepay basis.

08/24/2012

(Updated at 2:20pm on Aug. 27)

CMS today posted a rule in the Federal Register that finalizes the proposed one-year delay for the ICD-10 code set.

Update: Read about the ICD-10 options CMS considered before publishing the rule.

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