Home Health Line Breaking News
08/20/2012

If your agency serves patients in a group home, employees there may complete the Home Health Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HH-CAHPS) survey for patients under certain circumstances, CMS contractor RTI International has clarified.

08/15/2012

If you’re thinking about partnering with other providers in a pay-for-performance (P4P) project, consider the impact on outcomes and any unintended negative consequences of financial incentives, suggests an analysis and editorial published in the Aug. 15 issue of peer-reviewed medical journal BMJ.

08/13/2012

A tragic house fire in Kansas drives home the importance of making sure caregivers are always on time.

Windsor Place At-Home Care in Lawrence, Kan. is being sued for unspecified damages by surviving relatives of a quadriplegic adult and three children who died in the fire.

08/07/2012

The Association of Home Care Coding and Compliance (AHCC) has voiced concerns over M1024 restrictions outlined in the proposed PPS annual rate update. 

If the proposed rule is adopted in its entirety, it could mean a significant decrease in clinical points for agencies.

08/02/2012

A new report by the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) released Aug. 2 argues that some $5 million in Medicare payments to home health agencies in 2010 were the result of "inappropriate and questionable billing."

The OIG recommends multiple enforcement steps to CMS, including a further lowering of the outlier cap.

08/01/2012

Update (Aug. 7, 5pm): CGS has corrected the topic code for this review. The topic code will be 5101T, not 5101IT.

Medicare administrative contractor (MAC) CGS has announced a widespread review of hospice claims for patients with Alzheimer's, debility and chronic airway obstruction.

The topic code for the review will be 5101IT.

07/27/2012

If you ever lose patient data, make sure your follow-up is as diligent as that of Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Home Hospice.

The hospice’s Chicago offices were burglarized June 11 and six laptops and tablets were stolen.

07/25/2012

Hospices will see a net 0.9% increase in their payments starting Oct. 1, according to the hospice wage index published July 24.

The wage index also includes a requirement for hospices to report all “co-existing or additional diagnoses."

 

07/23/2012

It’s shaping up to be a trend: A Hawaii agency is the second home health employer within a month to write a six-figure check following an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) discrimination lawsuit.

07/20/2012

Region C Recovery Auditor Connolly will review home health and hospice records to determine whether services were medically necessary.

Both issues are unusual for a RAC, as these contractors usually focus on automated reviews.

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