Home Health Line
02/09/2015
by: Palmetto GBA
About three-quarters of the denials issued by Medicare administrative contractor Palmetto GBA from October 2014 through December 2014 were for face-to-face encounter requirements not met, according to data Palmetto posted on its website Jan. 26.
 
02/09/2015
by: HHS Office of Inspector General
More than 120,000 beneficiaries received hospice care in assisted living facilities (ALFs) in 2012; the median number of days they spent in hospice care was 98, according to an HHS Office of Inspector General analysis of CMS data in 2013. 
 
02/02/2015
Agencies must wait to complete resumption of care (ROC) assessments until after they have received physician orders — even if a delay in orders causes the assessment to be late.
 
02/02/2015
Encourage your employees to stay home when they are sick to prevent an outbreak of the flu among your staff and patients.
 
02/02/2015
Establish a consistent process to ensure clinicians’ nursing licenses are valid and up-to-date or you could wind up hiring a person who has fraudulently obtained a license.
 
02/02/2015
A recent study by Weill Cornell’s department of psychiatry shows that using a Depression CAREPATH approach was effective among 208 patients who showed high levels of depression. That approach led to a substantial drop in depression scores after one year. 
 
02/02/2015
Home health agencies nationwide saw a percentage-point improvement in reported scores for ambulation and influenza immunization received for the current flu season, according to CMS’ Jan. 22 release of Home Health Compare data.
 
02/02/2015
In a recent policy change, you’ll now need to ensure there’s a current HbA1c test result in the chart of a patient for whom you’ve coded diabetes or prepare to lose money on the claim — or see it denied outright.
 
02/02/2015
Nancy Zechar, CEO of Comprehensive Health Network, a 280-patient agency in Greenville, Ohio, thinks one way to satisfy the new face-to-face requirements is to send referring physicians a copy of the 485 form together with an addendum that makes clear the patient’s need for home health and at the same time educate the physicians to include both documents in the patient’s chart.
 
02/02/2015
by: Home Health Compare
Home health agencies improved this quarter in ambulation and influenza immunization, two of the 10 process and quality measures slated to be used for CMS’ upcoming 5-star rating system. 
 

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