Home Health Line
04/28/2014
The final version of the Hospice Item Set (HIS) was recently approved — without changes — by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
 
04/28/2014
Data from Medicare administrative contractor (MAC) Palmetto GBA recently posted on its website show its top denial reason in 2013 — by a landslide — was face-to-face encounter requirements not met. The MAC, which represents 16 mostly southern states, denied more than $4.6 million last year due to face-to-face rules not met. 
 
04/21/2014
Expect more scrutiny of face-to-face documentation as supplemental medical review contractor (SMRC) StrategicHealthSolutions LLC will look at approximately five claims from every agency nationwide in an effort to create more consistent audits among CMS contractors.
 
 
04/21/2014
Hospices should provide “a coherent clinical explanation” about why the drug is unrelated to the patients’ terminal condition to get paid by Part D starting May 1.
 
 
04/21/2014
As agencies wait for CMS to issue more guidance, they are reevaluating their priorities and training timelines as a result of the one-year ICD-10 delay.
 
 
04/21/2014
Agencies will have the chance to work with nursing homes and physicians’ practices to meet the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) goal of preventing one million heart attacks and strokes by 2017.
 
 
04/21/2014
Agencies across the country are finding that “self-adaptive” dressings, open-celled foam dressings and moisture vapor permeable dressings are a good way to improve outcomes, increase nursing productivity and save money.
 
 
04/21/2014
Additional documentation requests and denials caused by face-to-face documentation issues are the top worry for nearly 58% of the 208 respondents to HHL's ICD-10 Delay Survey. Twenty percent of respondents say OASIS-C1 is their top concern. 
04/21/2014
Most agencies have spent less than $5,000 to prepare for ICD-10, and most plan to spend less than $5,000 more to prepare, HHL’s ICD-10 Delay Survey shows.
04/14/2014
by: Laura Montalvo
CHRISTUS HomeCare in San Antonio provides the following sample narratives to referring physicians’ offices for use in explaining the need for home health services and to agency clinicians for use in skilled visit notes. The narratives have been updated based on recent guidance from Medicare administrative contractor Palmetto GBA and CMS and have helped the agency reduce its face-to-face denials.
 

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