Home Health Line
02/17/2014
The heavy scrutiny auditors are imposing on face-to-face documentation cost home health agencies tens of millions of dollars, and data show it is increasing.
 
 
02/17/2014
The federal government has delayed until 2016 the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirement that home health agencies with 50 to 99 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees must offer health insurance to full-time employees or be penalized.
 
 
02/17/2014
Non-hospice providers will be permitted to administer vaccines to hospice beneficiaries, CMS announced on Feb. 6. CR 8620 reverses an earlier CR that indicated only hospice personnel were authorized to do so, saying that the Medicare Claims Processing Manual does not indicate that the vaccine may be “covered only when furnished by the hospice.”
 
 
02/17/2014
Several agencies have asked for guidance on how to bill for flu vaccines. Here are some tips for how to do so under varying circumstances. CMS’ Medicare Claims Processing Manual describes three flu vaccine administration/billing scenarios, all of which use bill type 34X, in Chapter 18: Preventive and Screening Services.
 
 
02/17/2014
 
Medicare administrative contractor (MAC) Palmetto GBA’s probe into the medical necessity of HIPPS code 1BGP* (last digit variable) continues to grow in scope and in the percentage of denials caused by face-to-face requirements not met.
02/17/2014
Click on the link above to download a  table you can use as a quick reference for the details of each of the seven National Quality Forum (NQF)-endorsed measures CMS has proposed for use in the Hospice Item Set (HIS).
02/10/2014
Despite the more than two-and-a-half years CMS spent trying to eliminate PECOS glitches, the database is still flagging physicians’ accurate Medicare enrollment information as incorrect, causing claim denials — possibly because of corrupted data.
 
02/10/2014
Deploying yet another weapon in its battle against home health fraud, CMS has expanded the number of metropolitan areas where Medicare enrollment of new agencies is temporarily suspended to the include Fort Lauderdale, Detroit, Dallas and Houston metropolitan areas, effective Jan. 31.
 
02/10/2014
For patients in facilities, hospices should report a monthly total for each drug that is administered through a medication management system that treats each administration as a fill, rather than using a separate line on the claim to list each dose.
02/10/2014
Look over your agency’s policies and procedures and make sure a plan exists to ensure nurses’ schedules are adhered to and staff members respond to patients’ questions the day they’re asked.
 

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