Home Health Line
04/23/2012

Make sure all staff members have a clear idea of your organizational structure – clinicians giving conflicting information about who they report to are one of many risk factors that can lead to a condition-level deficiency for your agency and put you on track for termination from Medicare.

04/23/2012

The chart below shows what standard-level deficiencies lead to the five condition-level deficiencies most frequently cited in 2011. The term “level 1 standards” refers to the highest-priority standards that are examined during every survey (HHL 2/21/11).

04/23/2012

The number of condition-level survey deficiencies was up in 2011 – a result of more detailed guidance in the new survey protocols on when to move on to this more serious citation level, experts say (see related story, p. 1).

04/23/2012

It wasn’t all ICD-10: HHS devoted most of its April 9 proposed rule to a new system of identifiers for health plans that it claims will be a time and money saver for providers.

04/23/2012

Expect enforcement of privacy and security rules in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to intensify this year, and prepare for a final rule that will raise the stakes for violators.

04/23/2012

HHL put several ongoing questions agencies have about the face-to-face encounter requirement to CMS. Here are the answers we received:

04/16/2012

HHS released a proposed rule April 9 that would delay implementation of the ICD-10 code set until Oct. 1, 2014.

04/16/2012

The rebased home health rates scheduled to take effect in 2014 would hurt less if they reflected what agencies actually are spending on telehealth, face-to-face compliance and other expenses.

04/16/2012

If your agency has a history of late OASIS submissions, you could find yourself in trouble during your next CMS survey.

04/16/2012

An HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) review of 18,000 hospice claims in the New England region likely is tied to suspected improper use of general inpatient care (GIP).

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