Home Health & Hospice Week

But your agency may be the one that pays the ultimate price. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is beefing up its program integrity efforts in the face of overwhelming fraud and abuse cases -- and your agency could be the next one in the spotlight if you don't heed the warning. CMS outlined these two program integrity initiatives in its proposed rule on 2010 payment rates under the home health prospective payment system published in the Aug. 13 Federal Register: 1) Prohibition on sharing of practice location;and 2) Establishment of survey requirement for all sales or transfers of ownership within three years of enrollment in Medicare. CMS intends the initiatives to improve its ability to verify that agencies meet minimum enrollment criteria, ensure that agencies correctly sell and transfer their businesses, and to help agencies improve the quality of care they provide beneficiaries. CMS Reacts To Several Real-Life Examples [...]