Home Health & Hospice Week

Tip: Make sure compliance training isn't just for staff orientation. The 78 home health agencies suspended in Dallas may have to close their doors forever, but you can avoid a similar fate by taking these steps recommended by industry experts: 1. Get proactive about compliance. In today's stepped up enforcement world, "there needs to be an industry focus on compliance," urges attorney Robert Markette Jr. with Benesch Friedland-er Coplan & Aronoff in Indianapolis. That will be a switch for many agencies, who have been ignoring compliance under the lax enforcement environment that has persisted for much of the last decade. You can turn to free compliance tools from the HHS Office of Inspector General for help, suggests financial consultant Tom Boyd with Rohnert Park, Calif.-based Boyd & Nicholas. For example, you can get a fraud-fighting website widget and website badges at www.stopmedicarefraud.gov, Boyd points out. OIG compliance guidance for HHAs [...]