Home Health & Hospice Week

CMS puts reg off at least a year.

Home health agencies have one less regulatory burden to worry about — for now.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says it isn’t making the three-year deadline to finalize a proposed rule that would implement a discharge planning Condition of Participation for multiple provider types including home health agencies.

CMS’s notice in the Nov. 2 Federal Register “announces an extension of the timeline for publication of the final rule based on the following exceptional circumstances, which we believe, justify such an extension,” it says.

“We have determined that there are significant policy issues that need to be resolved in order to address all of the issues raised by public comments to the proposed rule and to ensure appropriate coordination with other government agencies,” CMS continues. “Specifically, the development of the final rule requires collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.”

CMS still intends to publish a final rule on the matter, it pledges in the notice. It sets a one-year timeline to do so.

The 2015 rule proposed 22 items that would be required in the summary, including medication reconciliation and “patient’s goals and treatment preferences.” CMS also solicited feedback on a deadline for the discharge summary (see Eli’s HCW, Vol. XXV, No. 39).

The original proposal was burdensome and not a good fit for the home care setting, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice says in its member newsletter.