Industry Note:
Looming Hospital Pay Change Affects Home Care
Published on Thu May 17, 2012
Readmissions focus of Medicare's payment policy.Medicare wants to penalize hospitals with high 30-day readmission rates starting next year, and the effect on home care could be significant.Home care providers have hoped that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' proposal to dock hospitals' payment rates if they exceed a certain readmission ratio for three categories of patients would spur hospitals to utilize home care more to prevent such readmissions. The three categories are heart attack, heart failure, and pneumonia.But the payment change may bring competition to home care providers instead. In Daytona Beach, Fla., Halifax Health Medical Center is looking to buy a 50 percent stake in non-profit Council on Aging Home Health, reports The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Acquiring a stake in home health will allow the hospital to better control what happens after patients are discharged, improving the odds they won't be readmitted, Halifax CEO Jeff Feasel said."If they [...]