Home Health & Hospice Week
Recovery Audit Contractor Prepayment Reviews Start This Month
Now that Recovery Audit Contractors have named home health agencies as specific targets (see Eli's HCW, Vol. XXI, No. 29), you might want to pay attention to a new RAC initiative that could threaten your cash flow. Starting Aug. 27, CMS will begin its Recovery Audit Prepayment Review prepayment audits in 11 states, the agency says on its website. This program will allow RACs "to review claims before they are paid to ensure that the provider complied with all Medicare payment rules," according to CMS. "The RACs will conduct prepayment reviews on certain types of claims that historically result in high rates of improper payments. These reviews will focus on seven states with high populations of fraud- and error-prone providers (FL, CA, MI, TX, NY, LA, IL) and four states with high claims volumes of short inpatient hospital stays (PA, OH, NC, MO) for a total of 11 states. This demonstration will also help lower the error rate by preventing improper payments rather than the traditional 'pay and chase' methods of looking for improper payments after they occur. This demonstration will begin on August 27, 2012." Originally, the demo announced in November 2011 was slated to start Jan. 1. CMS then delayed it until June 1, and then again to a vague implementation date of "summer of 2012." More information is at www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Monitoring-Programs/CERT/Demonstrations.html.
Home Health & Hospice Week
- Compliance:
Review Your Employee Bonuses Carefully
New indictment casts doubt on furnishing employee incentives.What you call a good marketing strategy, the [...] - Prospective Payment System:
Brace For Case Mix Diagnosis Coding Changes In 2013
Will you take a hit on resolved diagnoses?Prepare to see a reduction in home health [...] - Diagnosis Coding:
Grouper Calculation To Change Based On This Coding Shift
PPS methodology leaves agencies with questions.The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' 2013 PPS proposed [...] - Case Mix:
Use Only These V Codes In M1024
These codes were included in the Cen-ters for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Attach-ment D list [...] - Industry Note:
Home Care Companies Hit Acquisition Trail
Providers change hands nationwide.Home care providers have been busy in the mergers and acquisitions market.Among [...] - Industry Note:
OIG Wants Outlier Cap Lowered
HHAs serving a high number of outlier patients under the prospective payment system may see [...] - Industry Note:
Hospice PEPPER Training Full
If you're trying to figure out how to use the new hospice comparative billing report [...] - Industry Note:
New Round Of DME Bidding Launches
Registration is now open for Medicare's competitive bidding round 1 recompete for durable medical equipment, [...] - Industry Note:
Recovery Audit Contractor Prepayment Reviews Start This Month
Now that Recovery Audit Contractors have named home health agencies as specific targets (see Eli's [...] - Industry Note:
Senior Population Continues To Grow As Challenges To Recruiting Aides Intensify
Your patient pool will continue to grow in coming years, confirms a new government report. [...] - Industry Note:
Medicare Smoothes Some Of PECOS' Rough Edges
Registering with CMS's PECOS system has had its share of headaches, but CMS has made [...] - Industry Note:
Miami HHA Owner Pleads Guilty In $60M Scheme
A Miami home health agency owner has entered the latest guilty plea in a $60 [...] - Industry Note:
Download Newest Version Of PPS Pricer, Including A Fix For LUPA Add-On
You can download an updated version of the HH PPS PC Pricer at www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-Fee-for-Service-Payment/PCPricer/HH.html. It [...]
