Home Health & Hospice Week
Short Hospice Stays A Rising Trend, Not Good For Anyone
Short hospice stays aren’t very useful to patients or payers, but they are a growing trend, according to the results of study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. An increasing number of patients are utilizing hospice services, but only in the final days of their life and after multiple hospitalizations and intensive care unit stays, the study finds.
These findings are troublesome because not only do they indicate a gross underutilization of valuable end-of-life care via hospice, but they also undercut the money-saving potential of hospice care, Politico reports.
And these study findings are not especially helpful to you, as we wait for the looming hospice payment reform. To view the study in JAMA, go to http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1568250.
Home Health & Hospice Week
- HHAs:
Alternative Sanctions: What 'Temporary Management' Really Means
Plus: Should you fear directed in-service training, plans of correction? Thanks to the Home Health [...] - Good News:
Some ICD-9 Logic Transfers To ICD-10
Learn step-by-step instructions to get into the swing of new diagnosis coding. As you’re preparing [...] - ICD-10:
How To Balance ICD-9 Upkeep With ICD-10 Preparation
Improved documentation should ease your workload. With the flurry of activity over transitioning to ICD-10, [...] - HIPAA Compliance:
Use This Sample Risk Analysis Plan To Ensure EHR Compliance
How to stay in the good graces of HIPAA compliance auditors. Nip your HIPAA compliance [...] - Education:
Prepare Yourself For Survey Sanctions, HIPAA Penalties
Bone up on all the new compliance dangers. From new sanctions for noncompliant home health [...] - Industry Note:
Are You Considering These Key Areas When Assessing Fall Risks?
Medications, poor nutrition are risk factors. Falls are the leading cause of fatal injury among [...] - Industry Note:
Medicare Payments Advisory Board Could Soon Be No More
You may not need to worry about the Medicare Payments Advisory Board any longer, because [...] - Industry Note:
Can You Still Send Unencrypted Emails Under HIPAA Rule?
Don’t be confused by whether changes to the HIPAA privacy rule bars sending unencrypted emails, [...] - Industry Note:
Home Care Patient Recruiters Plead Guilty To $20-Million Fraud Scheme
Two home health agency patient recruiters pled guilty to a $20-million fraud scheme in a [...] - Industry Note:
CMS Kicks Off 'Bundled Payments' Initiative
CMS has officially begun the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative, which will test how [...] - Industry Note:
Why Louisiana Hospices Are Breathing A Sigh Of Relief
Louisiana hospice providers exhaled a big sigh of relief, as Gov. Bobby Jindal threw out [...] - Industry Note:
HHA Owner Gets 8-Year Sentence For Medicaid Fraud, Grand Theft
An HHA owner was sentenced to eight years in prison for Medicaid fraud totaling more [...] - Industry Note:
Home Health Workers Union President Convicted Of Embezzlement
A former home care union president was convicted of embezzlement while he headed the Southern [...] - Industry Note:
Short Hospice Stays A Rising Trend, Not Good For Anyone
Short hospice stays aren’t very useful to patients or payers, but they are a growing [...]
