Home Health & Hospice Week

Apria Healthcare Group Inc. is exploring ways to reduce its fuel costs as oil prices soar, reports The Orange County Register. The Irvine, CA-based home medical equipment giant's fleet of 2,100 trucks burns 420,000 gallons of diesel fuel every month, costing Apria about $630,000 per month. A 20-cent increase translates to an additional $1 million in costs per year, Apria COO Larry Mastrovich told the Register. The company looked into hedging its fuel purchases, which means buying investments that mitigate any rise in prices, as companies such as UPS do. But Apria quickly found out despite its sizeable fleet, it doesn't use enough fuel to make hedging practical. Instead, the company is constantly adjusting its routes and is considering purchasing software to automate the routing process, according to the paper. Any software wouldn't be up and running until the fall, however. Regional home health intermediaries Cahaba GBA and United Government Services have issued local medical review policies on determining hospice terminal status. Comments on the policies are due to UGS by April 7 and Cahaba by April 10, according to postings on their Web sites. Providers gearing up for the April 14 deadline for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act privacy compliance can participate in a free roundtable conference call conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Fifteen minutes before the call begins at 2 p.m. ET March 26, parties should dial in to 1-877-381-6315 with ID number 8691541, CMS says. The harsh penalties of the powerful False Claims Act can be levied against a wider range of health care organizations than one might think. In a March 10 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court settled a vexing FCA dilemma by ruling that local governments - including city- and county-run health care organizations - are legitimate targets of FCA cases. The case under high court review, Cook County, Illinois v. U.S. ex rel Chandler (No. 01-1572), involves alleged grant fraud in a federally funded program run by an affiliate of Cook County Hospital in Chicago. Cook County maintained that since, in an earlier decision, the Supreme Court had concluded that state governments are immune from the FCA, local governments should be protected too. HHS has approved a request from South Carolina to provide self-directed care through a Medicaid waiver program for the disabled, HHS says in a release. Eligible Medicaid beneficiaries will receive personal care, adult day services, respite and other services under the waiver. Participants will plan the services they need and will hire service providers themselves. The state will offer waiver services in Spartanburg, Cherokee and Union counties. A "care advisor" and a financial management [...]