Home Health & Hospice Week
Medicare Officials Move Forward With Plans For Home Health Agency 5-Star Rating System
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is moving ahead with plans to rate home health agencies based on a star system.
Background: In a December Special Op-en Door Forum, CMS outlined its preliminary plans to get the star rating system up and running for HHAs as early as this summer (see Eli’s HCW, Vol. XXIV, No. 2). The outcomes that would go into the star calculation include hospital readmissions, among nine other items.
Now CMS is ready to move on to the next phase of the project and has scheduled a new Special ODF on the topic Feb. 5 at 1:30 pm ET. For dial in information, go to www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Outreach/OpenDoorForums/ODFSpecialODF.html.
CMS’s originally proposed 5-star rating system has many problems, says the National Association for Home Care & Hospice. For example, “NAHC has concerns with CMS’ decision to include five measures that show improvement in functional status or clinical condition,” the trade group says. “The expected outcome for many patients admitted to home health care is to stabilize or prevent decline of a condition or functional limitation.”
Therefore, “NAHC recommended CMS include outcome measures reflecting care to patients who cannot and will not improve in any ADL or IADL function and add measures from the Home Health Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HHCAHPS) survey,” the trade group says.
Home Health & Hospice Week
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Medicare Officials Move Forward With Plans For Home Health Agency 5-Star Rating System
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