Home Health & Hospice Week
Medicare Wastes Millions On Capped Rental Repairs, OIG Says.
Getting claims for repair of DME capped rental items to go through could become a lot harder, thanks to a new HHS Office of Inspector General report claiming the Medicare program paid more than $30 million in possible error for such repairs from 2006 to 2008. CMS erroneously allowed $2.2 million for maintenance and $4.4 million for repairs to bene-rented capped DME, the report says. The cost of repairs is included in the monthly rental payments. CMS allowed $27 million in repair payments for bene-owned capped DME in the same time period. The claims didn't meet payment requirements such as medical necessity and delivery documentation. Beneficiaries contacted by the OIG reported a range of problems with suppliers from whom they obtained their capped rental equipment, including suppliers failing to customize power mobility devices correctly and being difficult to reach. The OIG wants CMS to increase edits, enforcement, and safeguards against such erroneous payments, plus consider tracking accumulated repair costs of capped DME. The report is at http://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-07-08-00550.pdf.
Home Health & Hospice Week
- Therapy:
Nip 6 Therapy Documentation Problems In The Bud
Improve your therapy documentation to guard against audits and comply with new rules. The PPS [...] - Compliance:
Use These 8 Tips To Craft Your Compliance Plan
Don't forget your board when planning your compliance educational efforts. While a corporate compliance plan [...] - Education:
Sign Up For PPS, Compliance, And Regulatory Training Before It's Too Late
Check out Eli audioconferences on the PPS 2011’s rule many provisions, whistleblower threats, and the [...] - Prospective Payment System:
Which New Diagnosis Codes Could Impact Your PPS Pay?
New potential case mix codes will offer increased specificity ICD-10 is coming fast, but until [...] - Diagnosis Coding:
Look For New Obesity Codes This Fall
Master these coding changes by Oct. 1. It's less than a few short months until [...] - Industry Notes:
Home Care Providers Win Leeway On Timely Filing
Count the 12-month deadline from your 'through' date. The one-year filing deadline for Medicare claims [...] - Industry Notes:
Medicare Wastes Millions On Capped Rental Repairs, OIG Says.
Getting claims for repair of DME capped rental items to go through could become a [...] - Industry Notes:
Expect Harsher Scrutiny From ZPICs.
• The public -- and Congress -- are taking notice of Program Safeguard Contractors' track [...] - Industry Notes:
Medicare Trust Fund Solvency Improves On Backs Of Providers.
All the money stripped out of home care providers' Medicare payments is ending up somewhere. [...] - Industry News:
Help Hospitals With New Readmission Measures
• You might be able to improve your relationship with referring hospitals if you can [...] - Industry News:
Use These DDE Steps For Claims Questions, RHHI Says
Wondering how to figure out why your claim paid less than you submitted for? After [...] - Industry News:
Banking Transition Delayed For Some Providers
If NHIC/NGS is your contractor, don't worry that you missed the banking transition deadline. Changes [...] - Industry News:
Get Your ADR Details Right When Responding
Look carefully on additional development request (ADR) letters to make sure you're sending your ADR [...] - Industry News:
HHA Chains Perform Below Expectations
The U.S. Senate and Securities and Exchange Commission's probes into home health therapy may have [...] - Industry News:
Gentiva-Odyssey Deal Proceeds Despite Therapy Probe
Gentiva Health Services Inc.'s acquisition of hospice chain Odyssey Healthcare Inc. appears to be moving [...]
