Home Health & Hospice Week
PHE Renewed Again — Maybe For The Last Time?
CMS pulls back certain inpatient hospice waivers. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra signed a ninth extension of the COVID-19 public health emergency, effective April 16 and lasting through July 15. Will it be the last extension? Rumblings of the PHE ending sooner rather than later are widespread among law- and policymakers. And the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is already starting to roll back certain waivers for facilities, including inpatient hospice facilities. In an April 7 memo to State Survey Agencies, CMS notes it plans to eliminate certain “emergency declaration blanket waivers” for inpatient hospices and other facilities like skilled nursing facilities and hospitals. Hospices can say goodbye to waivers for “Facility and Medical Equipment Inspection, Testing & Maintenance (ITM) for Inpatient Hospice;” the requirement “to have an outside window or outside door in every sleeping room,” which facilitated quarantine; and Life Safety Code fire drill and temporary construction requirements, CMS notes in the memo at http://www.cms.gov/files/document/qso-22-15-nh-nltc-lsc.pdf.. A caller in the April 20 Home Health Open Door Forum asked CMS to consider extending PHE-era waivers for home health (see story, p. 106). Not so fast: However, lawmakers may be loathe to cut off the PHE before midterm elections in November, observers note.
Home Health & Hospice Week
- Regulations:
New OASIS Q&As; Shed Light On Assessment Timing, GG130 Scoring
Plus: If you can’t get your ‘Services Provided’ data corrected in iQIES, you’re not alone [...] - Quality:
Say ‘Hello’ To HCI, HVLDL Measures In Next Month's Care Compare Refresh
CAHPS star rating on deck for August update. Soon potential patients, referral sources, and your [...] - Value-Based Purchasing:
6 Things Likely To Surprise You About Value-Based Purchasing
Tip: Your non-Medicare data counts too. Unless you’re ready to give up 5 percent of [...] - Reimbursement:
Check Out Your 12 Quality Measures For Expanded VBP
What exactly goes into those composite measures? While quality of care is always paramount, these [...] - Hospice:
Hospices Open Inpatient Facilities Around The Nation
VITAS operates 28 inpatient units. New hospice facilities continue to appear as need for the [...] - Industry Notes:
PHE Renewed Again — Maybe For The Last Time?
CMS pulls back certain inpatient hospice waivers. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra signed a ninth extension [...] - Industry Notes:
Are You Handling Your MA Hospice Payments Under VBID The Right Way When It Comes To Caps?
Medicare’s Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) Model’s Hospice Benefit Component is proving confusing. Note these two [...] - Industry Notes:
Use KX Modifier For NOAs Carefully, Or Risk MAC's Ire
Notice of Admission claims using modifier KX when they shouldn’t are in one MAC’s crosshairs. [...] - Industry Notes:
OIG To Examine Electronic Visit Verification In Upcoming Report
The HHS Office of Inspector General has put “Electronic Visit Verification System for Medicaid In-Home [...] - Industry Notes:
Medicare Shines Public Light On Ownership, M&A Info
Look to a development for SNFs and hospitals to see what might be coming down [...] - Industry Notes:
Beware Excluded Employees Or Pay The Price
Some recent Civil Money Penalty cases underscore why it’s important to check employees against the [...]
