Don’t think CMPs will only come into play if you are undergoing a complaint-driven survey. Under the civil money penalties that went into place last July, home health agencies may be fined up to $10,000 a day.
One Ohio home health agency found that out the hard way recently (see Eli’s HCW, Vol. XXIV, No. 15). That agency’s $84,000 CMP arose from deficiencies found in a recertification survey, a CMS source tells Eli.
According to a CMS internal report run in March, surveyors have imposed 22 sanctions on 15 HHAs since the sanctions went into effect, the CMS source confirms. (HHAs may receive more than one sanction at a time.) Eight of the sanctions were CMPs, 8 suspended payments, 2 Directed Plans of Correction, and 4 Directed In-Service Training.