Home Health & Hospice Week
Reimbursement Cut Hampers Regulatory Compliance
Starting Jan. 1, you have 5 percent less on average to work with. Home health agencies have a slew of new requirements to comply with in a few shorts days, and less resources to do so. Agencies will have to tackle new requirements for face to face encounters, new billing codes, physician signature dating, and more with almost 5 percent less Medicare reimbursement, on average. The prospective payment system final rule for 2011, published in the Nov. 17 Federal Register, slashed agencies' Medicare rates by that amount (see Eli's HCW, Vol. XIX, No. 39, p. 306). The cuts could close some providers' doors and will certainly impact care given to patients. "In Connecticut alone, you're looking at in excess of $18 million in lost revenue," Bill Sullivan, CEO of the Visiting Nurse Services of Connecticut, recently told the Connecticut Mirror newspaper. "The potential consequence ... is denial of patient access." The face to face encounter requirement will be particularly burdensome under agencies' reduced resources. "It's a logistical nightmare," the Connecticut Association for Home Care & Hospice's Kim Skehan told the Mirror.
Home Health & Hospice Week
- Reimbursement:
Use These 8 New HHA Billing Codes Correctly Starting Jan. 1
Don't waste time waiting for an official transmittal from Medicare. You'll have 14 discipline and [...] - Reimbursement:
7 Steps Help You Avoid PECOS Rejections Next Year
It's not too early to get on top of this potentially reimbursement-draining edit. PECOS edits [...] - OASIS:
Follow The 3 Ws To Accurately Track Ambulation Improvement
4 scenarios reveal your ability to choose the correct score for M1860. If you fail [...] - Refer To This Cheat Sheet For 1860 Responses
Score 0 if patient can ambulate everywhere without device or human assistance. Score 1 if [...] - Diagnosis Coding:
3 Tips Help Audit-Proof Your Diagnosis Coding
Coding for case mix is bound to leave your claims hanging under audit. Audits of [...] - Education:
4 Ways To Get Your Money's Worth From Professional Conferences
Check out these preparation and notetaking tips. Attending a conference is a great opportunity to [...] - Education:
Attention, Conference-Goers:Don't Overlook Tax Write-Offs
Attending a meeting to boost a career move may be deductible. If your employer reimburses [...] - Industry Notes:
Reimbursement Cut Hampers Regulatory Compliance
Starting Jan. 1, you have 5 percent less on average to work with. Home health [...] - Home care providers may not have gotten
Home care providers may not have gotten everything they wanted on their legislative Christmas lists, [...] - If your final claim gets rejected with reason code C7080
If your final claim gets rejected with reason code C7080, don't just submit another request [...] - In the holiday rush, don't forget
In the holiday rush, don't forget to make sure your referring physicians start dating their [...] - Afederal watchdog agency is continuing its scrutiny
Afederal watchdog agency is continuing its scrutiny of Medicaid home care services, and the results [...] - Stay tuned for educational materials from CMS
Stay tuned for educational materials from CMS on the new face to face encounter (FFE) [...] - You might want to beef up your OASIS submission procedures
You might want to beef up your OASIS submission procedures, since intermediaries will be checking [...] - Your troubles with the Joint Commission's National Patient Safety Goal
Your troubles with the Joint Commission's National Patient Safety Goal on medication reconciliation may soon [...] - You may be able to improve outcomes
You may be able to improve outcomes in your patients with better recognition of anxiety [...] - As the weak economy continues and states' budget crises deepen
As the weak economy continues and states' budget crises deepen, home care funding is put [...] - Put another item on your regulatory to do list for 2011
Put another item on your regulatory todo list for 2011 -- implementation of the new home [...] - Medical Review:
Protect Your Alzheimer's Patients' Claims Against Denial
Review denies staggering 92 percent of claims. You'll have to beef up your documentation if [...] - Reader Question:
Use This Method To Document Your Patient Transfer Checks
You may want to take a page from this home health agency's playbook. Question: We [...]
