Home Health & Hospice Week

Plus: Claims processing system to change.

You can take a look at the rundown of Patient-Driven Groupings Model payment changes effective Jan. 1 in a new MLN Matters article.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reviews rates, wage index changes, and much more in the seven-page summary at www.cms.gov/files/document/mm12017.pdf.

You can also see a change to Medicare claims processing instructions for home health claims that will take effect Jan. 1 in a new transmittal at www.cms.gov/files/document/r10429otn.pdf.

CR 12021 addresses claims that need adjusting when more information is entered into the Common Working File, such as a hospital stay that could change a billing period’s “early” or “later” status under PDGM. Basically, the transmittal “provides instructions to the MACs to set up a system to ensure that the Medicare systems update the HIPPS code on the HH claim and arrive at the correct payment amount first, before apportioning that payment to the Part A and Part B value codes,” the National Association for Home Care & Hospice explains in its member newsletter.

The four-page transmittal is at www.cms.gov/files/document/r10429otn.pdf.