Home Health & Hospice Week
New Stark Self-Disclosure Protocol Mitigates Penalties.
Another Affordable Care Act provision may affect you if you run into trouble with your physician relationships. The measure, which the health care reform law refers to as the Medicare self-referral disclosure protocol (SDRP), provides a way for providers with actual or potential Stark (self-referral) violations to come clean. Providers can "confess their sins to the [HHS Office of Inspector General] and get special consideration," says attorney Michael Cassidy, in Pittsburgh, Pa. "It's almost like where you can selfdisclose to the Internal Revenue Service and therefore don't get the severe penalties," he adds. "The SRDP requires health care providers ... to submit all information necessary for CMS ... to analyze the actual or potential violation" of the Stark law, CMS says in a message to providers. The provision "gives the Secretary of [the Department of Health and Human Services] the authority to reduce the amount due and owing for violations." The SRDP is located on the CMS website at
Home Health & Hospice Week
- Reimbursement:
Watch For Physician PECOS Edits Now Or Pay Later
Warning: Informational edits starting Oct. 4 are easy to overlook. Your cash flow could be [...] - Billing:
Take These 5 Steps To Head Off PECOS Edit Disaster
Don't wait for RAs to check your docs. Use the next three months wisely to [...] - Clip & Save:
PECOS Physician-Check Protocol
Use this simple checklist from Astrid Medical Services to see whether your referring physicians are [...] - Hospice:
OIG Scrutinizes Overlapping Hospice, Physician Payments
Federal watchdog has its eye on you if physicians are billing for your patients. A [...] - Diagnosis Coding:
Bone Up Now On 6 Major Changes to Home Care Coding
Avoid new coding pitfalls that could cost you case mix points. With the 122 new, [...] - ICD-9:
Gain Extra Points With 3 New Case Mix Codes
Don't list new fecal impaction code for all patients with constipation. As the ICD-9 code [...] - Industry Notes:
Tougher Medicare Provider Screening Slated For Next Year
Beware payment suspensions without warning. The mandates contained in this year's health reform law are [...] - Hospices Happiest With Their Intermediaries.
Home care providers are above average in their satisfaction with their Medicare contractors. A CMS [...] - New Stark Self-Disclosure Protocol Mitigates Penalties.
Another Affordable Care Act provision may affect you if you run into trouble with your [...] - Amedisys Shuts Down Locations, Receives DOJ Investigation Demand.
The investigation into therapy provision practices at publicly traded companies appears to be taking its [...] - Time Still Remains To Head Off 2% CAHPS Cut
You don't have to take a 2 percent hit to your Medicare reimbursement if you [...] - Next Year To Be Last ICD-9 Code Update
CMS has followed through on its proposal to update the ICD-9 code set one last [...] - Tap These Free Falls Prevention Tools From PTs
Looking for new falls prevention education tools? The American Physical Therapy Association has a video [...] - Miami HHA Owners, Recruiters Get Jail Time
More individuals are going to jail for Miami-area home health agency fraud. Owners and patient [...] - Looking For The Pharmacy ODF? It's Moved.
CMS's Special Open Door Forum on pharmacy enrollment has moved to Oct. 13, CMS notes [...] - VNSNY Purchases White Plains Hospital Agency
The Visiting Nurse Service of New York has bought the White Plains Hospital Center's (WPHC) certified [...]
