Home Health & Hospice Week
Payment Cuts Poised To Hit Part B Therapy
Home health agencies that furnish Part B outpatient therapy can't afford to ignore physician fee schedule payment cuts that are poised to slash therapy reimbursement. "Changes to payments under the physician fee schedule for outpatient therapy services have a significant and direct effect on Medicare payments across the entire spectrum of the therapy delivery system," noted physical therapist R. Scott Ward, president of the American Physical Therapy Association, in a comment on the proposed rule. APTA wants CMS to withdraw the multiple procedure payment reduction (MPPR) policy component. The policy, APTA argues, is based on incorrect assumptions and flawed methodology Bottom line: CMS's proposal for "drastic reductions in payment for outpatient therapy services are arbitrary and essentially across the board cuts that are likely to restrict patient access to vital outpatient therapy services," APTA contends. CMS plans to publish the final rule in early November with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2011.
Home Health & Hospice Week
- Regulations:
Face-To-Face HHA Requirement Could Slash Your Patient Census
Agencies will have little control over new physician-related payment condition. Home health agencies are hoping [...] - Referrals:
Are You Prepared To Discharge Patients Based On The Face-To-Face Physician Visit?
Small providers will bear the brunt of the new rule's impact, expert predicts. Home health [...] - Hospice:
Hospice Face-to-Face Encounter Rule Could Block Patient Access
Keep new regulatory costs in check with help from nurse practitioners. Hospice physicians will be [...] - Hospice:
Hospice Providers Look For Face-To-Face Answers
The countdown to the final rule begins. The proposed face-to-face hospice encounter rule stirs up [...] - Reimbursement:
Edits Hit Hospice Claims For Lymphoma, Myeloma Patients
How well does your documentation support patients' six-month prognosis? You need to sharpen your terminal [...] - Industry Notes:
Hospices Stay Out Of Assisted Suicide Fray
One-quarter of Ore.'s hospices don't participate in physician-assisted death process, study finds. Oregon's assisted suicide [...] - Check Out New Physician Payment Website.
The feds are trying to make it easier for you to figure out exactly how [...] - Intermediary Clinches MAC Contract.
The transition from regional home health intermediary to Home Health and Hospice Medicare Administration Contractor [...] - Medicaid Covers Hospice And Curative Care For Kids
CMS has given state Medicaid programs their marching orders about furnishing hospice to children while [...] - Protect Your Medicare Identity In PECOS
Don't let Medicare fraudsters steal your Medicare identity and ruin your billing and compliance record [...] - Payment Cuts Poised To Hit Part B Therapy
Home health agencies that furnish Part B outpatient therapy can't afford to ignore physician fee [...] - Document Patient Transfer Efforts Like This, RHHI Says
If you're wondering how to prove that you looked up a beneficiary in the Health [...] - HHA Nurse Found Not Guilty Of Patient Neglect
How much are your nurses on the hook for their patients' condition? Not as much [...] - Another N.Y. County Switches To Private Home Care
Another county-run home health agency in New York looks likely to transition to private ownership. [...]
