Home Health & Hospice Week

Will case mix points for resolved conditions become a thing of the past?Home health providers are wary about chan-ges the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Ser-vices suggests making to the home health PPS grouper logic.The proposed change "will deprive home health agencies of case mix points, and thus payment, for care to patients whose conditions are resolved by surgery and/or other medical means, despite the fact that these diagnoses were determined to impact resource use," the National Association for Home Care & Hospice says in its comments on the proposed rule. These conditions include the majority of gastrointestinal conditions, cancers, and orthopedic conditions treated by surgery, as well as resolved infections that require post-acute care in the home (e.g., meningitis)."Home health, by the nature of the setting, frequently provides aftercare to patients following surgery or other treatment that 'resolves' the underlying diagnosis," says commenter Judy Adams with Adams Home Care [...]