Home Health & Hospice Week
New HHCAHPS Data Wave Coming In July
Plus: Medicare's hospice cap catch-up should end by next spring. If your CAHPS data didn't show up on Home Health Compare in April, it may be there when CMS refreshes the data in July. Referral sources and patients can now look up your Health Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HHCAHPS) data online if you are submitting it, but only if you have 12 months' worth, reminded Lori Teichman with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in the May 23 Open Door Forum for home care providers. Reminder: Home health agencies must participate in HHCAHPS "for patients served in April 2012 and after to be eligible for the full market basket payment increase for CY2014," CMS explained in a message to providers earlier this year. "There-fore, it is in your agency's best interest to participate in HHCAHPS so that your agency can receive the full annual payment update." Be sure to independently double-check on the CAHPS website that your approved vendor is submitting your data monthly as agreed, Teichman urged forum listeners. CMS won't hold agencies harmless if their vendors fall down on the job. Ultimately it's the HHA's responsibility to make sure the data is submitted timely. CMS Sets Hospice Cap Timelines CMS wants its MACs to waste no time in getting up to speed with hospice cap calculations -- and assessing resulting overpayments. On May 9, CMS directed its contractors to resume such calculations (see Eli's HCW, Vol. XXI, No. 20, p. 159). CMS expects the MACs to issue caps for cap years ending through Oct. 31, 2010 within six months of that date, a rep from CMS's Office of Financial Management said in the forum. That would be this November. Then MACs should issue caps for remaining years (fiscal year 2011) by March 31, 2013, the rep explained. Remember: You'll be able to choose your cap calculation methodology if you haven't filed an appeal on the matter before. Your MAC should be sending you notification of your options if it hasn't already, CMS's Owen Osaghae said.
Home Health & Hospice Week
- Reimbursement:
Providers Wrestle With Common Working File Mistakes
CMS claims its hands are tied when it comes to inaccuracies in the Common Working [...] - Hospice:
Get A Glimpse Of Your Hospice Quality Reporting Future
You might want to work on your pain management strategies first.Required quality reporting for hospices [...] - Regulations:
New HHCAHPS Data Wave Coming In July
Plus: Medicare's hospice cap catch-up should end by next spring.If your CAHPS data didn't show [...] - Diagnosis Coding:
Get Your V Code Usage Straight
Warning: Don't confuse 'status' and 'attention to' V codes.Home health coders and V codes have [...] - Industry Note:
Data Mining Leads To Hospice Fraud Settlement
Owners excluded from Medicare for 7 years.If your billing is outside the norm, you'd better [...] - Industry Note:
Small Businesses Eschew Tax Credit, GAO Finds
If you're not using the Small Employer Health Insurance Tax Credit, you're not alone. When [...] - Industry Note:
Observe These New Rules For 5010 Claims
Don't let technical oversights lead to claims rejections when Medicare starts enforcing the 5010 claims [...] - Industry Note:
Prior Authorization Demo Slated For This Summer
Providers with patients who need power mobility devices are still waiting to hear when a [...] - Industry Note:
Refile RAPs For Claims Booted In Error For PECOS
If you had claims that received reason code 32072 before the PECOS edit was turned [...] - Industry Note:
Correct Hospice Election Errors The Right Way
Watch out for errors on your Notices of Election, or you'll have to jump through [...] - Industry Note:
CMS Gives Benchmark Data To Oxygen Billers
Providers who furnish home oxygen will get a chance to measure themselves against their peers [...] - Industry Note:
Virginia HHA Owner Indicted For Bogus Claims
A Medicaid home care agency owner in Virginia has been indicted for submitting claims for [...] - Reader Question:
Keep Physician Communication Open To Avoid Getting Stuck With The Bill
Make sure the ordering doc is on board with your care plan early on, experts [...]
