End of stepped-up review in sight for Texas wheelchair suppliers? The termination of a Colorado home health agency's Medicare participation should serve as a warning against letting drop-off sites stray into branch territory. Earlier this year, an administrative law judge upheld the termination of Boulder, CO-based Professional Home Health Care Inc. (see Eli's HCW, Vol. XIII, No. 17). One of the HHA's problems was an unauthorized branch that the agency contended was merely a "paperwork drop box." If an agency wants to add a location, it should contact the CMS regional office and have it approved as a branch, the CMS official instructed. Other issues raised in the forum include:
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recognizes only a home health agency, parent, branch or sub-unit, declared a CMS official in the June 23 Open Door Forum. "We do not recognize any other offshoot of an agency," the staffer stressed.