Home Health & Hospice Week
Medicare Should Change These 5 Things About SFP, Commenters Urge
Start with taking CMS’ foot off the gas pedal. Hospices are not happy with Medicare’s proposed Special Focus Program, which aims to bring more survey scrutiny to poor-performing hospices. Here are some of the top items on the SFP wish lists of hospices and their reps commenting on the 2024 home health proposed payment rule: 1. Delay. A multitude of commenters call on CMS to delay SFP’s implementation while it works out the kinks, with many asking for at least a year’s pause. 2. Test. UnityPoint at Home would like to see CMS “work with the existing SFP Technical Expert Panel (TEP) to improve the SFP algorithm” and then “pilot” it before implementing it nationwide, execs Jenn Ofelt, Christy Pinkley, and Cathy Simmons in the health system-based unit’s comment letter. 3. Let surveyor education take hold. “More time is needed for [surveyor] training updates to be completed so that surveyor consistency improves,” advises Nick Westfall, CEO of VITAS Healthcare in the Miami-based chain’s comment letter. 4. Furnish preview reports. “Hospices should have a preview period to review the data being used in the SFP selection to ensure its accuracy and to determine their standing among other hospices,” urges Dan Savitt with VNS Health (formerly VNS NY) in the venerable agency’s comment letter. 5. Give targeted hospices some breathing room. “We recommend that CMS exempt SFP hospices from other types of reviews, such as Targeted Probe and Educate (TPE) audits or Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) audits, as well as recertification surveys, as these hospices will already be dedicating significant resources to improving their care processes and graduating from the SFP,” physician Holly Yang, president of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, says in AAHPM’s comment letter. “Additional demands on hospice administration resources as a result of such audits and reviews will place undue strain on hospices and harm their ability to succeed under the SFP,” Yang cautions. Stay tuned: Hospices will see whether CMS heeds their requests when the final home health rule comes out, likely in late October or early November.
Home Health & Hospice Week
- Value-Based Purchasing:
Put October Value-Based Purchasing IPRs On Your Calendar
Get more info on whether you’ll see a pay boost or penalty based on your [...] - Reimbursement:
HHAs Get Fuller Picture Of Their VBP Payment Fate With October IPR’s Total Performance Score
TPS isn’t binding yet, however. With home health agencies nearly three-fourths done with their first [...] - Hospice:
SFP Burdened With A Plethora Of Flaws, Providers Warn CMS
From CAHPS issues to surveyor shortfalls, serious faults dog the program — and could close [...] - Surveys & Certification:
Medicare Should Change These 5 Things About SFP, Commenters Urge
Start with taking CMS’ foot off the gas pedal. Hospices are not happy with Medicare’s [...] - Telehealth:
Home Health Telehealth Needs Watching, OIG Tells Medicare
Have agencies learned from their initial mistakes? In the early days of the COVID-19 public [...] - Industry Notes:
HRSA Continues To Recoup PRF Relief Funds
Heads up: RP 6 reports are due Dec. 31. As more reporting period deadlines for [...] - Industry Notes:
Tackle Coding Conundrums For BIMS, N0415 With New Educational Tools From Medicare
Boost your assessment staff ’s OASIS accuracy with two new educational tools from Medicare. BIMS: [...] - Industry Notes:
Hospice Medicare Advantage VBID Carve-In Area Shrinks A Bit Geographically
The Medicare Advantage hospice carve-in will change shape a bit next year, Medicare officials have [...] - Industry Notes:
Head Off Steep Settlements With Smart Onboarding Checks
If you don’t have a spare $150K lying around, then be sure to check your [...] - Industry Notes:
Equity Reports To Hit Post-Acute Providers In October
Keep watch for two new equity-focused reports coming your way next month — the Discharge [...] - Industry Notes:
Take A Look At New Medicaid Hospice Payment Rates
Check out Medicaid payment rates for hospice services at www.medicaid.gov/sites/default/files/2023-09/medicaid-hospice-rate-letter-FY2024.pdf. Rates take effect Oct. [...]
