Home Health & Hospice Week

CMS cracks down on therapy utilization in 2011 PPS proposed rule. Are you hearing the wake-up call Medicare is sending you? Your therapists will have to put a lot more time and effort into documentation and assessments under the prospective payment system proposed rule for next year. In the rule published in the July 23 Federal Register, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposes a laundry list of newly “clarified” requirements for home health therapy (see box, this page, for top requirements). CMS is addressing therapy use and documentation because its analysis has shown that “in many cases therapy was being over-provided,” the agency says in the rule. Despite a change in 2008 from a single 10-visit therapy threshold to three therapy thresholds of six, 14, and 20 visits with graduated steps in between, “some HHAs may be providing unnecessary therapy,” CMS has found. Justification: The number of episodes [...]