Therapy:
Use These 7 Steps To Succeed With New Therapy Changes
Published on Tue Jan 11, 2011
Your therapy retooling process should already be in full swing. Don't wait until the last minute to comply with the therapy changes hitting April 1, or the joke will be on you. In the Nov. 17, 2010 Federal Register, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalizes home health agencies' requirement to have therapists -- not therapy assistants -- conduct functional reassessment visits on the 13th and 19th visits or every 30 days. In certain cases, therapists may make the visits in the 11 to 13 and 17 to 19 ranges. CMS also will require more specifics in therapists' documentation (see Eli's HCW, Vol. XX, No. 6, p. 42). "Practice, practice, practice being compliant with the reassessment timeframes before the April 1 implementation deadline," urges physical therapist Cindy Krafft with Fazzi Associates. "That way agencies can find where the process breaks down and correct it before it is 'official.'" The bottom line:Waiting [...]