Online resource packed with regulatory news and expert guidance, tips & tools pertinent to professionals across the post-acute care continuum.
The final report from the Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation (AHHQI)’s Future of Home Health Project was published online this month in the peer-reviewed journal Home Health Care Management and Practice. The article, “The Future of Home Health Care: A Strategic Framework for Optimizing Value,” outlines a plan for home health and home-based […]
Twenty years ago, Dr. Edward Wagner envisioned a new way to better service people with chronic conditions (Improving Chronic Illness Care, 2013). His model meant sweeping changes to traditional office visits and refocused on teamwork, information technology, and new roles; in short, it aimed to transform healthcare. Now with providers taking on more risk, this […]
If you are a home health or hospice agency looking to provide services in an assisted-living facility (ALFs), be aware that in January 2015, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report titled Medicare Hospices Have Financial Incentives to Provide Care in Assisted Living Facilities. In this report, the OIG revealed that Medicare payments […]
The Home Health Quality of Patient Care Star Ratings Preview Reports and the Home Health Compare Provider Preview Reports are now available in the Provider CASPER folders. These reports contain data that will be publicly reported on the Home Health Compare website in January 2017. The deadline to submit a request to have the Quality […]
On September 28, 2016, lawmakers introduced legislation to Congress that would put a one-year moratorium on the pre-claim review pilot, and require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to report to Congress on the effect the pilot program is having on patients, home health agencies, physician, and Medicare spending. The National Association for […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that it will not move forward to initiate its pre-claim review demonstration in Florida in October. CMS bases this decision after implementing the demonstration in Illinois in early August and finding “additional education efforts would be helpful before expansion.” CMS has stated it will take […]
Most of the changes in the OASIS C2 Guidance Manual, released in June, were included in CMS’ announcement of the update late last year. The best surprise is probably that there are no surprises in the manual. It also provides more clarity for both the items assessed and the rationale for doing so. As Homecare […]
Analysis from a study, called the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE), has concluded that a computer-based brain exercise called “speed-of-processing training” could cut the risk of developing dementia by as much as 48%. The staggering statistics prove for the first time a cognitive training intervention has been shown to protect against […]
Overall prescription drug spending in the United States increased by 17 percent from 2013 to 2014, according to new data released by the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services. The new data set provides data on more than one million health care providers who collectively prescribed $121 billion in prescription drugs under the Part D program. Since […]
The Visiting Nurse Associations of America (VNAA) and the Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation (Alliance) issued a public announcement expressing disappointment over the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) ruling that moves forward with a pre-claim review pilot in five states.