Online resource packed with regulatory news and expert guidance, tips & tools pertinent to professionals across the post-acute care continuum.
For healthcare providers, having a diverse workforce is paramount to quality of care. The communities they serve contain patients from a wide array of backgrounds, races, and socioeconomic classes. Without shared similarities and cultural values among them, it’s difficult for medical professionals to establish the strong patient relationships that are needed for effective care. From […]
CMS is transitioning to a new data source for a demographic data for all home health agencies and other post-acute providers. The demographic data include such items as the provider name, provider-mailing address, provider physical address, state and ZIP code, according to a notice on February 10. Demographic data are displayed on the Provider and […]
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently began releasing new hospital COVID-19 data at the facility level. The data shows weekly impacts from COVID-19 on ICU and bed capacity. When announcing the new datasets last month, HHS noted that it should help local and regional collaborations. Home health industry leaders have noted that […]
CMS has issued a proposed rule that would improve electronic exchange of health care data among payers, providers, and patients and streamline processes related to prior authorization to reduce burden on providers and patients, according to a press release. Released Thursday, Dec. 10, the rule would give providers more time to focus on their patients […]
Agencies must comply with HIPAA when passing patient protected health information (PHI) back and forth. follow these eight tips to protect your patients and agency from breaches: Assess how you and your business associates transmit PHI to each other as part of your regular HIPAA risk analysis. If you uncover any vulnerabilities, resolve them. Ensure […]
CMS announced 20 Medicare-certified hospice providers who have been selected to participate in the alpha testing phase of development for the Hospice Outcomes & Patient Evaluation (HOPE) assessment have been selected, according to CMS. The HOPE will provide standardized data as all Medicare-certified hospices will be collecting the same assessment items for all patients. This […]
There was an error on the home health agency provider preview reports and the quality of patient care star rating preview reports that were posted on June 25, 2020. The previous reports contained the home health agency observed values instead of the risk-adjusted values. The reports have been corrected and are available by selecting “My […]
CMS released the first monthly update of data showing the impact on COVID-19 on Medicare beneficiaries. For the first time, American Indian/Alaskan Native Medicare beneficiaries have been included in the data. The data shows that American Indian/Alaskan Native beneficiaries have the second highest rate of COVID-19 related hospitalizations among racial/ethnic groups after Black beneficiaries. Other […]
The lowest average margin for freestanding nursing homes in recent years was recorded in 2018, according to a new report from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). The total average margin dropped to -0.3% in 2018, which is the first negative overall margin since 1999. Nursing home margins have been on a year-to-year decline, although […]
CMS released preliminary Medicare COVID-19 snapshot data that focus on Medicare claims. The data show an elevated risk for seniors with underlying health conditions (see related link). Among those hospitalized with COVID-19, “the five most prevalent chronic conditions for Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries were: hypertension (79%); hyperlipidemia (60%); chronic kidney disease (50%); anemia (50%) and diabetes (50%),” […]