COVID-19: Interim Final Rule & What It Means for Home Health

There have been two Interim Final Rules, the most recent on May 1, that have been issued by CMS during this historic pandemic of the century. This Public Health Emergency (PHE) has taken the full focus of national officials and in the process, there have been sweeping concessions for healthcare, some permanent and others temporary.

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COVID-19: Imperative Home Health and Hospice Updates

This article was last updated on May 7, 2020.

As we are facing the pandemic of the century, home health and hospices are on the frontline of this Public Health Emergency (PHE) along with hospitals, physicians and all other healthcare workers. We at Healthcare Provider Solutions, Inc. would like to take this moment to thank each and every one of you for your true dedication to treating patients and helping the world to be a healthier place. HPS is dedicated to providing the Home Health and Hospice industries with the education and resources necessary to keep you performing at the highest level of success.

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8 Major Changes Outlined in the FY2020 Hospice Wage Index Update

The FY2020 Hospice Wage Index & Payment Rate Update & HQRP Proposed Rule presents significant changes to rates and election statements. This proposed rule needs our full attention and comments! Please do your part and comment by the deadline stated in this article.

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Required Hospice GIP Documentation

General Inpatient (GIP) Care is one of the four levels of care available to patients who elect the Medicare Hospice Benefit. When may GIP level of care be appropriate? When is it NOT appropriate to use GIP level of care?

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New Hospice Comprehensive Assessment Measure added to Hospice Compare

The NEW Hospice Comprehensive Assessment Measure takes these 7 individual measures and combines them into a single metric. This measure is an “all-or-none” measure, which means that in order to receive credit, the hospice must successfully complete ALL 7 care processes for which the patient is eligible.

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Hospice Item Added to OIG Work Plan – Protecting Medicare Hospice Beneficiaries from Harm

The OIG released a hospice portfolio report Vulnerabilities in the Medicare Hospice Program Affect Quality Care and Program Integrity in July of 2018, identifying vulnerabilities in the Medicare Hospice Program and made 16 recommendations to CMS to strengthen the hospice program.

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Hospice HEART Update

The retooling of the Hospice Evaluation and Assessment Reporting Tool (HEART) is a significant development. CMS has been moving rather expeditiously on the HEART tool, and it is believed the tool is one of the key components necessary for future changes in hospice including payment refinement.

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Hospice Utilization & Payment Public Use File

CMS is proposing to add Hospice Utilization and Payment Public Use File (Hospice PUF) data to Hospice Compare. The PUF data is derived primarily from hospice claims and the most current PUF data is from FY2015. The data would be in a segregated section of Compare as it contains information about hospice payments and utilization not quality measures.

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Hospice FY2019 Proposed Rule – Payment and Quality Reporting Program

The FY 2019 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Requirements proposed rule was recently made available. Of concern is the fact that CMS found 66% of hospice cost reports would have been rejected had certain edits been in place. Check back soon for future blog articles containing more detailed information about the quality reporting program updates and comments in the proposed rule.

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Hospice Quality Measure Reports Available

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that corrections have been made to the hospice quality measure reports available in CASPER and are now ready for viewing. It has come to our attention that some hospices are not aware of these reports and are not accessing them and are missing out on valuable information. To get started with CASPER…

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Hospice MedPAC Report to Congress

Each year the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) submits its annual report to Congress which contains information and recommendations related to Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) programs. This article details the 2018 annual report recommendations for Hospice.

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CAHPS – Home Health & Hospice

Are you monitoring the agency’s CAHPS results? There are numerous questions on the survey that the patients must complete, but only selected ones go into the outcome measure calculations. Home Health CAHPS results have been reported on the Home Health Compare website for quite some time, while the results for the CAHPS Hospice Survey just began being public reported on Hospice Compare 02/22/18. One of the lowest scoring…

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Hospice Compare Site Now Live

On August 16, 2017 the long-awaited Hospice Compare site went live. The Compare site is part of the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) mandated by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). CMS uses Compare sites as part of the quality programs for various provider types. All are similar in that they offer a snapshot of the quality of care provided to patients that is available to the public.

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2018 Hospice Final Rule & NOE Electronic Submission

Late Tuesday, August 1, 2017 the final hospice rule – FY 2018 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Requirements – was posted. The rule contains the FY2018 finalized payment rates, aggregate cap, and hospice quality reporting changes. On July 27, 2017 CMS released Transmittal 3813/Change Request (CR) 10064 – Accepting Hospice Notices of Election via Electronic Data Interchange. Hospices will be happy to hear…

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Hospice Quality Reporting Update

There have been several updates to the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) recently, most notably that CMS has provided notifications to hospices that were determined to be non-compliant with HQRP requirements for calendar year (CY) 2016, which will affect their fiscal year (FY) 2018 Annual Payment Update (APU). The non-compliance notification letters are dated July 18, 2017 and were sent via the US postal service and are also available in CASPER.  The CASPER letter also identifies…

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