According to a new employment report released on June 7 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the number of new jobs in home healthcare continues to rise. The home healthcare services sector added approximately 13,900 jobs from March to April and 19,600 jobs from… Read More »2024 Data: Growth in Home Healthcare Jobs
The launch of OASIS-E on January 1, 2023, introduced several new assessment items, including N0415 High-Risk Drug Classes: Use and Indication, to ensure consistency across various post-acute care settings. The purpose of the OASIS item is to determine if the patient is taking any medications… Read More »6 Tips for Answering N0415-High-Risk Drug Classes
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the extension of the Review Choice Demonstration (RCD) for five more years effective June 1, 2024. RCD will continue in the current demonstration states of Illinois, Ohio, Texas, North Carolina, Florida, and Oklahoma. Removal of Choice… Read More »CMS Extends Review Choice Demonstration (RCD) for 5 More Years
It is undeniable that the M1800s and GG items are crucial components of the OASIS impacting quality outcome measures and reimbursements. However, agencies should not overlook the importance of other OASIS items, which provide essential data for risk adjustment beyond mere documentation compliance. Risk adjustment… Read More »Beyond GG and M1800: Crucial OASIS Items for Risk Adjustment
On May 3, CMS released two vital draft OASIS documents: the Draft OASIS-E1 Guidance Manual and the Draft Time Point Versions of the OASIS-E1 Instrument. Upon release of the final versions, these will become effective on January 1, 2025. We have outlined the notable changes… Read More »Out Now: OASIS-E1 Draft Guidance Manual and Time Point Versions
Documentation is an integral part of healthcare, demanding nearly the same time and effort as direct patient care. This is particularly true in home health, where compliance standards and documentation guidelines have progressively become stricter and more intricate. Consequently, this has become a significant challenge… Read More »4 Ways to Ease Documentation Work of Clinicians
The home health industry is experiencing a recent surge in medical reviews/audits, posing challenges for many home health agencies. Most audits that home health agencies are receiving through Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) are Targeted Probe and Educate (TPE) audits, which were reinstated in September 2021… Read More »Navigating the Surge in TPE and Other Audits
Claims containing primary diagnoses that do not fall into one of the 12 PDGM clinical groups may be denied by CMS or sent back to the agency with a “Return to Provider” (RTP) remark. Such primary diagnoses are referred to as “Questionable Encounters” (QEs). QE… Read More »Tips to Avoid the Use of Questionable Encounter Codes
According to Medicare Home Health Conditions of Participation (CoP), each patient must undergo a patient-specific comprehensive assessment, provided by the home health agency. This assessment should incorporate the latest OASIS items, following their language and groupings. These requirements for the comprehensive assessment and OASIS data… Read More »When Is OASIS Data Collected as Part of the Comprehensive Assessment?
Major changes were introduced in OASIS-E last year, which included several new standardized items. Ensuring accurate responses to these new OASIS items is crucial for home health agencies, given the adjustments involved. Apart from assessing the quality of patient care provided and identifying areas for… Read More »2 Common Pitfalls in Scoring New OASIS-E Items
