Surveys are unannounced yet foreseeable, making it crucial for home health agencies to remain survey-ready. Survey deficiencies can have severe consequences for a home health business, particularly if they pose a risk of causing serious harm to patients. The top 10 home health survey deficiencies… Read More »Tips for Avoiding Common Survey Deficiencies
A recent report released by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) on September 5th revealed that home health agencies (HHAs) failed to properly document and report a significant number of fall incidents with major injuries, among Medicare patients. According to the report, 55% of major… Read More »OIG Report Inadequate OASIS Documentation of Falls with Major Injury
A patient’s functional ability is a key factor to consider in creating a home health care plan. The intent is to discharge the patient with better, safer functional ability, demonstrating improved outcomes. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) guidelines, the therapist… Read More »Assessing Functional Ability for an Effective Plan of Care
In 2025, significant changes are coming to the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) model. These changes are designed to make the program better at evaluating and rewarding high-quality care in home health services. It is important to understand that while these changes will not officially… Read More »HHVBP Proposed Changes for 2025
The Plan of Care (POC) is a vital component of home health care as it promotes patient-centered services and facilitates effective collaboration among care teams working with the patient. It is also a requirement for Medicare claims reimbursement, and strict adherence to highly specific documentation… Read More »5 Tips for Compliant and Patient-Centered Plan of Care
Consistent with its annual update cycle every July, the most recent version of the Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Report (PEPPER) for home health was released last month and is currently available for download from the PEPPER Resources Portal. To get your hands on… Read More »Now Available: Home Health PEPPER
Maintaining a consistent cash flow is crucial for home health agencies amidst challenges brought by Medicare payment cuts, regulatory changes, and shifts in the payer mix among agencies. A fundamental aspect of achieving this goal is ensuring that claims are not rejected. Rejected claims can… Read More »The Impact of Rejected Claims on Your Time and Money
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a set batch of quarterly OASIS Q&As. It features inquiries received by their help desk from the second quarter after the introduction of OASIS-E and the conclusion of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency in May.… Read More »Out Now: New OASIS Q&As
Last July 21, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the first official round of Interim Performance Reports (IPR) in the iQIES system. These reports contain data that will determine agencies’ future Medicare rates under the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model. They… Read More »Understanding the Interim Performance Reports for HHVBP
A recently released 2023 benchmarking report from Home Care Pulse provided valuable insights into the growth areas and staffing crisis in the home healthcare industry. The report is based on a survey of roughly 92,000 home healthcare professionals. Ongoing Staffing Challenges Home health and hospice… Read More »New Data: Staffing and Growth Areas in Home Health
