While there is currently an alarming shortage of nursing professionals in the US, another looming crisis, this time in the pool of direct care workers, stands to hurt the entire healthcare ecosystem, including home health care, if left unchecked. Direct care workers refers to… Read More »Shortage in Direct Care Workers: How Home Health Agencies Can Help
Last June 28, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS) proposed rule for 2022, which re-focuses the shift from paying for home health services based on volume to a system that incentivizes higher quality… Read More »Key Takeaways: 2022 Proposed Payment Rule; HHVBP National Expansion
Recent discussions about the expansion of the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Model (HHVBP) signal major reforms on the horizon for home health operations and payment systems. Allow us to dive into what this means for the different industry stakeholders: What Is Value-Based Care? According… Read More »Value-Based Care: What It Means for Your Agency
LUPA and the Pandemic In the first few months of the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM), the frequency of low-utilization payment adjustments (LUPAs) increased for many home health providers to 9.5% according to a home health news source. While this aligns with the projection from the… Read More »Real LUPA Scenarios: Finding What Works
Staffing Is Home Health’s Biggest Challenge The 2021 Outlook Survey by Home Health Care News (HHCN) revealed that 59% of the respondents said that staffing remains their single-most challenging aspect of home health operations. With the onset of COVID-19, healthcare demand has increased drastically, overwhelming… Read More »Staffing: Is It a Problem for You Too?
The New CMS ADT Mandate There is a new mandate from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on sharing admissions, discharge, and transfer (ADT) data among care providers, with the aim of improving care coordination and lowering readmissions. As of May 1,… Read More »Is Your Agency Ready for Interoperability?
Receiving an Additional Development Request (ADR) from any Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) can induce anxiety, especially if it is the first time for a home health agency. However, receiving ADRs does not necessarily mean a mistake has been committed by the agency. It could… Read More »ADR Simplified: Tips for Success
The rollout of vaccines for COVID-19 has received mixed reactions among healthcare workers. What should be deemed as a light at the end of the tunnel is perceived by many as a premature solution to the ongoing pandemic. Healthcare workers were the first in… Read More »Are Home Health Workers Getting Vaccinated?
Recent studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and Medical Care (JAMA) analyzed timestamp data from electronic medical records (EMRs) to examine how much time U.S. clinicians spend on EMR documentation and how it affects patient care. This concern has been… Read More »Does More Time on EMRs Mean Higher Efficiency?
With the Patient-Driven Grouping Model (PDGM) ruling out therapy volume as a driving factor for reimbursements, home health agencies are challenged to explore ways to optimize utilization and revenue base. The new Medicare Home Infusion Therapy (HIT) benefit, which took effect on January 1st,… Read More »[HIT] The New Home Infusion Therapy Benefit, Explained
