In June, CMS made a clarification to a previous transmittal which allows clinical nurse specialists, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners to certify eligibility and order services under the Medicare home health benefit. These individuals, of course, are defined as allowed practitioners. The CMS Transmittal 11447 replaced Transmittal 11386 (previously released in April 2022) and stated…
Author: Amy Ross
Provider Relief Funds
If you are an organization with a fiscal year ending 12/31, now is the time to get going on your audit of the Provider Relief Funds (“PRF”) received during Period 1 and Period 2 and other HHS awards, if applicable. An audit of the HHS awards is required if your organization expended $750,000 or more…
Plan of Care Survey Deficiency
According to CMS, the top survey deficiency cited for hospice continues to be Standard §418.56(b)—Plan of Care. This regulation is fairly straight forward; however, state surveyors consistently find deficiencies. The issue often boils down to good communication between members of the interdisciplinary team (IDG) and adequate documentation. The IDG is responsible for collaborating with the…
MAC Legacy Resources Awarded “CHAP Verified” Status
Home Health, Home Care and Hospice Products meet CHAP Standards DENTON, TX., May 19, 2022 – We are proud to announce that CHAP has named tools produced by MAC Legacy as “CHAP Verified” resources. CHAP conducted a thorough product review on a number of tools to verify that they allow organizations to meet the intent…
Allowed Practitioners
Recently, CMS issued a revision to a previously released transmittal—Change Request 12615. The subject was an update to Chapter 7, Home Health Services in the Medicare Benefit Policy Manual. One of the items included in this transmittal was a clarification of the rule change from the CARES Act which allows clinical nurse specialists, physician’s assistants,…
OASIS-E
Home health agencies will be transitioning to a new OASIS data set, the OASIS-E, in January 2023. The IMPACT Act established in 2014 was designed to standardize post-acute care reporting data among various providers. SPADEs–Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements—was a result of the IMPACT Act. CMS’ goal is to regulate quality measures across the post-acute…
Hospice Certification
As scrutiny of hospice organizations increase, it’s particularly important for hospices to ensure their certifications and recertifications of terminal illness meet all required elements. In the 2021 Medicare FFS Supplemental Improper Payment Data report of improper payments, the top cause for error was “insufficient documentation of the physician’s certification/recertification”. A few short months from now,…
Emergency Preparedness
Spring in the United States brings more than beautiful flowers and green grass. In fact, this Spring has brought snow storms, wildfires, floods, and deadly tornadoes. The Conditions of Participation for home health, hospice, and many state licensed home services require the establishment of an emergency plan for its organization, employees, and patients. In addition…
Breaking News Alert: The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency isn’t over yet.
Sigh. Raise your hand if you thought this virus would be gone by now. The healthcare community and public are being overloaded with information—masks or no masks, boosters or no boosters—and on and on. OSHA recently announced it is holding public hearings in the next 10 days regarding a final standard to protect healthcare…
CMS Updates
CMS recently updated the Code of Federal Regulations for Home Health Services (Part 484) as well as the Medicare Benefit Policy Manuals—Chapter 7 for Home Health Agencies. The changes reflect alterations in the Conditions of Participation released in the home health final rule last year and became effective on January 1, 2022. There is always…
