The 2024 Home Health Final Rule has us looking ahead to some significant changes to the Home Health Quality Reporting Program (HH QRP) and OASIS instrument. The changes will go into effect January 1, 2025 and will impact the OASIS instrument by adding one new item and removing two items. The quality reporting data will…
Tag: OASIS
CMS Quarterly Q&As
CMS released the January 2023 Quarterly Q&As on Tuesday and among many topics, there is continued confusion surrounding the transition period. The Q&A guidance reiterates that the M0090 Date determines which version of the OASIS to complete and not necessarily the beginning date of the episode of care. The quarterly Q&As address questions that arise from real-life…
Home Health Referral
The beginning of every home health services admission or resumption of care starts with a referral. It seems so simple. However, just what is required for a referral to be valid? Home health agencies continue to struggle with this and are negatively affected by the process measure, timely initiation of care, when an invalid referral…
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…
Wound Care
Both home health agencies and hospices may care for patient wounds in the course of their work. Wound care may involve treatment of ulcers, burns, pressure sores, open surgical sites, fistulas, tube sites, and tumor erosion sites as well as other types of wounds. The challenges of wound care include several factors—accurate assessment of the…
Medication Management & OASIS
The Quarterly OASIS Q&As were released in January. Interestingly, there were a number of questions regarding medication management, specifically OASIS items M2020 and M2030. Determination of the patient’s ability to manage oral and/or injectable medications can be tricky for the assessing clinician. Direct observation is the preferred assessment method. Clinicians need to observe the patient’s…
Hospice Benefit Eligibility
Just last month, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced its intent to perform a nationwide review of hospice beneficiary eligibility. This action was in response to identified recent negative findings during individual provider audits by the Office of Audit Services. In their audits, they found a pattern of patients who did not meet eligibility…
January 2022 CMS Quarterly OASIS Q&As
The recently released January 2022 Quarterly OASIS Q&As reiterated the CY 2022 Home Health Final Rule confirming that OASIS-E will begin on January 1, 2023, instead of the originally estimated time frame of one full year after the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. They went on to say that CMS will release a…
