Home Health Line
07/23/2012

Hospital readmission penalties don’t take effect until Oct. 1, but many agencies already have started benchmarking their readmission rates and using them to successfully position themselves as a partner for reducing rehospitalizations.

07/23/2012

43% of the 127 agencies that responded to HHL’s 2012 Medicare referrals survey have already begun marketing toward hospital readmission penalties. Another 50% are planning such marketing in the future, the survey shows.

07/23/2012

Implement these strategies to keep your rehospitalization rates low and ensure you have compelling data to show to hospitals: 

07/23/2012

A growing number of agencies are considering dropping their accreditation with the Joint Commission and other organizations, but make sure you weigh the pros and cons carefully before you decide on a similar step. 

07/23/2012

If your agency learns or suspects that a referral source, employee or patient is doing something illegal, heads up: you may be liable yourself – or make your liability worse – if you don’t report it. 

07/23/2012

CMS is implementing a new safeguard to protect the privacy of patients who respond to the Home Health Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HH-CAHPS) survey.

 

07/23/2012

Clarification: The story “CMS proposes fines up to $10,000 per day, other penalties for survey deficiencies” in last week’s HHL stated that it is up to surveyors to decide which sanctions to impose on an agency. While sanctions are based on the surveyor’s findings, the proposed rule states only that CMS will make the determination on which sanctions to impose and does not specifically identify the surveyor as the individual in charge of the decision.

07/19/2012

Use this flowchart from the Kaiser Family Foundation to determine the penalties your agency may be subject to starting in 2014.

07/16/2012

If Medicare cuts in the 2012 PPS rule were a sledgehammer that knocked $640 million out of this year’s home health reimbursement, the proposed 2013 PPS rule’s cut of 0.1%, or $20 million, is more like a feather duster. 

07/16/2012

Getting a survey citation could become a lot more expensive: CMS’ 2013 proposed rule contains civil money penalties, payment suspensions and other sanctions for agencies with condition-level or repeat deficiencies

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