When is the last time you entered a complaint in your grievance log? One of the core standards of focus for hospice surveyors is §418.52(b)-Exercise of rights and respect for property and person. The interpretive guidelines for this standard state that a “grievance is a formal or informal written or verbal complaint made to any…
Author: Amy Ross
HHVBP
Home health agencies are living in the midst of CMS’ expansion of Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model. There are quite a few intricacies to grasp regarding this program; however, CMS has published a self-assessment tool to help agencies get on track. An added bonus of this tool is the QAPI aspect. Don’t forget that MAC Legacy…
ICD-10 Coding Updates
It is coding update time again! Remember, not only are the ICD-10 codes updated effective October 1st of every year, but there are also changes to contend with on April 1st. If you have not coordinated with your EMR to ensure there is a planned update with the new grouper, now is the time to do…
Public Health Emergency and Hospice
The end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency on May 11th requires hospice organizations to examine their current practices. The waivers and flexibilities put into place to ease burdens on hospices will be coming to an end. To avoid survey deficiencies, it’s important to know when compliance to the affected Conditions of Participation is expected. A…
The American Health Association estimated that about 500,000 nurses would leave the workforce by the end of 2022. Unfortunately, in response to this shortage, 3 South Florida based nursing schools fraudulently issued 7,600 fake nursing diplomas. To date, only 25 individuals have been charged as a result of search warrants issued in Delaware, New York, New…
Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) is Here!
2023 is in full swing and so is HHVBP. The 2023 Home Health Final Rule replaced the term baseline year with Model baseline year and HHA baseline year and set that year to be 2022 for both if the agency was Medicare certified prior to January 1, 2022. The baseline data is still being gathered and calculated by CMS and will…
State Operations Manual (SOM) for Hospice – Appendix M and subsequent revisions to the Hospice Basic Surveyor Training
On January 27, 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released Memo# QSO-23-08-HOSPICE related to revisions in the State Operations Manual (SOM) for Hospice – Appendix M and subsequent revisions to the Hospice Basic Surveyor Training. These revisions take effect immediately and are related to the focus by CMS on the quality of…
Medicare Telehealth Services
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently published policy updates related to Medicare telehealth services. In 2019 CHS finalized the definition of remote patient monitory as the “collection of physiologic data (electrocardiogram, blood pressure, glucose monitoring) digitally stored or transmitted by the patient or caregiver to the HHA. With the onset of the…
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…
Personnel Files Compliance
The dawn of a new year is the perfect time to ensure your organization is on-track with regulatory issues. An often overlooked area is personnel files. It’s easy to assume everything is complete once an employee has finished their orientation process. However, there are annual education requirements to maintain. The first quarter of each year…
