Home Care Advocates Cite 15 Problems with Medicare Audits

Better oversight, established standards, and a higher level of accountability expected from organizations could reduce fraud and abuse in the Medicare audit system according to recommendations made by independent providers in the health care industry.  A white paper written in response to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance’s request for comments to aid in fraud […]

Stolen Laptop Compromises Health Information for 10,000 Patients

A laptop containing the personal records of nearly 10,000 patients from Hartford Hospital and Connecticut home health organization VNA HealthCare, was stolen from a health care vendor, the Associated Press reported today.  The theft was reported in San Mateo, Calif. by an employee of Greenplum, a data analytics organization, who was was running data analysis on hospital […]

Long Term Care Liability Projected to Continue for Foreseeable Future

The cost of long term care liability has been increasing steadily since 2005 and is projected to continue on an upward trend through 2013 as loss rates and the cost of accident claims grow, an analysis conducted by Aon Global Risk Consulting finds. Long term care loss rates will continue to increase by 4% annually […]

Home Care Can Save Big Bucks for Medicare, Says Home Health Alliance

The cost of Medicare payments more than doubles after one hospital readmission, and home health care may be a way to combat those costs, The Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation (the Alliance), an organization comprised of home health care providers and organizations reports in its Clinically Appropriate and Cost-Effective Placement (CACEP) research project.  […]

$62 Million Grant to Increase Use of Home Care in Iowa

Iowa’s home care industry will reap the benefits of a $62 million grant funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in an effort to help long term Medicaid beneficiaries over the next three years by expanding availability of home care, according to the Iowa Department of Human Services.  The grant was awarded […]

Hospice Payments to Rise 0.9%, CMS Says

A net 0.9% increase in hospice payments will begin October 1, Centers for Medicare And Medicaid Services (CMS) announced in a home hospice wage index notice posted Tuesday.  The impact of this new rule is projected to decrease federal payments to hospices by $100 million in fiscal year (FY) 2013. Previously when introducing new rules, CMS has […]