There’s a flood of changes surging toward the U.S. home health care industry. But thanks to widespread recognition, improved quality and staunch advocacy efforts, providers have never been standing on higher ground. That was the key message delivered by the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) leadership Sunday during the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit […]
The Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) is less than three full months away. Among its biggest changes, PDGM halves the traditional 60-day billing period to 30 days and places greater emphasis on coding with a new 432-point case-mix mechanism. If those two changes weren’t enough, the overhaul also comes with a potential 8% behavioral adjustment cut […]
Set to take effect on Jan. 1, the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) is as controversial as it is revolutionary. The model’s therapy changes and behavioral assumptions are two reasons why. Home health operators worry their operations and patients will suffer as a result of those modifications, among others. Even PDGM’s lead author, Lisa Grabert, acknowledges […]
In September, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled a new final rule regarding discharge planning requirements for hospitals and home health providers. The new rule, industry leaders say, will likely create a much needed paradigm shift in the discharge planning process. CMS’s discharge planning rule includes a number of changes that aim […]
President Donald Trump signed a new executive order Thursday designed to bolster and expand Medicare Advantage (MA), the private Medicare insurance program for seniors that currently covers roughly 22 million individuals. While the executive order is relatively wide-ranging in scope, one major detail should immediately win the attention of home health providers. In the order, […]
Good news for home health providers in North Carolina and Florida: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will delay the implementation of Review Choice Demonstration (RCD) so agencies can adapt to the upcoming Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) first. Providers in Texas, however, won’t be as lucky. CMS announced Wednesday it is moving forward […]
When it comes to the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) and common concerns, most home health providers are quick to cite the overhaul’s widely opposed behavioral adjustments or controversial changes to therapy reimbursement. Although those two points are certainly important, PDGM also brings several lesser talked about, hidden challenges to the table as well. At the […]
When it comes to technology, there’s no shortage of gadgets and gizmos promising to innovate home-based care. In fact, during trade shows, all of the different technology being highlighted can sometimes feel a little like a scene from a science-fiction show. “I think we have seen the future of technology — we just haven’t started […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a final rule Thursday that makes changes to discharge planning requirements for home health providers. Broadly, the changes are part of CMS’s efforts to make patients a more active part of their care transitions out of the hospital and into other settings. “This delivers on President […]
Heal — the doctors on-demand startup that has raised more than $71 million since launching in 2014 — is entering the New York City market. The expansion is yet another example of the momentum Los Angeles-based Heal has built of late, but it also broadly underscores an ongoing “explosion” in demand for home-based care offerings, […]