A key ally for home health providers and a major proponent of value-based care may be leaving his federal post. The Trump administration revealed late Wednesday it has nominated Adam Boehler — director of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) and a senior adviser to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health […]
Category: CMS
Multinational technology powerhouse Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) and privately held telemedicine company American Well are joining forces to turn consumers’ television sets into virtual doctor’s offices. Unlike telemedicine services that depend on tablets and similar mobile platforms, San Jose, California-based Cisco is reportedly in the early stages of creating a device meant to be […]
For years, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has floated the idea of a unified payment system for all post-acute care providers — skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), in-patient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs), long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) and home health agencies. MedPAC and its team of 17 commissioners provided additional insight into what a potential unified model […]
Similar to home health providers facing the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM), skilled nursing facility (SNF) operators are months away from a major payment overhaul themselves. Effective beginning Oct. 1, the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) should trigger more collaboration between the SNF and home health worlds — at least in theory. Understandably, the two complex models […]
Earlier this week, a bipartisan pair of U.S. senators released a “secret list” of nursing homes under consideration for placement on the federal government’s roster of properties with serious quality issues. Maintained by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the list features more than 400 nursing homes that are “candidates” for the Special […]
The National Association of Accountable Care Organizations (NAACOS) is calling on the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to loosen home health requirements for new Medicare alternative payment models. In doing so, ACOs will be able to better deliver care and save money, the association argued in a letter to CMS’s Innovation Center. “More […]
Despite being one of the largest and most powerful home health companies in the game, Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED) isn’t immune to the uncertainty that comes with the looming Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM). The Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based provider has a plan of action, even if the model goes into effect on Jan. 1 as is […]
Senior living providers should embrace home health partnerships as a way to care for complex patients. Those who don’t may not only be hurting patients, but also employee retention and morale. That’s according to Carrie Coumbs, vice president of national care collaboration for Kindred at Home. “If you utilize your home health benefit proactively in […]
While the number of home health workers per capita available to seniors in the U.S. is increasing, those employees are seeing a population with more behavioral health challenges than they have in years past. Those are just a few select findings from the American Health Rankings 2019 Senior Report from the United Health Foundation, a […]
At least five states are suing the Trump administration over a recently finalized rule they say would prevent home health workers paid by Medicaid from having their union dues automatically removed from their paychecks, according to Reuters. States involved in the lawsuit include California, Washington, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Oregon. The states claim the rule weakens […]