While home health advocacy efforts are routinely focused on national policies, state-level organizations often help pave the way. Among them is the Association for Home & Hospice Care of North Carolina (AHHC-NC), led by industry veteran Tim Rogers, its president and CEO. With the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) and the Review Choice Demonstration (RCD) on […]
Home-based care providers have no shortage of regulatory hurdles and legal changes to keep them on their toes. For most home health agencies, the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) and Review Choice Demonstration (RCD) are top of mind. Meanwhile, home care agencies have minimum wage hikes and electronic visit verification (EVV) to worry about. With so […]
For home health providers and their policy advocates on Capitol Hill, the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) is priority No. 1, 2 and 3. Lurking in the background, though, is possibly an even bigger, more drastic reimbursement overhaul — a unified payment system for the entire post-acute care landscape. Currently, post-acute care (PAC) providers include skilled […]
The Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) is a perfect storm of regulatory and reimbursement changes, according to top executives from Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED), Encompass Health Corporation (NYSE: EHC) and LHC Group Inc. (Nasdaq: LHCG). For agencies, managing cash flow and making sure staff are operating at the top of their licenses will be keys to […]
Less than three weeks in, regulatory changes in one state are already threatening to shrink the home-based care workforce there. The news comes out of New York, following Sept. 1 changes to the state’s Consumer-Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP), which allows seniors and people with disabilities who receive Medicaid-certified home care to choose their own […]
On a federal level, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC), LeadingAge and the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare (PQHH) have all ramped up their home health advocacy efforts this summer and in early fall. Increasingly, state home health leaders have joined in on those efforts as well. Over the past three months, […]
Starting in 2021, Medicare patients could have access to a new permanent home infusion benefit. The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed the benefit in July as part of its proposed home health payment rule, with the goal being to move more care into the home. While some view the proposed benefit as […]
For years now, the caregiver crisis has plagued the home care industry, with demand far outpacing supply in most parts of the county and home care turnover hitting an all-time high of 82% in 2018. In New York, regulatory changes are about to make the problem a lot worse, according to industry leaders in the […]
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) — or the Tesla of home care, according to some — recently made changes to its health care plan to put veterans at the center of their own care and reduce network fragmentation. The VA Mission Act makes it easier for veterans to visit non-VA medical facilities and creates […]
While it’s important to prepare for the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) in 2020, home health owners and operators need to make sure they’re not taking their eye off the ball in 2019. The Prospective Payment System (PPS) is complex enough, so being overly focused on the future could impact financial success in the present. That’s […]