Finding the Right Employee Compensation Model Under PDGM

Mapping out a clear pay structure and expectations for field staff is imperative for success in home-based care, particularly as margins become slimmer and the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) takes hold. Compensation structure is one of the biggest influences on providers’ margins — if not the biggest. With that in mind, providers need to find […]

House Bill Seeks to Modify Medicare’s Face-to-Face Requirement for Home Health Providers

A recently introduced federal bill aims to dramatically reduce red tape for Medicare-certified home health providers — at least for now. In May, Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez — a Democrat from New York — introduced a bill that would allow home health providers to be reimbursed for services without adhering to the in-person face-to-face Medicare […]

Industry Insiders: Too Early to Tell How Coronavirus Will Affect Admission Patterns, PDGM Reimbursement

During and after the COVID-19 public health emergency, U.S. home health providers will likely have to navigate sudden changes to both their patient volumes and admission sources. When it comes to the latter, any drastic shifts in referrals and admissions could throw a huge wrench into the planning that went into Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) […]

Calculating the Cost of PDGM: A Case Study with Phoenix Home Care

In the months and weeks leading up to the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM), many industry insiders predicted the downfall of small and mid-size home health providers due to the disruption of cash flow and therapy utilization, as well as the complicated new documentation and coding processes. It’s undeniable that small and mid-size agencies will feel […]

Top PDGM Therapy Myths Busted

With the implementation of the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) just months away, therapy-heavy providers are still trying to determine what the payment overhaul will mean for them. With the uncertainty comes misconceptions, which can end up hurting a provider’s bottom line if taken to heart. One of the biggest myths associated with PDGM is that […]

Therapy Survival Tips for PDGM

With the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) set to move home health payment away from existing therapy thresholds and toward patient characteristics in 2020, providers will need to break down silos within their own operations if they want to be successful. Generally, many providers have often relied on a therapy-driven model, which has been a big […]

CMS’s Proposal to Eliminate RAPs, Increase PDGM’s Behavioral Adjustment ‘Death by 1,000 Cuts’

Home health operators and industry advocates are voicing their concerns following a proposal from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to eliminate home health pre-payments and move forward with behavioral assumptions under the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM). Specifically, many worry the proposed changes will create cash flow problems for home health agencies, which […]

Nearly Half of Home Health Providers Expect to Decrease Therapy Utilization Under PDGM

Nearly half of home health providers anticipate decreasing their therapy utilization in 2020 in response to the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM), a payment overhaul from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that is partially designed to refocus the industry toward nursing. Among its changes, PDGM shifts home health payment away from existing therapy […]

PDGM Unlikely to be Delayed; Coders Next Home Health ‘Rock Stars’

Despite tenacious rumors, home health owners and operators shouldn’t hold their breath that the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) is going to be delayed. All signs still point to a Jan. 1, 2020, implementation date, J’non Griffin, president of full-service consulting company Home Health Solutions LLC told Home Health Care News. “I can’t say definitively because […]