Posted on Tuesday, December 20, 2016 9:26 PM
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that the Pre-Claim Review Demonstration (PCRD) will officially develop into its second state, Florida. After several months of push back, the program will go into on April 1, 2017.
The model was designed to reach the following five states: Illinois, Florida, Texas, Massachusetts and Michigan.
The demonstration has been in effect for the state of Illinois since August 2016, with very mixed emotions and strong criticism from the home health industry.
The demonstration’s goal is to reduce improper payments by targeting the states with some of the highest rates of improper payments. In 2015, 59% of home health claims resulted in improper payment, according to CMS, with a large proportion of that due to insufficient documentation.
Additionally, the demonstration will ”help educate home health agencies on what documentation is required and encourage them to submit the correct documentation, while still allowing the home health agencies to begin providing services.”
As of December 2, 2016, the affirmation rates for pre-claim requests reached 87% for partial or full affirmations, according to CMS.
Once the program was rolled out to Illinois in August, the industry advocates decided to delay the implementation and lawmakers put together legislation that included a one-year moratorium on the program. Recently, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) said it intends to file a lawsuit against CMS to stop the demonstration.
There might still be some hope for advocates to put an end to this program with an in incoming Trump administration. President-elect Trump’s choice for Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), is the lawmaker who introduced the bill to pause the demonstration.
Corridor offers a variety of services to help you navigate through the CMS requirements – including:
• Readiness Assessment
• Outsourced Services
• Documentation Review
Call Corridor today for help with Pre-Claim Review. 1-866-263-3795
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About Corridor
Corridor is the nation’s preferred partner and trusted business advisor to home health and hospice providers, providing quality services and impactful results for 30 years. Focusing on key operational, regulatory and financial challenges, Corridor delivering industry-unique solutions and deep expertise in coding, clinical documentation review, compliance, billing and collections , consulting and provider staff education . At Corridor, we make the business of caring for people Better! For the most important industry updates and news that impacts home health and hospice, please make sure to sign up for our weekly newsletter to receive the latest up-to-date industry information direct to your inbox!
For additional information, please contact Corridor at 1-866-263-3795.
