Posted on Friday, October 7, 2016 1:39 PM
After a second data collection was released for post-acute payments, home health providers were provided with information that educated them about reimbursement standards required by the IMPACT Act of 2014.
The first wave of data was collected in August by providers in Hartford, Connecticut and the surrounding area for CMS contractor Abt Associates.
As of January 2017, the data will be collected from the following areas in and around Houston, Chicago and Denver. Then, a third wave of data collection is expected to start July 2017.
CMS’ data collection will focus on the following patient cognitive function issues:
• The ability to express and understand ideas
• The need for special services and treatments
• Co-morbidities
• Impairments
The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC), for its part, “strongly encourages” Texas, Illinois and Colorado agencies contacted by Abt to participate in the field testing.
“Provider input is crucial to understanding the ability of the assessment items to work in the home health setting and across other PAC settings,” says Mary Carr, NAHC’s vice president for regulatory affairs.
CMS seeks falls prevention data advice
The IMPACT Act requires CMS to make public comments available by October 14, requesting the best practices to track the incidence of home health patient falls that cause a major injury.
A home health nurse may be with a patient only an hour or two a week, while institutions monitor their patients every day around the clock until discharge, Carr notes.
What it takes for a data collection role
According to CMS, providers selected by its team of contractors to participate in the new round of data collection will be chosen from volunteering agencies to include the following:
• Characteristics as size, rural or urban location and profit status
• Participating providers must be able to assign up to three staff members who routinely conduct assessments to the data collection role
• The agencies selected will be compensated with an “honorarium”
For the full article, please see the October 10, 2016 Home Health Line Edition.
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.
