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| November 7, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 This Week at CT Healthcare At Home
News UpdateSource: Home Health Care News, November 1, 2024
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its CY 2025 home health final payment rule Friday.
It comes with an estimated aggregate increase to 2025 home health payments of 0.5%, or $85 million, compared to 2024 aggregate payments. But another permanent cut will be implemented in the new year. “CMS estimates that Medicare payments to HHAs in CY 2025 would increase in the aggregate by 0.5%, or $85 million, compared to CY 2024,” the agency wrote in its fact sheet. “This rule finalizes a permanent prospective adjustment of -1.975% (half of the calculated permanent adjustment of -3.95%) to the CY 2025 home health payment rate to account for the impact of implementing the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM). … For CY 2023 and CY 2024, CMS previously applied a 3.925% reduction and a 2.890% reduction, respectively, which were half of the estimated required permanent adjustments.” Source: The Alliance, November 1, 2024
Today, representatives Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) introduced the bipartisan Enhancing Hospice Oversight and Transparency Act, which would delay implementation of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) hospice Special Focus Program (SFP). This delay would create time to correct its current flawed design that creates a high risk of failing to identify poor performing hospices that should be subject to increased oversight and puts patients and families at risk.
Research conducted by McDermott+ (M+) has detected significant concerns with CMS’ SFP methodology intended to identify poor performing hospices, particularly its dependence on incomplete survey data. SFP is intended to allow targeting of these providers for more frequent quality of care reviews. The report emphasizes that “the high rate of hospices not being timely surveyed reduces confidence that the SFP will accurately identify the lowest performers, allowing some poor performers to fly under the radar.” The M+ analysis further reveals that not surveying all hospices within the 36-month time frame required by law leaves nearly 30% of hospices in their sample without a fully accurate performance assessment, underscoring the importance of timely evaluations to maintain accountability and support quality care. Additionally, some choices CMS made in designing the evaluation model were deemed “not methodologically sound,” raising further questions about its effectiveness. Source: McKnights Home Care, October 22, 2024
Numerous standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration may soon be incorporated into the home health conditions of participation, according to Arlene Maxim, the senior vice president of clinical services at home care software solutions firm Axxess.
Under OSHA guidelines, employers are required to maintain a workplace “free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to its employees.” For healthcare providers, some guidelines are stricter. OSHA recommends providers develop a written violence-prevention program that involves: management commitment and employee participation; worksite analysis, hazard prevention and control; safety and health training; and recordkeeping and program evaluation.
Source: McKnights Home Care, October 22, 2024
The new Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool officially launches in less than a year, so now is the time to begin modifying operations and training staff to adapt to the new quality reporting framework, according to Jennifer Kennedy, vice president of quality, standards and compliance, and Kimberly Skehan, vice president of accreditation at Community Health Accreditation Partner.
On Oct. 1, 2025, the HOPE tool will replace the Hospice Item Set for hospice quality reporting. For providers, HOPE demands more critical thinking than the legacy Hospice Item Set, Kennedy said Monday during the 2024 National Association for Home Care & Hospice conference in Tampa, FL. HOPE’s quality measures include hospice’s health outcomes, sociodemographic impacts, administrative performance and more. For some, adapting to HOPE might require internal Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) program upgrades.
Source: The Alliance, October 31, 2024
Non-Compliance Letters for CY 2025 APU for Home Health Agencies
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is providing notifications to home health agencies that were determined to be out of compliance with the Home Health Quality Reporting Program (HHQRP) requirements for calendar year (CY) 2025 Annual Payment Update (APU). Non-compliance notifications were distributed by the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) and were placed into Home Health Agencies (HHA) My Reports folders in iQIES on October 21, 2024. HHA’s that receive a letter of non-compliance may submit a request for reconsideration to CMS via email no later than 11:59 pm, November 27, 2024. If you receive a notice of non-compliance and would like to request a reconsideration, see the instructions in your notification and on the Home Health Quality Reporting Reconsideration and Exception & Extension webpage.
Please note: Any reconsideration request emails greater than 20 MB in size or containing protected health information (PHI) will not be processed. All PHI must be removed in order for a reconsideration to be reviewed.
Source: Cindy Krafft, PT, MS, HCS-O, October 29, 2024
The release of OASIS-E1, the latest version of the OASIS assessment tool, is just around the corner on January 1, 2025. That means that it’s time for agencies to ensure that their clinicians are on top of the changes to ensure accurate reporting, optimized reimbursement, and compliance with the latest regulatory standards.
To help you navigate these updates, I’ve outlined the key changes in OASIS-E1 that you should be most concerned with, along with strategies that your agency can implement to adapt effectively.
Membership News Do You Have the Drive to Thrive in ’25? Start the new year off right at the Northeast Home Health Leadership Summit, the premier gathering for home care agency executives from New England, New York, and New Jersey. This once-a-year summit provides a unique opportunity to network with peers, share ideas, get energized, hone your skill set, and have fun doing it all! Early Bird pricing is currently in effect but won’t last long. Resolve to join us at Boston’s iconic Colonnade Hotel on January 21-22 and help ensure that, under your leadership, 2025 becomes your organization’s best year yet. Register using the link below.
MAC Legacy: Your Partner in Home Health and Hospice Excellence
At MAC Legacy, we specialize in delivering top-notch services and solutions tailored to the home health and hospice sectors. Our expertise encompasses a wide range of areas to ensure the highest standards of care and efficiency for your organization.
Special Opportunities to Members of Connecticut Association for Healthcare at Home:
For more information, contact MAC Legacy at info@mac-legacy.com or 800.213.4732 and mention the Connecticut Association for Healthcare at Home.
Visit us at http://www.askmaclegacy.com.
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Home Health Hot Topic: Navigating Open Enrollment with Medicare Advantage Patients
