| The National Association of Home Health & Hospice (NAHC) has filed a lawsuit against the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) over what NAHC calls their “failed pre-claim review experiment.” While CMS has put a current hold on pre-claim review, it is still scheduled to eventually pilot in four other states. NAHC president Val Halamandaris called the lawsuit a last resort at the NAHC annual conference in Orlando, Florida, this past Sunday. | | On October 14, HHS finalized its policy implementing the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and the Advanced Alternative Payment Model (APM) incentive payment provisions in the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), collectively referred to as the Quality Payment Program. The new Quality Payment Program will gradually transform Medicare payments for more than 600,000 clinicians across the country, and is a major step in improving care across the entire health care system. | | The Hospice Item Set (HIS) is becoming increasingly more critical for hospices to get right. Quality measures are to be publicly reported as of spring 2017, when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has stated that Hospice Compare launches, and by April 1, 2017, two new measures also need to be collected. While HIS documentation and data collection may seem straight forward, there are potential obstacles to success, so educating your staff and monitoring your HIS submission is critical to keep your hospice from suffering potential public scrutiny and financial punishment. | | LTC Trend Tracker, NCAL’s online data collection tool, now has a total of six LTC measures. The additional four measures were announced at the 10th Annual NCAL Day on October 16 and include: • Hospital admissions • Hospital readmissions • The off-label use of antipsychotic medications • Occupancy rates | Recent CMS Events Tuesday, 11/15 - MACRA Quality Payment Program Final Rule Call | Product Spotlight Building solid operational and clinical processes is key for skilled nursing facilities (SNF) to stay compliant under the numerous Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regulatory changes effective October 1. The evolving “volume to value” industry landscape brings with it more accountability, higher outcome standards, and incentivized payment systems. |
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