OHCA Home Care and Hospice Web Release
Erin Begin
The Home Care and Hospice section of the OHCA web page will release into the live OHCA.org environment on 7/15/2019. OHCA members will be able to access members-only content at that time using their member login. The webpage will be undergoing live environment testing and review throughout the week, with all changes finalized by 7/21/2019. Members are encouraged to wait until all testing is complete to begin accessing the secure member content, which includes reimbursement resources for Medicare, Medicaid and Managed Care; as well as regulatory and survey resources applicable to Home Care and Hospice Agencies. To receive full benefits of OHCA Home Care and Hospice membership, please contact Erin Begin.
Joint Commission Launches Dashboard for Home Care and Hospice
Diane Dietz
TA dashboard report, which was earlier launched for Skilled Nursing Facilities only, is now available for accredited home health and hospice agencies and is intended to be a valuable resource for onsite survey and quality improvement. The report uses the most recent data available on Home Health Compare and Hospice Compare from CMS posted in the Continuous Compliance section on the organization’s Joint Commission Connect® extranet site. For each reported quality measure, the dashboard shows the organization’s performance compared to national, state, and Joint Commission-accredited organization averages. For more information, please view the full article.
CMS Issues Home Health Proposed Rule for CY2020
Erin Begin
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the proposed rule for the CY 2020 payment model for home health services late yesterday afternoon, tweaking the payment model and setting 2020 payment rates. The rule also included other policies affecting home health, including the 2021 Home Infusion therapy benefit, quality measures for home health Valued Based Purchasing, a phase-out model for RAP claim submissions and changes to allow therapy assistance to perform maintenance therapy. There is also a 1.5% increase in payment rates, consistent with the Balanced Budget Act of 2018, and a 0.2% decrease in aggregate payments due to reductions made by the new rural add-on policy. One change, unnoted in the CMS press release, was the increase in the “behavioral adjustment” payment reduction from 6.42% to 8.01%. This adjustment, which reflects a decrease in the based rate, is based on assumptions of clinical and claims related changes that HHAs might undertake to offset the payment rules impact. NAHC has been a strong advocate against this rate cut and supports the Home Health Payment Innovation Act of 2019 (HR 2573/ S 433), which would eliminate CMS’ ability to make rate changes based on assumptions, instead of requiring actual behavior change to be the standard for reimbursement adjustments. The unpublished version of the proposed rule and CMS press release are available below, as well as NAHC information on the Home Health Payment Innovation Act. The full published version will be released on 7/18/2019 and will be available here.
• CMS Newsroom: CMS Proposes Calendar year 2020 and 2021 New Home Infusion Therapy Benefit and payment and policy changes for HHAs
• Medicare and Medicaid Programs; CY 2020 Home Health Prospective Payment System Rate Update; Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Model; Home Health Quality Reporting Requirements; and Home Infusion Therapy Requirements (unpublished version)
• Legislation to Stop PDGM Rate Cuts Introduced in the House of Representatives
PEPPER Release 7/8, Webinar 7/18
Erin Begin
The most recent version of the Home Health Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronically Report (PEPPER) was released on July 8th, 2019 for Quarter 4 of calendar year 2018. The PEPPER contractor, RELI Group, is holding a free educational webinar on the PEPPER. Registration is limited to 1,000 sites, so they encourage HHAs to coordinate internally to prevent duplicate registration and allow as many HHAs as possible to participate. You can register here.
OASIS Quarterly Q&A Available 7/16
Erin Begin
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is releasing the July 2019 edition of their Quarterly OASIS Question and Answers (Q&As) on July 16th, 2019. This document is a helpful tool that gives real-life examples of common questions regarding the OASIS data set form submission, as well as the applicable OASIS section . You can access the document on the QIES Technical Support Office webpage.
NAHC Webinar on Private Duty Trends in Regulatory and Legal Issues 7/25
Erin Begin
TNational Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC) is offering a free webinar to members and non-members on July 25th from 2pm-3pm for Private Duty providers. This webinar will focus on the scope of HIPAA and compliance with the use of text messaging for staff communication and ensure risk reduction and compliance with wage-hour laws. You can register with NAHC here.
OIG Vulnerabilities in Hospice Care Report
Erin Begin
On July 9th, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General announced the release of two reports representing findings from Medicare hospice recertification and complaint surveys from 2012 to 2016. The OIG made several recommendations in the reports, including a recommendation of greater public access to survey findings and increased CMS education for providers as well as increased accountability for hospices regarding reports of abuse. National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC) issued the following statement in response to the reports:
NAHC Supports action taken in recent years to increase hospice providers’ accountability for delivery of high-quality care, including through imposition of a mandate for more frequent surveys. However, the finding of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) (Hospice Deficiencies Pose Risks to Medicare Beneficiaries and Safeguards Must Be Strengthened To Protect Medicare Hospice Beneficiaries From Harm) sends a clear message that more action is required to safeguard vulnerable hospice patients. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), states, accrediting organizations, hospice associations, and hospice providers must all address existing gaps in oversight of hospice quality of care so the problems cited in the report are eliminated…. The vast majority of hospice providers are able to meet quality of care standards, but some still fail to meet all the Hospice Conditions of Participation upon survey. It is important to note that virtually all these deficiencies are addressed in short order by hospice providers. However, we believe that some of the OIG’s proposed recommendations may help some providers avoid these issues on the front end, and could contribute to improvements in the overall quality of care provided to hospice patients. NAHC strongly supports the OIG’s recommendation that CMS provide hospices education about common deficiencies and those that pose particular risks to beneficiaries.
You can access NAHC’s full press release here.
Hospice QRP Non Compliance Letters Issued
Erin Begin
Starting now through mid-July, CMS will send notification to those providers identified as non-compliant with the quality reporting requirements that will affect the FY2020 annual payment update. Impacted providers will receive the notification letter from their Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) and will also find it in their CASPER folders. If the provider is not identified as non-compliant, no notification is issued. Providers that disagree with the non-compliance determination must submit a reconsideration request within 30 days to avoid payment penalties. The Hospice QRP update for this Quarter, which includes Hospice QRP Highlights from May-June 2019 as well as events and engagement opportunities planned for July-September 2019, is also now available here.
Electronic Hospice NOEs Editing for Zip Codes
Erin Begin
Since 7/1/2019, Hospice Notice of Elections (NOEs) submitted through the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) are returning to provider (RTP) or causing edits for the provider ZIP code, reason code 32114. The NOEs that were submitted using Direct Data Entry (DDE) are not experiencing this issue. The status as of 7/11/2019 was that Palmetto is researching the issue and are advising providers to submit NOEs through DDE to avoid this problem while Palmetto works on a solution. Claims Edit workarounds can take up to 6 months, as we saw with the U5181 edit, which recently released a workaround on 6/25/19 for an issue identified on 11/15/2018. Please see the full article for information on the resolution to the U5181 edit for hospice claims.
Palmetto Webinar: Untangling the Mystery of Hospice Transfers
Erin Begin
Palmetto is presenting a free webinar on July 16 at 2 p.m. regarding Hospice Transfers. The Medicare hospice benefit allows a beneficiary to transfer from one hospice agency to another once every benefit period without interruption. Whether you are transferring a beneficiary’s care to an agency across town or the country, the Medicare regulations remain the same. In order to transfer a beneficiary and preserve the benefit period/election, additional documentation and billing are required. During this webcast, the MACs will explain Medicare transfer regulations, transferring hospice agency responsibility, receiving hospice agency responsibility, billing and coding for transfers, process for transfer disputes and answer general transfer related questions from the audience. You can register here.
Ohio's In-Demand Jobs Survey
Steve Mould
Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted, along with the Office of Workforce Transformation, have requested OHCA's help in providing feedback on Ohio's future workforce to update Ohio's In-Demand Jobs List. The In-Demand Jobs Survey is critical to creating the Ohio In-Demand Jobs List and asks Ohio employers to forecast their top hiring needs for the next one, three and five years. In addition, 85% of Ohio’s federal workforce dollars are required to go to the training and preparation for in-demand jobs. As workforce is one of the top issues facing long-term care service and supports providers, we want to ensure that our members are represented in any "jobs need" information being captured or promoted by the state. To participate in the survey, please click here. With questions and feedback on the survey, please contact the Office of Workforce Transformation at workforce@owt.ohio.gov.
OHCA Social Work Conference: Hospice Education from Deborah Grassman
Erin Begin
On August 19, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio, OHCA is having their annual Social Work Conference, and has brought Deborah Grassman in to discuss end of life matters. Deborah Grassman, one of the nation’s leading experts in caring for Veterans nearing the end of life will deliver three dynamic presentations throughout the day, including Soul Injury® and what the organization Opus Peace does to help people heal from it. Deborah is the Founder of Opus Peace, a contributing author in four textbooks, has 25 published articles, and four documentary films featuring her work. Recently published articles include, Special Patient Populations: Veterans, published in the Oxford Text of Palliative Nursing 2019; Aging: Redeeming the Destiny We Were Born to Fulfill, and Practice Tips: Supporting Elderly Veterans at the End of Life, published in the book, Aging America: Coping with Loss, Dying, and Death in Later Life, published by Hospice Foundation of America. 2019. Deborah is the lead instructor for the Opus Peace Soul Injury® Leadership Institute to train a network of Soul Injury® Leadership Ambassadors as they carry out the Opus Peace mission around the world. For information, contact Kathy Chapman at 614-540-1321 or visit EFOHCA to register.
EFOHCA Webinar Behavioral Health: Family and Caregiver Education and Support
Erin Begin
EFOHCA is presenting a webinar on July 23, from 2 - 3:30 p.m. as part of the Achieving Compliance in Behavioral Health series. The involvement of families in the development of person-centered plans of care is important in identifying and addressing the individual’s specific needs. Too often, the relationships between family and professional caregivers are strained due to poor communication, complicated emotions, or family baggage not yet revealed to the professional staff. Ensuring families and community and/or private-duty caregivers are provided with appropriate education and included in the ongoing conversation about the care of the person they represent is vital to establishing a positive care partnership. This session describes a variety of ways in which the successful orientation, education and ongoing communication between family, community/private-duty, and the professional caregiving staff can be developed and sustained. You can register and find more information for this webinar here. Please contact Erin Begin for assistance if your Home Care and Hospice membership is pending approval.
Book Your Hotel for OHCA 2020 Now!
Erin Begin
OHCA has secured great rooms at great prices at great hotels near the Greater Columbus Convention Center.
- Stick with us and get the best deals
- Visit the website (https://book.passkey.com/e/49901373) to see what’s available and make your reservations now. All reservations will require you to supply your credit card number.
- You can place, modify or cancel* your hotel reservation at any time and receive updated information about the event
- If you require 10 rooms or more, send an email to Housing@ExperienceColumbus.com, please include your arrival and departure date, how many people per room as well as the number of rooms, company name, contact name, address, phone and email address. Also, list three hotel choices in case your first choice is not available. All rooming list are due by 5 pm March 1, 2020.
We look forward to seeing you in Columbus for OHCA 2020!
*Any reservation cancelled between March 20, 2020 and April 21, 2020 will be charged a $100 cancellation fee. Cancellations on or after April 22, 2020 will be subject to a charge equal to one night's hotel room rate.
In the News
Steve Mould
OHCA is providing In the News, a summary of stories of interest to busy LTC Administrators and others in 100-words-or-less. The compilation is provided by Drew Vogel, CNHA, FACHCA, a long-time OHCA member with nearly 30 years’ experience as an administrator. Prior to that he spent 25 years as a radio reporter, honing his skill at condensing news reports. As the Ohio Mentoring Coordinator for the American College of Health Care Administrators Drew provides this compilation to ACHCA members nationally and is making it available to OHCA members, as well. The latest issue is available here, and on the OHCA Website here
New Associate Members Support OHCA
Cindy Lee
We are pleased to welcome the following new Associate Members. If you are in need of any of these services or products please contact these vendors and thank them for their support of the long-term care community in Ohio. We have over 300 vendor members that provide the goods and services you need daily. If you are looking for a specific product or service you can contact Cindy Lee for a list of members specializing in that area or you can look up an associate membership business partner or type of service using our vendor locator.
Heroes Needed!
Nominate your Hero of Long-Term care today! The OHCA Heroes of Long-Term Care program honors individual long-term care employees for their service to residents, the company, and to their community. Heroes are nominated from long-term care employees across the state. The program is also intended to provide good news opportunities for use in local and statewide markets. Program details and copies of the Heroes of Long-Term Care nomination form are available at Heroes of Long-Term Care.
Free Job Posting Available to Members
Steve Mould
Members may post openings in the "Job Opportunities" section of the OHCA website for 30 days at no cost. To post an opening, go to the Long Term Care Careers page at www.ohca.org log in and post the job through your account. You will need to be logged into the site with your user name and password before you attempt to post a position. For additional information contact Stephen L. Mould, APR (smould@ohca.org), 614/540-1325.
Home Care & Hospice Bites
HC&H Bites is distributed electronically each week (except for holidays and special occasions). Member representatives who would like to be added to or deleted from the distribution list should send an email to Debbie Jamieson (djamieson@ohca.org), including the individual's name, company, and email address. Individuals will be added to the email listing for all of OHCA's HC&H electronic bulletins and publications