TIP OF THE WEEK
OASIS 2008 UPDATE Teleconference Q & A Follow-Up
Contributed by Corrine Stevenson, Ohio Oasis Education Coordinator
Q. For patients who have received home care services prior to January 1, 2008 and will continue to receive home care services after January 1, 2008 does January 1, 2008 make a difference in the early or late episode designation?
A. The agency should consider the original Start of Care, so the old patients, would be "late" as of 1/1/2008.
Q. How will weekly or monthly catheter patients be treated under the LUPA provision for payment purposes?
A. The LUPA adjustment is added to the first or only LUPA episode. All other LUPA episodes get paid by the visit, just like before.
Q. Where can a HHA access information on _Validation of Non-Routine Supply Reporting on Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS) claims
A. Website address for accessing Transmittal 1371/Change request 5776 is http://www.cms.hhs.gov/center/hha.asp (look under important links – CMS Manuals and Transmittals) or http://www.cms.hhs.gov/transmittals
Q. In the separate handout titled Transition into HH PPS Refinement the first column should the bold wording state “Must provide code for payment episodes BEFORE beginning 1-1-08”. With BEFORE being the key word. The information I retrieved from CMS's website indicates using the date of 12.26.07 for episodes beginning before 01/01/08
A. I omitted the word "before" in the first column in the bold print. The correct information is in the body of that column but I missed the word "before" in the bold title. See corrected copy below.
BELOW IS A CORRECTED TRANSITION INTO HH PPS REFINEMENT COPY FOR YOUR RECORDS
RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT
Announcement on the Publication of Correction Notice (CMS-1541-CN2)
Since the publication of the HH PPS Final Rule "Home Health Prospective Payment System Refinement & Rate Update for Calendar Year 2008” (CMS-1541-FC) dated August 29, 2007, technical errors have been identified.
CMS had previously posted draft descriptions of those errors and advised the public to refer to the published correction notice, in the Federal Register, as official notification and publication of the errors and corrections. Home Health Prospective Payment System Refinement and Rate Update for Calendar Year 2008; Corrections (CMS-1541-CN2) was published on November 30, 2007.
IN THE NEWS
GOVERNMENT OUTS SOME NURSING HOMES
November 28, 2007 -- NY Times -- Fifty-four nursing homes are being told by the government that they're among the worst in their states in an effort to goad them into improving patient care. The homes in question are among more than 120 designated as a ''special focus facility.'' CMS began using the designation about a decade ago to identify homes that merit more oversight. The homes on the list got not only the special focus designation, but also registered a lack of improvement in a subsequent survey.
There were no Ohio nursing homes among the 54 cited. Read more >>
BENEFITS OF ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS SEEN AS OUTWEIGHING PRIVACY RISKS
November 29, 2007 -- The Wall Street Journal -- A sizable majority of Americans believe electronic medical records have the potential to improve U.S. health care and that the benefits outweigh privacy risks, according to a new Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive poll. Read more >>
IN HOSPICE CARE, LONGER LIVES MEAN MONEY LOST
November 27, 2007 -- NY Times -- Hundreds of hospice providers across the country are facing the catastrophic financial consequence of what would otherwise seem a positive development: their patients are living longer than expected. Over the last eight years, the refusal of patients to die according to actuarial schedules has led the federal government to demand that hospices exceeding reimbursement limits repay hundreds of millions of dollars to Medicare. Read more >>
COMING ATTRACTIONS
OHIO HOME HEALTH COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE
CALLS SUSPENDED: The Home Health Community of Practice calls are cancelled for the month of December. Please call 1.800.385.5080 to request additional assistance. Have a happy and safe holiday season.
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