Bulletin: March 10th, 2020
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March 10th, 2020 |
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ATTENTION – COVID-19 UPDATE Ohio home health and hospice agencies should work with their local health district if and when they suspect that an individual may have the symptoms of the coronavirus. This is the link to Find Local Health Districts near you. OUR TAKE Reminder: Since facilities (aka home health and hospice agencies) are expected to develop and maintain an emergency preparedness plan that is based on the facility‐based and community‐based risk assessment using an “all‐ hazards” approach, Kathy and I recommend that agencies pull out your emergency preparedness plan and review your approach with your staff. It would not surprise us if an ODH surveyor asks your staff, “What are you doing to protect yourself and patients from COVID-19.” Remember to add Corona virus to your all hazards list!
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HOSPICE: Discharge Question: We are trying to understand what codes are required to be used when discharging patients (live) from hospice for certain situations. Please help clarify:
The COPS describe very limited opportunities and it is sometimes a challenge to know which to use. Is there any information available regarding what code to use in unusual situations? Answer: If a patient has been a hospice patient and then becomes eligible for Medicare you will do a full admission complete with signature on the NOE so the Hospice Medicare Benefit can begin. Medicare does not have any guidance on what discharge code to use when the patient becomes eligible for Medicare because it is actually a discharge out of your EMR so you can admit and start the Medicare benefit periods. Revocation is the closest form of discharge to serve this purpose.
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Upcoming Education & Events |
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For Upcoming webinars, conferences, workshops and events click HERE
News Clips & Links |
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HOME HEALTH and HOSPICE: $8.3 Billion Coronavirus Funding Bill Signed by the President, Strategic Health Care, March 9, 2020 – A sweeping emergency funding package containing $8.3 billion to support efforts against the 2019-Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) is mostly targeted towards state agencies to provide funds for local providers. In addition to funding for infectious disease control and vaccines and prescription drugs, the bill also funds some construction and renovation of facilities to enhance the response. Funds will be distributed through state and local authorities. Providers should contact their state and local health departments. The new law also allows HHS to waive certain Medicare telehealth restrictions and allows providers to furnish telehealth services to Medicare beneficiaries outside of rural communities. Click here for the summary of the emergency appropriations package, and here for the Congressional Budget Office analysis.
HOME HEALTH and HOSPICE: MedPAC Says Some ACOs Are Gaming the System, Strategic Health Care, March 9, 2020 – Accountable Care Organizations may be purposefully removing clinicians with high-cost patients and bringing in clinicians with low-cost patients without adjusting their benchmark rates, according to Medicare Payment Advisory Commission staff briefing. Under the program, if the ACO performance year spending is less than the agreed-upon benchmark, then there will be shared savings between the ACO and Medicare. MedPAC says the growing risk of unwarranted shared savings payments to ACOs may put Medicare savings at risk. Currently, CMS calculates the benchmark based on the clinicians' taxpayer identification number and does not calculate benchmark changes in the national provider identifiers billing; however, a clinician can switch which TIN to bill under - resulting in unwarranted savings. MedPAC will vote in April on a recommendation to use the same set of NPIs to compute both performance year and baseline spending. For the full MedPAC presentation, click here.
HOME HEALTH and Hospice: Infant-Toddler Wellness Campaign Looks to Boost Child Care, Home Visiting Access, The Hannah Report, February 26, 2020 – Health, child care, policy and philanthropic groups launched a child wellness campaign on February 26 to back policies for expanding access to services they say are needed to help Ohio's infants and toddlers, particularly those living in poverty, gain strong footing for life. Spearheaded by Groundwork Ohio and supported by dozens of organizations across the state, "Ready, Set Soar Ohio" focuses on promoting policies to aid child development from gestation through age 3, when the bulk of brain development takes place -- and when the seeds of future learning and health disparities often are planted, especially for the quarter of young Ohio children who live in poverty.
HOME HEALTH and HOSPICE: Coronavirus Scare Likely to Boost Telehealth Adoption Among Home-Based Care Providers, HOME HEALTH CARE NEWS, March 9, 2020
PALLIATIVE CARE: Palliative Care Data Collaborative Aims to Improve Quality, Hospice News, March 4, 2020
PALLIATIVE CARE and HOSPICE: Staffing a Barrier to Palliative Care Growth, Hospice News, March 4, 2020
HOSPICE: Hospices Contend with Drug Diversion, Hospice News, March 9, 2020
HOSPICE: Pennant Group Anticipates Strong Hospice Growth in 2020, Hospice News, March 9, 2020
Ohio Council for Home Care & Hospice 1105 Schrock Rd., Suite 120, Columbus, OH 43229 (614) 885-0434 www.ochch.org |