Your Connection to Home Care & Hospice Reimbursement, Regulation, and Assessment News & Analysis

News from NAHC: Protect Your HHA Against A Wave Of Denials - Read More
Your Home Health Action Plan for OIG’s 2010 Work Plan - Read More
One Denied Therapy Visit Can Cost Your HHA $600 - Read More

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CODING 101: Breathe Easier When Selecting Pulmonary Diagnoses

Obstructive chronic bronchitis covers more conditions than you might expect. Correctly reporting chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), obstructive bronchitis, and emphysema depends on your understanding the details in the patient’s medical record. M...Read more

In other news...

• Waiting for the Medicare therapy cap exceptions process to expire once again at the end of 2010? Good news: It may hang on for another two years. In mid-Sept 2009, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) released a summary of legislation that includes a two-year extens...Read more

Don’t Make Yourself The Bad Guy

If your corporation has recently downsized, your remaining employees are probably worried that they’ll be next to go. Compound this fear with additional work, and you’ve got yourself a staff of frustrated employees. Unfortunately, during uncertain times yo...Read more

Assessment: FOR OASIS ACCURACY, EMPHASIZE IMPORTANCE OF CLINICAL JUDGMENT

M1032 and M1034 replace the dreaded life expectancy OASIS item. Each patient assessment with inaccurate data chips away at your agency’s risk adjustment score. That can make you look bad in comparison to your competitors. In OASIS C, prognosis items M1032 (...Read more

Stricter Capitalization Requirements Throw Up Enrollment Roadblocks

Medicare wants to standardize new HHAs’ capitalization amounts. If you’re waiting on your Medicare enrollment to process, you might be in for a surprise. That’s because your regional home health intermediary might make a change to the capitalization amo...Read more