The 4 Forces Shaping Home Health Care in 2022

Home Health Care News | By Robert Holly
 
Home health operators each year have to adapt on a number of different fronts, from relatively minor coding updates to major payment adjustments. But in addition to the more run-of-the-mill items, providers occasionally have to navigate macro-level forces that literally change the industry itself.
 
At least four such forces will redefine home health care in 2022, I believe.
 
Based on post-acute care dealmaking activity in the second half of 2021, it seems likely that next year will usher in the age of consolidation that everyone anticipated leading up to the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM), before the COVID-19 pandemic turned the world upside down. The consolidators won’t just be the usual suspects, however.
 
“I used to get four or five calls a month,” Stoneridge Partners President Rich Tinsley said at FUTURE. “Now, I get two to three a day, and it’s hard to keep up with them.”
 
Along with consolidation, the ongoing shift to value-based care will take center stage in the form of the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model and Medicare Advantage (MA). Other, more innovative changes within fee-for-service Medicare, such as Choose Home, also have the potential to redefine the traditional home health model.
 
“I really haven’t yet met with a single congressional staffer or member of Congress since we’ve started where there’s been a response other than, ‘We like this idea conceptually. Now tell us more,’” Joanne Cunningham, executive director of the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare (PQHH) told me in November in regard to Choose Home.
 
While consolidation, value-based care and care innovation present exciting opportunities for home health operators, labor forces and the public health emergency will continue to make their mark as well...

Read Full Article

Invitation to Kepro Program Webinar

You are invited to join Kepro for a Beneficiary and Family Centered Care Quality Improvement Organization (BFCC-QIO) Program webinar.

Kepro is the BFCC-QIO for 29 states. We offer information and assistance to providers, Medicare beneficiaries, and families regarding Medicare quality of care complaints, hospital discharge and skilled service termination appeals, and Immediate Advocacy services. This webinar will provide a basic overview of these services.

Please note: The webinar will be held using the Microsoft Teams platform. The webinar will not be recorded.

What: A webinar that will provide an overview of BFCC-QIO services

Who: Healthcare providers and stakeholders

When: Wednesday, January 26, 2022, 12:00 - 1:00 pm MT

Registration: Click here to register

Registration details:

• You will receive an email reminder the day before the meeting that will include a link for the meeting.

Please send an email to [email protected] if you have difficulty registering.

OASIS-D Instrument Use Extended

On November 23^rd, 2021 the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the extension for the continued use of the OASIS-D instrument. The new expiration date is November 30, 2024. Providers collecting OASIS on paper may use up any current inventory prior to using the instruments with the updated expiration date. Versions of the OASIS-D Data Set with the updated OMB expiration notice may be found on the CMS Home Health Quality Reporting Program OASIS Data Set webpage found in the Downloads section of the OASIS Data Sets webpage: https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/HomeHealthQualityInits/OASIS-Data-Sets

Click Here to register for the on-demand Precision OASIS-D Training through our partnership with the Homecare & Hospice Association of Utah. Individual and Full-Agency Access options are available (12 contact hours or CEUs for PT or OT). 

Providers slam House for not delaying nearly 10% Medicare payment cuts in must-pass spending deal

Fierce Healthcare

Major provider groups were livid that a continuing resolution to fund the federal government also doesn’t stave off nearly 10% in cuts to Medicare payments set to go into effect on Jan. 1.
 
The Federation of American Hospitals and American Medical Association were upset that legislative language to fund the government through Feb. 18 does not delay cuts from several sources including the Sequester and PAYGO law. Other providers have been lobbying Congress fervently on the cuts.
 
“These cuts are unsustainable during normal times, and they are reckless during a public health emergency,” said Gerald Harmon, president of the American Medical Association in a statement Thursday. “The result of congressional inaction is that Medicare patients are certain to experience reduced access to care.”
 
The Federation of American Hospitals also warned that facilities are facing a “critical and growing workforce crisis” that the cuts would exacerbate, said President and CEO Chip Kahn.
 
The Surgical Care Coalition, a collection of 13 surgical professional organizations, slammed Congress for not taking action. 
 
"Instead of supporting health care providers, Congress chose to slash Medicare payments and harm the ability of providers to care for our nation’s most vulnerable," said American College of Surgeons Executive Director David Hoyt, M.D.
 
Providers are facing a 4% cut to Medicare payments under the Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) spending law, which triggers cuts to government programs if spending reaches a certain threshold. The American Rescue Plan Act triggered that threshold earlier this year.
 
In addition, pay bumps given to providers to help deal with the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic are going away.
 
Physicians are facing the removal of a 3.75% pay bump to their Medicare payments on Jan. 1. Congress last year also placed a moratorium on a 2% cut to Medicare payments created under sequestration but that moratorium will now expire after Dec. 31.
 
Read Full Article