In The News

FY 2022 Home Health Final Rule Released

The FY 2022 Home Health Final Rule went on display at the Federal Register’s Public Inspection Desk today, 11/02/2021, and will be available under special filings at: https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2021-23993.pdf

Click Here to view a summary of the Rule as it appears in the posting. More detailed analyses will be forthcoming. Additionally, NAHC is conducting two webinars this Friday to review the final rule and its implications on home health and on hospice. Details regarding the webinars can be found here.

Among other things, the 2022 Final Rule expands the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model nationwide. Throughout 2022, CMS will provide technical assistance to HHAs to ensure they understand how performance will be assessed. The first performance year will begin January 1, 2023, and adjustments will be made to HHA Medicare fee-for-service payments in 2025 (according to their performance in 2023). To learn more, please visit the Expanded HHVBP Model webpage.

The 2022 Final Rule also contains the regulations that will be implemented for hospice program integrity/survey reform/enforcement remedies following the passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 in December 2020.
In more Hospice News, the CY 2022 Physician Fee Schedule, which was also released on 11/02, contains the implementing regulations for the Rural Access to Hospice Act allowing physicians and NPPs in Rural Health Clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers to serve as a hospice attending physician, telehealth provisions, changes in physician assistant billing and e-prescribing. The Physician Fee Schedule Rule can be reviewed here:  CY 2022 Physician Fee Schedule (CMS-1751-F).
 

CHAP COVID-19 Conference Call

When: Thursday, December 2, 2021 | 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. MT

During this call, CHAP will be discussing the three sources of pending regulation (due in the next 30 days) and how they will impact handling of vaccination mandates. In addition, the impact of the PHE extension on daily operations will be addressed.

Call in Number: 646-307-1479

Participant Code: 246854#

 

Retraining the Brain to Treat Chronic Pain

More than 25 million people in the U.S. live with chronic pain, defined as pain that lasts for more than three months. Despite costing the health care system more than $600 billion a year, existing treatments for chronic pain fail to provide relief for many people.

The most common type of chronic pain is chronic back pain. In about 85% of cases, no physical cause for the pain—such as arthritis or disk damage—can be found. Such unexplained pain is thought to be caused by brain changes after an injury that persist even after the damage heals.

These changes in the brain are thought to serve an important purpose immediately after tissue damage. They provide a warning signal to restrict movement and let the body recover. However, if they continue to send that signal after the injury has healed, the result can be chronic pain.

Researchers have developed a type of treatment called pain reprocessing therapy (PRT) to help the brain “unlearn” this kind of pain. PRT teaches people to perceive pain signals sent to the brain as less threatening. Therapists help participants do painful movements while helping them re-evaluate the sensations they experience. The treatment also includes training in managing emotions that may make pain feel worse.

For the first clinical test of PRT, a team at the University of Colorado, Boulder led by Dr. Yoni Ashar (now at Weill Cornell Medical College) and Dr. Tor Wager (now at Dartmouth College) enrolled 151 people with mild to moderate chronic back pain for which no physical cause could be found. Participants received one of three treatments: four weeks of intensive PRT, a placebo injection of saline into the back, or a continuation of care as usual.

Participants rated their pain before and four weeks after starting treatment. They also underwent fMRI scans to look at brain activity before and after treatment. The team followed up with participants one year later.

Read Full Article

 

FDA Investigating Certain Imported Medical Gloves

The FDA recommends that health care facilities and providers do not purchase, or use imported medical gloves from companies included on Import Alert 80-04 Surveillance and Detention Without Physical Examination of Surgeon's and Patient Examination Gloves.

Companies are listed on an import alert when the agency has enough evidence to allow for detention without physical examination (DWPE) of their products as they appear to be in violation of the FDA's laws and regulations and thus, create a potential risk to health care professionals, patients and users.

To identify FDA-cleared medical gloves, search the 510(k) Premarket Notification database using the product codes for medical gloves.

Report a Problem with Medical Gloves

If you have purchased any medical gloves that are visibly soiled, are a different color, appear to have been used, or otherwise seem to be fraudulent, please report it to the FDA by email to [email protected].

Read Full Bulletin

 

Online Advocacy Campaign to Avert Medicare Cuts

The National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC) has launched a new online advocacy campaign encouraging members and stakeholders to reach out to their Congressional delegations to ask that they enact legislative proposals to avert the impending Medicare cuts slated for January 1, 2022. They have also sent a letter to Congressional leaders requesting they address this critical issue before year’s end (see letter HERE) 

Absent additional congressional action, a combined 6% Medicare cut is scheduled to take effect the first of the new year. This is a result of the re-imposition of the across-the-board 2% sequestration cuts, as well as an additional 4% cut that was triggered because of the budgetary impacts of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the so-called “PAYGO” requirement cuts).

The online campaign on NAHC’s Legislative Action Center can be found here:  https://p2a.co/7hauLTp

 
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