Telehealth Solutions for Rural Healthcare
Telehealth solutions for rural healthcare help providers expand access, support virtual exams, improve follow-up, and make care delivery more sustainable.
Home Health Agencies (HHAs)
HHAs and Hospices: What to Expect When the COVID-19 PHE Ends
COVID-19 significantly affected home-based care providers, such as home health agencies (HHAs) and hospices, whose staff had to overcome both physical and mental burdens of going into patients’ homes to deliver care, especially in the days before a COVID-19 vaccine. While these providers benefitted from a number of Medicare program regulatory flexibilities during the public […]
Nursing home docs, therapists hit with CMS pay cut
Healthcare providers, including doctors and therapists who treat nursing home patients, will see a key payment factor cut by 4.4% next year. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced the change to the Medicare Physician Pay Schedule conversion factor in a broader physician payment rule published late Tuesday. The conversion factor is part of a […]
OIG Recommends Home Health Agencies Evaluate Telehealth Activity
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that despite the positive impact of telehealth flexibilities on home health agencies (HHAs), there is a need for further review of the services they provide and the patients it benefits most. As COVID-19 cases grew, so did restrictions on in-person healthcare. This […]
OIG urges CMS to evaluate home health use of telehealth
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services should evaluate how the use of telehealth affected the quality of home healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Office of Inspector General (OIG). The government watchdog issued the recommendation in a report to the Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday, Oct. 18. The OIG surveyed 400 […]
S.1309 – Home Health Emergency Access to Telehealth Act
117th CONGRESS1st Session S. 1309 To provide payments for home health services furnished via visual or audio telecommunication systems during an emergency period. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATESApril 22, 2021 Ms. Collins (for herself, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Marshall, and Mrs. Shaheen) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL […]
Landmark Choose Home Bill Introduced in the House
The Choose Home Care Act of 2021 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives early Friday morning. The legislation was previously introduced in the Senate at the end of July. If enacted, the landmark Choose Home legislation would create an add-on payment to the traditional Medicare Home Health Benefit, allowing providers to mix in telehealth, transportation, […]
CMS Finalizes Calendar Year 2021 Payment and Policy Changes for Home Health Agencies – Summary
CMS released the 2021 home health final rule on Thursday, October 29, 2020. There were minimal changes compared to the home health proposed rule that was released in July 2020. Probably the best news in the rule was the 1.9% aggregate increase (or $390 million) in reimbursement that agencies will realize in 2021. Although the […]
Executive Summary: Tracking Telehealth Changes State-by-State in Response to COVID-19 – October 15, 2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues across the United States, states, payers, and providers are looking for ways to expand access to telehealth services. Telehealth is an essential tool in ensuring patients are able to access the healthcare services they need in as safe a manner as possible. In order to provide our clients with quick and […]
Collins, Cardin Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Improve Access to Home Health Care Furnished By Telehealth Amid Public Health Emergencies
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) introduced the Home Health Emergency Access to Telehealth (HEAT) Act, a bipartisan bill to provide Medicare reimbursement for audio and video telehealth services furnished by home health agencies during the COVID-19 emergency and future public health emergencies. U.S. Representatives Roger Marshall (R-KS), Terri Sewell (D-AL), Jodey […]
CMS Finalizes Calendar Year 2021 Payment and Policy Changes for Home Health Agencies – Fact Sheet
Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule [CMS-1730-F] that finalizes routine updates to the home health payment rates for calendar year (CY) 2021, in accordance with existing statutory and regulatory requirements. This rule also finalizes the regulatory changes related to the use of telecommunications technology in providing care under […]
CMS (finally) Makes Telehealth Permanent for Home Health Agencies
CMS on Thursday made permanent changes to telehealth flexibilities for home health providers. In its home health payment rule for 2021, the agency signed off on changes to allow providers to use telehealth for related skilled services if they’re outlined in a patient’s care plan. It also requires provides to describe how telehealth would improve treatment in a patient’s […]
For Home Care Agencies, Tracking ‘Total Cost of Care’ Is the Secret to Breaking into Narrow Networks
Home care agencies and their services have always been valuable to the patients they serve. But being able to demonstrate that value to payers requires more than just patient testimonials. As the home care industry enters into an era filled with new tailwinds, including Medicare Advantage (MA) and managed care opportunities, providers need to create […]
Executive Summary: Tracking Telehealth Changes State-by-State in Response to COVID-19 – September 2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues across the United States, states, payers, and providers are looking for ways to expand access to telehealth services. Telehealth is an essential tool in ensuring patients are able to access the healthcare services they need in as safe a manner as possible. In order to provide our clients with quick and […]
PDGM & COVID-19 Can Bring New Opportunities
It’s now been about nine months since the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) required a new payment model for home health care, representing the largest change to the payment model in decades. The new Patient Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) affects tens of thousands of agencies that provide therapy for millions of home health […]