Home Health Industry Unscathed In Latest CMS Improper Payments Report

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its improper payment report last week. It was another win for the home health industry, which has become less of a culprit in the reports over the years. Overall, the Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) estimated improper payment was 7.38%, or $31.2 million. That was the seventh consecutive […]

CMS Keeps Home Health Providers In Payment Purgatory With 2024 Final Rule, Strikes Contentious Tone With Industry

After the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its CY 2024 final payment rule Wednesday, home health providers found themselves in a position they know all too well. Is a 0.8% aggregate payment increase better than the 2.2% decrease that was proposed? Of course. Was the rule, in its totality, effective in […]

CMS Unveils AHEAD Model, Aims To Shift Health Care To ‘Community-Based Settings’

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled a new state-focused demonstration model Tuesday. One of the model’s primary objectives is to shift health care spending and utilization more toward primary and community-based care. The States Advancing All-Payer Health Equity Approaches and Development Model (AHEAD Model) will aim to better address chronic disease, behavioral […]

How Home-Based Care Providers Can Harness The Power Of CMS’ New Dementia Care Model

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled the Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) Model this week. Stakeholders are already weighing in on how the model may affect home-based care agencies. “We’re very pleased with that announcement, and it is certainly something that we’re going to explore,” Addus HomeCare Corporation (Nasdaq: ADUS) COO […]

‘All They Have Is A Hammer’: Home Health Payment Cuts Could Define Industry For Years

For most home health provider leaders, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposed rule was disappointing, but not surprising. Between now and the fall, they’ll be straddling a line. One foot will be in advocacy, doing whatever they can to keep these cuts from becoming finalized, whether that’s through persuasion, congressional action or […]

CMS: Hospital-To-Home Discharge Process Still Plagued By Poor Communication, Incomplete Patient Information

Patient transitions from the hospital to post-acute care providers, including home health agencies, continue to be plagued by incomplete medical records and missing information. Gaps in post-acute care transitions are so common, in fact, that the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is calling out hospitals for putting patients and their families in […]