:: NAHC Report

We will include this in the July 6^th Informer (see first article below). We don’t know when comments are due yet – end of August or early September.

Kathy

From: NAHC Report [mailto:lstadm@nahc.org]
Sent: Monday, June 27, 2016 6:11 PM
To: Kathy Messerli <kmesserli@mnhomecare.org>
Subject: NAHC Report, June 28, 2016

NAHC Report: Issue# 2938, 6/28/2016

Follow us on:

ARTICLE ARCHIVES

•

MEMBER RESOURCES

•

eNEWSLETTERS

•

CARING STORE

•	CMS ISSUES PROPOSED RULE: 2017 HOME HEALTH PAYMENT RATES, VALUE-BASED PURCHASING PILOT, AND MORE
•	CMS Issues Pre-Claim Review Demonstration Operational Guide
•	For Your Information: The Premier Event for Financial Managers in Home Care and Hospice
•	Job Corner: Vice President — Home Care
•	Email Center

Manage Your Account

•

Contact the Editor

•

Ensure Delivery

•

Advertise in NAHC Report

CMS ISSUES PROPOSED RULE: 2017 HOME HEALTH PAYMENT RATES, VALUE-BASED PURCHASING PILOT, AND MORE

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule late Monday, June 27, 2016, giving the home care world a whole week to review Medicare’s 2017 home health plans before the Independence Day holiday weekend. The proposed rule includes the usual annual payment rate update along with modest, but important changes in the new Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) pilot program. The payment rule has no real surprises in its rebasing implementation as it is the fourth and final year of the phase-in of rate rebasing. Congress required that the rate rebasing be done with equal installments over 2014 through 2017. In addition, the proposed rule includes the second year of a 0.97% case mix creep adjustment and the annual Productivity Adjustment set at 0.50%. CMS proposes to once again recalibrate the case mix weight, resulting in a budget neutrality adjustment to the episodic rate of 1.0062. As such, the update rates do not directly correlate with rebasing and other adjustments. CMS modifies the outlier payment methodology in some significant ways, particularly in proposing a “cost per visit” approach based on 15 minute service units. Finally, the proposal includes the schedule update for quality of care data submission to avoid a 2% rate penalty.

The proposal adds some items that are outside of rate changes. Specifically, CMS proposes a set of standards to address a change in the law that permits coverage of disposable negative pressure wound treatment devices. In addition, CMS provides updates and proposals related to its vulnerable patient analysis and IMPACT Act quality measure development.

:: Read Full Article

CMS Issues Pre-Claim Review Demonstration Operational Guide

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued the Pre-Claim Review Demonstration for Home Health Services Operational Guide. CMS had planned to issue the guide by June 28.

The Operational Guide does not provide much more information regarding the Pre-Claim Review Demonstration than what CMS has already communicated to providers through their fact sheet, a Special Open Door Forum (SODF) call (see NAHC report), and the frequently asked questions (FAQs). During the SODF call, CMS stated that the Operational Guide would be a draft and open to public comment. The document appears to be a final version.

The document is 24 pages long, covers 11 subject areas and includes 4 appendices that diagram the pre-claim review request submission process and claim submissions with and without a pre-claim review.

:: Read Full Article

The Premier Event for Financial Managers in Home Care and Hospice
July 10-12, 2016 in Las Vegas, NV

View the Conference Program Here

Register for the
Conference Here

Book Your Hotel Here

Our room block is nearly sold out. If you can not find a room in our block you may still be able to book at the Red Rock Resort & Casino. Call 866-767-7773 to book your room directly with the hotel.

NAHC’s Financial Management Conference & Exposition is the premier event for financial managers in home care and hospice. By bringing together the industry's top financial and legal experts, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice and its affiliate, the Home Care & Hospice Financial Managers Association (HHFMA), provide attendees with opportunities to advance their understanding of financial management techniques and business strategies in home care and hospice.

For over 20 years, NAHC and HHFMA have empowered people with groundbreaking news, education, networking opportunities, research, and resources.

NAHC and HHFMA members can register for the conference for just $750 through June 17; non-members pay $1,025. Pre-conferences are $250 for members and $350 for non-members.

Educational Opportunities

The Financial Management Conference offers three intensive pre-conferences and 20 education sessions focussed across four tracks – home health, hospice, leadership, and care innovations – as well as three general sessions that provide an overview of the latest developments in health care reform and their impact on home health and hospice.

Click here for a complete schedule of educational offerings.

Exhibit Hall

Every year, more than 75 vendors showcase innovative technology, software, business consulting, and other products and services. Financial firms, staffing and legal consultants, product specialists, marketing mavens, and training and compliance companies are there to help you keep up with the aggressive pace of health care reform, eliminate redundancies, and streamline your operations.

To learn more about exhibiting at the Financial Management Conference, click here.

Hotel Information

The 2016 Financial Management Conference is being held at the Red Rock Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. NAHC has secured a special room rate of $130 per night for this conference:

Vice President — Home Care

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced senior home care leader to join a growing organization.

Mercyhealth was formed in January 2015 through the merger of Mercy Health System and Rockford Health System. Today, Mercyhealth is a vertically integrated, not-for-profit multi-regional health system comprising five hospitals, home care & DME, a wholly-owned insurance company, more than 750 employed physicians and over 85 primary and specialty care medical centers and clinics across more than 60 communities in 15 northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin counties.

The Vice President of Home Care oversees the planning and development of policies and procedures and overall operations of all departments and areas of home care including Home Health, Hospice, and DME for both Wisconsin and Illinois.

This position reports to the Sr. VP/COO Illinois Mercyhealth.

Requires a BSN and a master's degree from an accredited college. Must also have at least ten years of proven administrative experience, including five or more years in an executive position, preferably with a public or community home health organization of like size and volume of activities.

This position includes a competitive pay and benefits package and relocation assistance.

To apply, please visit www.rockfordhealthsystem.org/careers.