Home Health & Hospice Articles by Topic: Hospice

Hospice payment increase of 2.7% proposed, but not a straightforward change

• Homecare Direction, Issue 5, May 8, 2019

  While the hospice industry is expected to receive about $540 million in increased payments in 2020...

CMS details its efforts to create a new HEART tool for the hospice industry

• Homecare Direction, Issue 11, November 5, 2018

  CMS feels it’s necessary to develop a comprehensive, standardized patient assessment tool for...

New OIG report hammers hospice industry about general inpatient care

• Homecare Direction, Issue 9, September 1, 2018

  A new report from the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) contends that while hospice care can...

Hospice rule data show SIA payments aren't increasing visits at end of life

• Homecare Direction, Issue 6, June 4, 2018

  Some hospice industry experts were taken aback by CMS’ latest analysis of service intensity...

Proposed rule: Hospice payments rise by 1.8%, PAs can be attending physicians

• Homecare Direction, Issue 5, May 2, 2018

  The hospice industry is expected to receive about $340 million in increased payments in 2019...

For hospice, can activity done over the phone with a patient by a chaplain or social worker be considered a visit if the call is extensive and covers several items from the plan of care (POC)? What about for the purposes of meeting HIS quality measures?

• Homecare Q&A, Issue 8, April 17, 2018

  No conversation on the phone can be billable, as is the same for HIS quality measures.

Reminder for hospices: Submit timely HIS and CAHPS data

• Homecare E-News, Issue 13, March 26, 2018

  To comply with the Hospice QRP (HQRP) requirements, hospices must successfully submit timely...

HQRP Fiscal Year 2020 Requirements Fact Sheet, Quarterly Update available

• Homecare E-News, Issue 7, February 12, 2018

  This fact sheet outlines specific compliance requirements for Hospice Item Set (HIS) and Consumer...

Shorter lengths of stay can hurt patients and affect hospices' bottom lines

• Homecare Direction, Issue 2, February 12, 2018

  A short but intense stay on the routine home care level of care — the care level most...

How can best address pain for HIS?

• Homecare Q&A, Issue 3, February 2, 2018

  CMS provides a number of reasons for addressing pain on the HIS. Pain is prevalent and...

How can our hospice perform better on CAHPS?

• Homecare Q&A, Issue 3, February 2, 2018

  CAHPS results can have significant implications in the hospice arena. Beyond factoring into the...

Does code Z51.5 (encounter for palliative care) have to be the second diagnosis on a hospice patient?s NOE, or can it be coded further down? (This is for when there is MD supporting documentation for this code.) Thank you for your help and time.

• Homecare Q&A, Issue 1, January 3, 2018

  Thank you for your question and com-mitment to quality and compliance. Z51.5 does not have to be...

Latest release of Hospice Compare shows agencies stepped up on pain assessments

• Homecare E-News, Issue 48, December 18, 2017

  Hospices have taken a big step forward on pain assessment, the Hospice Item Set (HIS) measure that...

CMS: Hospice Compare's search by location is returning many incorrect results

• Homecare E-News, Issue 47, December 11, 2017

  CMS has recently announced that the location search field on Hospice Compare hasn’t worked...

CMS revises the Hospice Item Set Manual

• Homecare E-News, Issue 46, December 4, 2017

  CMS has updated pages of the Hospice Item Set Manual V2.00 as a result of the federal Medicare...

November is Home Care and Hospice Month

• Homecare E-News, Issue 42, November 2, 2017

  November marks Home Care and Hospice month, according to CMS. Now is the time to ensure your...

New oncology guidelines emphasize discussion on hospice treatment

• Homecare E-News, Issue 36, September 25, 2017

  The Journal of Clinical Oncology released guidelines for oncology clinicians to use effective...

What exactly are the regulations for hospice patients who travel in terms of billing?

• Homecare Q&A, Issue 18, September 19, 2017

  From time to time, hospice patients may travel outside of their current hospice provider’s...

Hospice Provider Preview Reports Available

• Homecare E-News, Issue 34, September 11, 2017

  Hospice providers are encouraged to preview their quality measure results based on Quarter 1- 2016...

We use a set of hospice standing orders when a patient is admitted to hospice. How can we show individualization with this, in order to comply with regulations?

• Homecare Q&A, Issue 17, August 31, 2017

  Interpretive Guidelines §418.56(c)(2) state...

Hospice Compare released; hospices must step up efforts on pain assessments

• Homecare E-News, Issue 32, August 21, 2017

  Hospice Compare’s launch Aug. 16 confirms that, for the most part, hospices already perform...

We are a hospice trying to educate our staff on CAHPS. What are some best practices?

• Homecare Q&A, Issue 16, August 17, 2017

  Familiarity with the contents of the CAHPS survey can help hospice staff understand how various...

Homecare Q&A, August 17, 2017

• Homecare Q&A, Issue 16, August 17, 2017

  Homecare Q&A, August 17, 2017

Deadline coming for hospices to submit reconsideration requests if they received noncompliance letters on QRP

• Homecare E-News, Issue 30, August 7, 2017

  Hospices that received letters from CMS indicating they failed to meet the 2016 calendar year...

We are a hospice. What should our response process be to an ADR?

• Homecare Q&A, Issue 15, August 3, 2017

  When a hospice discovers a new ADR, staff should review the time frame for the ADR, assemble...

Hospices affected by Hurricane Matthew can file for exemption for data reporting

• Homecare E-News, Issue 45, November 28, 2016

  Hospices affected by Hurricane Matthew can file for exemption of data reporting Centers for...

Hospice exemption for CAHPS deadline fast approaching; CASPER reports available soon

• Homecare E-News, Issue 45, November 28, 2016

  The exemption form for being exempt from submitted CAHPS data due to small size is due by December...

In Focus: CMS releases memorandum on nursing shortage for hospice

• Homecare E-News, Issue 41, October 31, 2016

  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a memorandum on October 21, 2016...

Weekly Roundup

• Homecare E-News, Issue 40, October 24, 2016

  New communication ruling for home health and hospices takes effect. This week, the Centers...

Our hospice massage therapist was on FMLA for three months (range was 1x?3x per month), and a patient was not seen. Would an ABN or HHCCN need to be initiated?

• Homecare Q&A, Issue 16, August 22, 2016

  This would either require an incident report or, if the patient no longer needed the service, just...

We use ranges on hospice patients. If we have a patient with ranges 1x-3x a month and the patient is only seen 1x that month, do missed visits need to be completed for the other two days the patient was not seen?

• Homecare Q&A, Issue 16, August 22, 2016

  You can use ranges on hospice patients. Missed visits are only needed if the agency does not meet...

Can you clarify the face-to-face deadlines for hospice?

• Homecare Q&A, Issue 15, August 3, 2016

  CMS requires that a physician narrative be included in a patient’s hospice recertification...

Can you explain a bit about CMS? service intensity add-on rule for hospice?

• Homecare Q&A, Issue 15, August 3, 2016

  The two-tiered payment system for RHC compensates providers for the resource-intensive first 60...

Weekly Roundup

• Homecare E-News, Issue 28, July 25, 2016

  In this week's roundup: New HHA PEPPER is now available. A new release of the Program...

Weekly Roundup

• Homecare E-News, Issue 22, June 6, 2016

  In this week's roundup: House members slam home health prior authorization proposal.  A...

In Focus: Senators introduce Compassionate Care Act

• Homecare E-News, Issue 21, May 23, 2016

  United States Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) recently...

Weekly Roundup

• Homecare E-News, Issue 21, May 23, 2016

  In this week's roundup: Overtime laws could change the game for home health: The Department...

Weekly Roundup

• Homecare E-News, Issue 14, April 4, 2016

  Recent investigations by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) have shown a number of instances in...

Weekly Roundup

• Homecare E-News, Issue 12, March 21, 2016

  The CMS Office of Minority Health last week unveiled a snapshot of chronic disease-related service...

In Focus | CMS Releases Hospice Cost Report

• Homecare E-News, Issue 8, February 22, 2016

  The latest version of proposed cost reporting changes for the home health-based hospices...

Weekly roundup

• Homecare E-News, Issue 7, February 15, 2016

  CMS intends to start a Medicare Probable Fraud Measurement Pilot for home healthcare services...

Does the referring physician need to sign the CTI if he is not the attending?

• Homecare Q&A, Issue 2, January 18, 2016

  Does the referring physician need to sign the CTI if he is not the attending?

Free! Hospice Orientation for the Interdisciplinary Team White Paper

• Homecare E-News, Issue 2, January 11, 2016

  According to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, hospice organizations should...

Weekly Roundup

• Homecare E-News, Issue 51, December 28, 2015

  CMS data shows cost disparities in home health services Not unlike hospital procedures and tests...

Weekly Roundup

• Homecare E-News, Issue 44, November 9, 2015

  On Monday, November 2, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector...

The Weekly Roundup

• Homecare E-News, Issue 39, October 5, 2015

  This past Thursday (October 1, 2015), began the live implementation of ICD-10 across the...

Instead of extending the Medicare sequestration into 2024, how do recent legislative proceedings and political reporting suggest Congress intends to fund the reauthorization of the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program?

• Homecare Insider, Issue 23, June 15, 2015

  Instead of extending the Medicare sequestration into 2024, how do recent legislative proceedings...

How can we ensure we?re meeting and documenting eligibility requirements effectively?

• Homecare Q&A, Issue 7, April 3, 2015

  Before offering the Medicare Hospice Benefit (MHB) to a beneficiary, the hospice must first verify...

Will home health remain exempt from overtime compensation in most circumstances like it has for 40 years?

• Homecare Insider, Issue 1, January 5, 2015

  Will home health remain exempt from overtime compensation in most circumstances like it has for 40...