Industry News: CAHPS Survey Time Period Extended
October 20th, 2011

Home Health Care CAHPS (HHCAHPS) Survey protocols require that HHCAHPS Survey vendors initiate the survey—that is, begin data collection activities—within 21 days after the close of a sample month. The rationale for this protocol is that sample patients will be better able to recall and accurately report their experiences with home health care if the survey is administered as soon as possible after the care is received.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is issuing the following guidance to HHCAHPS Survey vendors and home health agencies (HHAs) regarding initiating the HHCAHPS Survey more than 21 days after the sample month ends.

Effective immediately, if the survey cannot be fielded within 21 days after the sample month ends, HHCAHPS Survey vendors will be permitted to field the survey by the 26th day after the sample month ends. Survey vendors, however, should still make a concerted effort to initiate the survey within 21 days after the sample month ends. HHAs and vendors do not need approval to initiate the HHCAHPS Survey between the 22nd and 26th day after the sample month ends; however, survey vendors must continue to submit a Discrepancy Notification Report (DNR) to document the fact that the survey was not initiated within 21 days after the sample month ended.

CMS recognizes that occasionally HHAs may experience a situation that may make it difficult to provide a monthly patient information file in time for the vendor to initiate the survey within 21 days after the sample month ends. If the survey cannot be initiated within 26 days after the sample month ends, the HHA’s approved vendor must request approval from CMS to field the survey for the specific sample month. To request this approval, the survey vendor should send an e-mail message to the HHCAHPS Coordination Team, copying its HHA client, indicating the reason(s) the survey cannot be initiated as scheduled, and the expected date by which the survey will be initiated. CMS will review each request; the Coordination Team will notify the HHA and its vendor as to whether the request is approved.

If CMS approves the request for the HHA to initiate the HHCAHPS Survey more than 26 days after the sample month ends, the vendor will not need to submit a DNR. The e-mail message that the vendor submitted requesting approval to field the survey will be retained as documentation of the late data collection start.

HHCAHPS Survey vendors and HHAs should contact the HHCAHPS Coordination Team at hhcahps@rti.org or by calling the HHCAHPS toll-free number at 1-866-354-0985 if they have any questions or need further information about this protocol.

Posted by Bryan Fryar in Home Health CAHPS Survey from CMS   |  0 Comment(s)

Industry News: CMS Updates Provider Enrollment Rules (PECOS)
September 9th, 2011

PECOS Enrollment

Section 6401 (a) of the Affordable Care Act required all enrolled Medicare providers to revalidate their enrollment information through the PECOS system.  This has been delayed but recently, CMS provided information that all providers that were enrolled prior to March 25, 2011 will be asked through their MAC to re-enroll.  Notices from the MAC will begin now and end on March 23, 2013.  Providers need to know the following:

**Providers will not be asked to revalidate until they have received notification from their respective MAC.

**Once notification is received, the easiest way to revalidate is through the PECOS system and can be found at https://pecos.cms.hhs.gov         on the CMS website.  This will allow the provider to update and submit revalidation via the Internet.  Once submitted, the provider must print, sign, date and mail the certification statement to their MAC.

**Once submission is completed, a fee of $505 per provider must be submitted.  The easiest way to submit payment is via the site http://www.pay.gov and type CMS in the search box under Find Public Forms.  Click the GO button to submit the fee via the website.

**Failure to submit the enrollment forms may result in the provider losing Medicare billing privileges.

More information about the enrollment process and fees can be found at the following website:

http://www.cms.gov/MLNMattersArticles/downloads/MM7350.pdf

Posted by Bryan Fryar in PECOS Enrollment for Home Health Providers   |  0 Comment(s)

Announcements: Careers at HealthCare Strategies
January 26th, 2011

Posted by Bryan Fryar in Home Health Consultant   |  0 Comment(s)

Industry News: CMS FACE TO FACE REQUIREMENTS DELAYED
December 23rd, 2010

CMS REQUIREMENT DELAYED

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) notified NAHC that instructions have been sent to its contractors advising them that home health agencies and hospices are to be allowed to use the first quarter of 2011 to implement procedures to meet face to face encounters requirements. Basically, this results in a delay of the implementation of the regulation.

Please check back with HealthCare Strategies as more information is released.

Posted by Bryan Fryar in CMS Home Health Agency Regulations   |  0 Comment(s)

Industry News: Timely Filing Requirement from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)
December 21st, 2010

Taken from the recent CMS announcement:

Effective immediately, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would like to remind Medicare fee-for-service physicians, providers and suppliers, who are submitting claims to Medicare for payment, all claims for services furnished on or after January 1, 2010, must be filed with your Medicare contractor no later than one calendar year (12 months) from the date of service or Medicare will deny them. This is a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

•If you have Medicare fee-for-service claims with service dates from October 1, 2009, through December 31, 2009, those claims must be filed by December 31, 2010, or Medicare will deny them

•Claims with service dates from January 1, 2009, to October 1, 2009, keep their original December 31, 2010, deadline for filing.

In general, the start date for determining the one-year timely filing period is the date of service or 'From' date on the claim. For institutional claims that include span dates of service (i.e., a 'From' and 'Through' date on the claim), the 'Through' date on the claim is used for determining the date of service for claims filing timeliness. For claims submitted by physicians and other suppliers that include span dates of service, the line item 'From' date is used for determining the date of service for claims filing timeliness.

For additional information about the new maximum period for claims submission filing dates, contact your Medicare contractor or review the MLN Matters articles listed below related to this subject:

•MM6960 (PDF, 70 KB) – 'Systems Changes Necessary to Implement the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) Section 6404 - Maximum Period for Submission of Medicare Claims Reduced to Not More Than 12 Months'

•MM7080 (PDF, 73 KB) – 'Timely Claims Filing: Additional Instructions 

Posted by Bryan Fryar in CMS Announcements for Home Health   |  0 Comment(s)