Home Health & Hospice Week

Senate investigation blasts 3 of the 'big 4' companies for gaming the system. Regarding home health therapy utilization, the Senate's verdict is in -- and it's not good. All four publicly traded home care companies under investigation changed their therapy practice patterns to take advantage of Medicare reimbursement under the prospective payment system that took effect in 2000, says a new report released by Senate Finance Committee staff. And three of the so-called big four companies had documents showing they "encouraged therapists to target the most profitable number of therapy visits, even when  patient need alone may not have justified such patterns," the report notes. National chains Amedisys Inc., Gentiva Health Services Inc., LHC Group Inc., and Almost Family Inc. all showed therapy utilization patternsthat corresponded to PPS's 10-visit therapy threshold that began in 2000 and six-, 14-, and 20- visit thresholds that began in 2008, Senate Finance investigators found in [...]