Home Health & Hospice Week

Study finds nearly half of agencies use mobile technology to provide quality service.

Paperless home health agencies may seem like something out of a sci-fi novel, but more agencies are using technology to perform and track patient services than ever before.

Statistics: More than 65 percent of all agencies now use electronic health records and 40 percent use point of service systems in the field, according to the National Association for Home Care and Hospice’s “The BlackBerry Report: The National State of the Home Care Industry Study.” NAHC and its co-sponsors conducted the study to gauge how often agencies use technology to deliver quality service, and to help agencies prepare for pending health care reform. Researchers also hoped to “identify best practices in home care to allow all home health care providers to realize efficiencies and quality of care to the nation’s most vulnerable seniors,” explained Marcia Reissig, chair of study cosponsor Hospital Home Care Association of America, in a mid-October press release.

“Health care reform is already happening in home care,” said Val Halamandaris, NAHC president.

“With the use of modern technologies, patientcentered outcome measures, and evidence-based best practices, home care is uniquely positioned to effectively meet the needs of a growing senior population,” he predicted in the release.

The Blackberry study also found that:

• Handheld devices account for more than 6 percent of the hardware aides use most,

• Nearly 40 percent of agencies seeking new hardware state that they want handheld devices, and

• A full 23 percent of agencies report success with their telehealth efforts.

Resource: Read the report at http://fazzi.com/research/state_of_industry_study.html.

• Don’t think Medicare won’t find out if you submit care plans without a doctor’s signature. Evansville, Ind.-based Omni Home Care and its Florida-based parent Omni Home Health are now on the hook with the Justice Department for a whopping $2 million for just that mistake, the Associated Press reports.

Facts: Between 2006 and 2008, Omni submitted claims for plans of care that required a physician’s signature. However, the agency ignored certification and re-certification rules so that it could receive payment.

Omni agreed to pay back the money it wrongly collected from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Takeaway: Make sure you strictly follow certification guidelines unless you want to wind up in hot water right along with Omni.

• Even if you have downloaded the CMS data specifications for OASIS C software, you need to download a new copy, CMS’ Kim Jasmin announced at the Oct. 21 home health forum.

CMS posted HAVEN 9.3, the third edition of the data specs, on Oct. 20 at www.cms.hhs.gov/OASIS. Refer to file BC200R3 for a list of the corrections.

HAVEN 9.3 is posted at www.cms.hhs.gov/OASIS/045_HAVEN.asp. This is an updated version that corrects a few errors in HAVEN 9.2, CMS said in the forum.

Heads up: HAVEN now uses a Java-based grouper, so providers must read the release notes and installation notes prior to installing the new HAVEN program, Jasmin warned.

• Cahaba GBA has redesigned the Provider Statistical and Reimbursement system and information for registering individuals authorized to access CMS’ system.

The redesigned website will also offer extensive resources and information to help you obtain the reports you’ll need to file Medicare cost reports. Access the page

at www.cahabagba.com/rhhi/financial/psr.htm.

• Now’s the time to make your list and check it twice... your list of beneficiaries who filed an initial election to receive hospice care, that is. If Cahaba GBA is your audit intermediary and you’ve been certified for at least one year, you must submit your list for care beginning Sept. 28, 2008, and ending Sept. 27, 2009, to the RHHI by Nov. 30. Cahaba will use the lists to complete the hospice cap calculation for the period ending Oct. 31.

Make sure that your list includes information for each beneficiary (including first name, last name, and their health insurance claim number) and your provider number, as well as that the list is in alphabetical order, Cahaba instructs.

• If you’re new to hospice billing, Cahaba

GBA has your back. The regional home health intermediary has updated its Beginner Hospice Billing course, which offers basic education about the Medicare hospice program and instructions for correctly requesting payment. Take the course at www.cahabagba.com/rhhi/education/online_courses/hospice_beginner/index.html.

• Not sure what to do with the final home health prospective payment rule? Eli’s experts are at your services.

On Dec. 14, BKD’s M. Aaron Little will outline the rule, its ramifications, and how you can prepare in a one-hour audioconference titled “Get Ready for HHA PPS for FY 2010.”