On August 23rd, CMS released the first Annual Performance reports, (APR) which provided the first glimpse to agencies of their HHVBP payment impact for 2025.

The Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act discussion draft, developed by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), modernizes the Medicare hospice benefit through a combination of program integrity provisions and payment reforms to ensure Medicare’s hospice program better meets the needs of terminally ill beneficiaries and their families.

CMS has issued a change in regulation that may result a “Stay of Enrollment” which can halt all Medicare payments. We want to bring your attention to a crucial regulatory change that will impact home health and hospice providers.

As a hospice, it is crucial to stay informed about the latest changes and updates in the industry. In April 2024, CMS released updated models for the Hospice Election and the Election Addendum. These updates aim to address the challenges faced by the hospice industry in meeting the requirements of the election statement.

The patient experience survey for the Home Health Quality Reporting Program (HHQRP) is the Home Health CAHPS. These scores result in a publicly reported “Five Star” score on CMS’ Care Compare website, as well as impacting 30% of most home health agencies’ Home Health Value Based Purchasing (HHVBP) scores. If you have wondered how CMS vendors calculate these scores, this breakdown is for you!

CMS updated the State Operations Manual (SOM) and Interpretive Guidelines for the first time in FOUR YEARS! CMS’s SOM provides surveyors with specific survey guidelines- including different levels of survey, levels of G tags, questions to ask, and key items to observe for.

CMS has released the draft version of the new OASIS, which will be mandatory January 1st, 2025. This OASIS is called OASIS E-1. Several items that are no longer being used for payment or quality will be deleted, as well as one addition. 

The Potentially Preventable Hospitalization (PPH) measure, which includes observation stays, is being reported publicly for the first time. This new measure is also proposed to become the hospitalization measure to be used in the future for HHVBP.

CMS has proposed to move to the GG items (GG0130 and GG0170) to create the functional measure scores used in the future for both Home Health Value Based Purchasing (HHVBP) and for consumer reports on Care Compare.

Experts answer questions on properly documenting the physician certification of terminal illness in new training.

CMS Proposes MAJOR Changes for Home Health in the 2024 Proposed Rule. Here's what they mean for YOU and your agency!

Often times, we get so caught up in serving others, that we end up neglecting ourselves. But in order to keep caring for our patients and supporting our fellow providers, we need to make time to take care of ourselves!

CMS and the CDC have provided additional clarifications on masking and the impact to agencies now that the PHE has ended. After three years of the public health emergency providing both flexibilities of waivers and additional measures taken for infection control, including masking, CDC and CMS have provided agencies with some “final guidance”- and promises more to come.

The HH QRP QM User’s Manual has been updated to reflect quality measure changes since the Manual Addendum Update in October 2020. These changes include measure additions, removals, corrections, or clarifications as needed.

CMS just announced an update to the 1135 waiver information, including end dates for each waiver. This will impact the FTF visits for both home health and hospice.

The White House will be extending the PHE, set to expire in April, for one more month... Which takes us to the projected end date of May 11th.