by Tim Rowan, Editor You do not need to hear the demographics speech again. You know all about the 76 million Baby Boomers who are turning 65 at the rate of just over 10,000 per day. Suddenly, however, that familiar trope takes on new meaning. Thanks to research published in NIH’s National Center […]
Sharon Harder and Jill Dyer, BSN, RN, HCS-D, HCS-O summarize provider concerns over PDGM heard in recent webinar.
Exploring the depth of misunderstanding of the serious challenge that will be presented by HHGM and 30-day episodes.
On February 1, 2017, a judge in the so-called Jimmo case ordered the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to enter into a Corrective Action Plan (CAP). The CAP requires CMS to provide more education about the addition of a coverage standard for maintenance therapy. That is, CMS is required to provide additional education to providers regarding the fact that improvement is not required in order to be eligible for Medicare coverage for skilled care in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), home health agencies (HHAs), outpatient therapy centers and inpatient rehabilitation hospitals.
Muhammad Shahab, the mastermind of an almost $11 million Medicare fraud scheme in Detroit, was sentenced on September 12 to 50 months in prison. He pled guilty to billing for visits never performed, paying beneficiaries for the use of their Medicare numbers and paying kickbacks to physicians. This article identifies the legal representatives who […]
By Audrey Kinsella Health insurers covering alternate site telehealthcare for self-insured customers…an emerging trend? Reimbursement – or, rather, the lack of it – has long been the critical barrier impeding widespread use of alternate site telehealthcare, including services provided in the patient’s home. For more than a decade, home healthcare providers have cited Medicare’s refusal […]
by Liz Seegert Having spent most of his career in and around the Washington, DC bureaucracy, Jonathan Linkous, CEO of the American Telemedicine Association (ATA), has cut through his share of red tape and senseless regulations. This month’s reshuffling of federal Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas, however, which disqualified 97 counties from Medicare telemedicine reimbursement, […]
by Liz Seegert Two exciting developments surrounding health technology, Medicare payments, and IT acquisition are already in the works in the 113th Congress. Details are provided in this article about a telehealth reimbursement bill introduced by Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA-5), in his proposed legislation HR 6719; and about suggested removal of Medicare reimbursement limits for […]
The author provides a personalized letter to his subscribers and readers in which he sends good wishes for 2013 and a heartfelt reminder to: “Never forget that the career you have chosen contributes to the entire nation’s well-being. ” And for this feat, he urges each of them to: “Take a moment to pat […]
A San Diego newspaper is reporting that The San Diego Hospice temporarily stopped accepting new patients for a 4-day stretch last weekend because of financial problems that may force the highly respected California institution to lay off 200 of its 870-employee workforce. Details about immediate resignations of key executives and about the negative audit […]
