As we enter 2019, agencies have a number of challenges they must be well prepared for in order to provide quality home care services well into the future. If you have not implemented a strategic evaluation of your agency’s future in light of the upcoming regulatory and statutory changes, now is the time to put a plan in place that will ensure you are in business to provide home care as our population ages. Although the home care industry is the fastest growing industry in healthcare, taking advantage of this opportunity requires you to be well educated and ready for the substantial changes headed your way.
Laying the foundation for many of the payment changes and value based models, is the newly revised home care assessment, OASIS –D. If your clinicians are not properly trained, your outcomes and payments will most certainly suffer. TAHC&H is here to ensure your clinicians are well prepared to accurately administer this assessment. In addition to the comprehensive education we provided in 2018, we are starting off 2019 with a two part webinar offered by Lisa Selman Holman, one of the industry’s most well-known experts on the OASIS instrument. This webinar will target the new assessment items that drive quality and payment that are most likely to trip up your clinicians. Ensure you are starting 2019 off right and register today.
The greatest payment change to hit our industry since 1998 is the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM). The new model will revolutionize the payment methodology for all Medicare Home Health Agencies in the United States. Created by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), PDGM is slated to debut on January 1, 2020, and home health agencies must prepare immediately for the most important change to the Medicare home health program in the 21stcentury. Agencies must undertake significant operational and organizational reforms in early 2019 to be prepared to successfully transition to PDGM.
TAHC&H has partnered with the National Association for Home Care and Hospice to bring the best experts in the field to you. Dallas will be the location of the Texas based offering, but this is not your only opportunity. This same comprehensive workshop will be offered in 12 locations across the United States and your membership with TAHC&H will ensure you get the best pricing no matter what workshop location you choose to attend. Click here to reserve your seats early and ensure you have a seat at one of the most important workshops of the year.
Here is what some of the experts are saying:
“The PDGM National Summits is a can’t-miss event. Key industry leaders have come together to prepare home health agencies to be ready to embark on the changes related to the PDGM system. Given the critical nature of the changes under PDGM as well as the expertise of the panel of presenters, you should make plans to attend a session near you.”
Mike Dordick, President of McBee Associates
“The investment in your business partner is perhaps the most significant one you will make as an agency. The large-scale impact of PDGM requires a high level trust, collaboration, and execution with your business partner. As your business partners, we encourage you to join us at the PDGM National Summit. These events are a rare opportunity to learn how to leverage our relationships to maximize your PDGM implementation success.”
Neal Reizer, Senior Vice President of Product Management at Homecare Homebase
To top off these massive changes, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) revived the Pre-Claim Review Demonstration as the new Review Choice Demonstration (RCD) that will roll out in Illinois, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida and Texas. This massive operational change will hit Texas about the time agencies are attempting to adjust to the PDGM. RCD will require that agencies submit substantial paperwork at the start of any admission that must be affirmed in order to get paid. If you cannot obtain affirmation, you will not get paid for the services you provided, placing your financial viability at risk. The other options are 100% post payment review, which will expose your agency to the long and arduous appeals process where agencies are currently waiting 3-5 years to recover denied payments through the ALJ process. The last option is to accept a 25% decrease in episode payments across the board and place your agency at risk for increased ADR, and ZPIC scrutiny. It is critical that you have operational processes in place to handle these sweeping changes. TAHC&H will offer two live options along with a virtual option to ensure every agency is ready for this new process.
Visit our Upcoming Events often as your success and survival depends on the education you receive.